The truth behind cancer care: A First Hand Experience

Cancer is the disease of our generation. From the ever ubiquitous fundraisers, to the thousands of non-profits, the amount of support Cancer patients receive is tremendous. Our health oriented society has placed much emphasis on debunking the mysteries that surround cancer. So practically,with the amount of capital we as a nation spend each year on this disease, shouldn't the level of care, prognosis, and treatment be at all time levels? Unfortunately, in a new study by the Institute of Medicine, the level of care as well as coordination done by doctors for cancer patients is "at an all time low." The study found that the palliative care in the cancer community is shockingly below average. Much of these concerns are highlighted by the fact that there is a "growing demand for cancer care," but  there is a "shrinking oncology workforce." Aside from this logistical problem, one of the more outraging points made by the study is that doctors are usually the culprits behind such poor palliative care. Doctors lack coordination and since treatments have gotten so complex, doctor's are struggling to provide basic information or prognoses on the type of treatment available. In many instances, cancer patients, many of whom have a limited background in the hard sciences, have to do their own research, and contact specific treatment agencies/and more specialized doctors to get the needed treatment for their specific form of cancer. This issue is actually much more widespread than you would think, and I have a second hand experience to such a disaster within our health community. My cousin, a twentry three year old recent grad from the University of William and Mary, was diagnosed with stage two Intraocular Lymphoma two years ago. The form of cancer was so rare that it took more than six months to officially diagnose the disease with a basic from of treatment. Aside from that diagnosis, my cousin, and our distraught family, were left alone. We had to personally look into the disease, and find any sort of treatment that could save his life. By the time a clinical study was found, my cousin had already advanced to the terminal stage of that form of cancer, thus making him ineligible for proto-drugs that were being researched. This ordeal was a very angering experience as it clearly exposed the lack of efficiency that currently plagues the field of oncology. This in essence seems like a very fixable issue. Ideally, it would be ideal to better educate doctors and other members of the health community about the different forms of cancer and how they could diagnose/treat it. Practically, it should be even clearer that the physician himself/herself should be the solution. Rather than making half-assed prognoses and moving onto the next patient, a true physician should do their jobs and work towards actually helping/alleviating their patients. They took the Hippocratic Oath for a reason...