Cancer is not alone. In addition to doctors, there is also a "case manager" to answer questions.

For cancer friends who are fighting cancer, it will certainly be of great help to have friends and relatives to accompany them. However, Dr. Xie Ruikun, chairman of Taiwan Province Cancer Holistic Care Foundation and president of Yongchang Heart Clinic, said, "The biggest partner is your doctor. If your doctor doesn't want to be your partner, you really have to worry! 」

Cancer friends not only need treatment, but also need help to return to "normal life"

Xie Ruikun said that for cancer friends, if they trust each other with doctors, they should establish good communication from the beginning. "If you are picky about your partner, who will want to be your partner?" If you give all the power to this partner, call at 3: 05. God, it's not good for you if the doctor is exhausted! 」

For example, friends of cancer, especially those with recurrent cancer, are faced with rounds of life-and-death struggles, but then they are nervous about their daily life and their responsibilities to their families. Xie Ruikun said, "For example, someone will call the doctor and ask me if I want to go to the hospital for treatment in the afternoon, but what if the child is not answered?" A doctor will never give you a good answer, because it's not his major. 」

Therefore, in the past, it was not enough to only pay attention to the one-way treatment of patients by doctors. Patients will refuse treatment because of poor economy, psychological breakdown, family factors and other reasons, and doctors don't even have the opportunity to intervene, let alone treat them.

Cancer case manager was introduced into the hospital 10. How much do Cancer's friends know?

In order to improve the "doctor-oriented" situation, the national medical service system introduced the American medical care system, set up tumor case managers in major hospitals, and emphasized "patient-oriented". In addition to helping doctors consult topics they don't know how to talk about, personal managers can also help patients find what they need most.

"Do you have to buy a wig if you lose your hair after chemotherapy? Where can I rent a wig? Can I get the flu vaccine during chemotherapy? Where can I stay from Taichung for treatment? We can help cancer friends solve this problem, because it will be a problem that cancer friends are very concerned about, but it is not easy to solve it by ourselves. Cai Qingfen, cancer case manager of MacKay Hospital, said that the manager system was introduced in 2007, but many cancer friends still don't know that they can actually ask for help.

Cai Qingfen said that the role of a manager is to act as an intermediary to communicate with patients in the medical teams, medical resources and support resources of various hospitals; After the doctor told the patient the treatment plan, the patient may feel fine now, but when the doctor left, the patient raised many questions. "We may ask Google if we don't understand, but even if the patient checks the information on the Internet, if he doesn't understand, he still has many uncertainties and fears about his illness. 」

At this time, personal administrators can record patients' questions, arrange outpatient clinics or provide doctors' answers, and the "Cancer Resource Center" that gathers these manpower will also hold health education lectures, which will provide more knowledge choices for cancer friends. After all, as Xie Ruikun said, "Cancer friends need to know more about their illness before they have the right to choose. 」

With knowledge, you have the right to choose.

Xie Ruikun said that cancer treatment must achieve three points. In addition to the direction of diagnosis and treatment, it also needs management. "You are a person in life, you have to live. Many people feel that they can't go back to their original lives. Actually, it's not. You should have enough knowledge to foresee what will happen in the future, to prevent it, and to choose what you want most. 」

Cai Qingfen said, for example, a person was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer, but every time he was asked to go back to see a doctor, he said, "OK, next time" because he had no symptoms. Until that day, he was lying in the hospital, breathless and unable to walk. At first glance, pericardial effusion was very late, and I left in a few days.

"He didn't know that the process of small cell lung cancer was very fast, just like normal people, but he didn't know it was a tragedy until the symptoms came out, but many people didn't choose treatment because they were afraid of expensive and side effects. Medical insurance actually pays, but the information is too little to be known. 」

In addition to the sad example, Cai Qingfen also gave an inspiring example. "But I also have a patient with stage IV bone metastasis of lung cancer who has been following us up to now. Because of the progress of medicine, he continued chemotherapy in the outpatient department for three weeks. In addition to continuing to work, he also established regular exercise habits, climbing mountains and traveling. He often said that after getting cancer, he will live healthier and learn to love himself more. 」

Cancer is a comprehensive care.

Xie Ruikun said that there is not only "one doctor" but "a whole hospital" to fight cancer. In addition to cancer resource centers and personal administrators, cancer friends also want to know, "What can cancer eat? What can I eat for chemotherapy? So, there are nutritionists. If they need psychological support or help when applying for financial aid, they will also have social workers to help them.

"Life is most of you, and treatment is only a small part of most of them, so now almost all big hospitals have such anti-cancer teams to help patients solve various problems. No matter what the special problem is, a manager can help you find the answer and let you communicate with the doctor about the most appropriate treatment. 」

Xie Ruikun said that everyone knows that cancer is the enemy, but we must unite all forces to fight and live for two more years. New drugs in the future may be our saviors. "Even if you finally lose the fight against cancer, you should know who you lost, not your own panic. Even if we lose, we must live with quality, because we are individuals. 」