You have cancer! These are three unexpected words that can completely change someone’s life forever. Unfortunately, they are three words that are said more commonly than one would hope for, and in the case of Marisa Acocella Marchetto they were said at the worst time; not that there is ever a good time to hear you have cancer. In the book CancerVixen, Marisa opens up to the world about her eleven-month journey fighting breast cancer from diagnosis to treatment and everything in between. She was a 43-year-old cartoonist for The New Yorker and Glamour. Marisa had everything going for her, from her job to her relationship. She was the “it” girl for Glamour magazine, went to all of the “it” restaurants and bars in New York, had the best hair, best
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From redness of the skin to removal of a breast or limb, patients are constantly having to cope with the change of their bodies and the loss of control. This was seen throughout Marisa’s fight with breast cancer, where she regularly questioned her relationship with her fiancé and compared herself physically to other women. When it comes to body image there has always been this stigma of what the “right” body type is. How long ones’ hair should be, the size of their breast, how slim ones’ waist line is, or even the shape of their nose; these are a few things everyone faces every day. Now imagine facing those stigmas as a cancer patient without having any control of how your body will react to treatment. Even though Marisa had a wonderful support system full of family, friends, and her fiancé, she still came face to face with these body issues. Given that all cancer patients experience some sort of emotional distress, there is always a need for support and care throughout the process. Many times support and care comes from family and friends, however, it may also come from the staff treating the patient, counseling, and even support groups. Several studies and surveys have been taken to determine what may help a breast cancer patient through treatment emotionally and findings suggest that alongside counseling and support groups, open communication with loved ones …show more content…
It is very common for patients to go through this wide array of emotions from diagnosis through treatment, and I feel as though it is our job as therapist to better prepare the patients and their loved ones for what is to come physically as well as mentally. Furthermore, the quality of life assessment tools such as the Quality of Life Index (QLI), Function Living Index-Cancer (FLIC) and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Scale (FACT) should all be more accessible and used more frequently before, during and after treatment. In order for therapists to better treat patients they need to understand what the norm is for each patient emotionally and physically so they are then able to see when the patient is digressing during treatment and offer help before it is too late. I also believe reproduction and the effects treatment may have on fertility for both men and women should be an important topic discusses when the doctor is going over all of the side effects from treatment and not something glossed over. In order for therapists to treat the patients to the best of their ability they must understand all of the side effects patients may come across during the different types of treatments emotionally and physically, and have a better grasp on how to help the patients not only with treatments
From redness of the skin to removal of a breast or limb, patients are constantly having to cope with the change of their bodies and the loss of control. This was seen throughout Marisa’s fight with breast cancer, where she regularly questioned her relationship with her fiancé and compared herself physically to other women. When it comes to body image there has always been this stigma of what the “right” body type is. How long ones’ hair should be, the size of their breast, how slim ones’ waist line is, or even the shape of their nose; these are a few things everyone faces every day. Now imagine facing those stigmas as a cancer patient without having any control of how your body will react to treatment. Even though Marisa had a wonderful support system full of family, friends, and her fiancé, she still came face to face with these body issues. Given that all cancer patients experience some sort of emotional distress, there is always a need for support and care throughout the process. Many times support and care comes from family and friends, however, it may also come from the staff treating the patient, counseling, and even support groups. Several studies and surveys have been taken to determine what may help a breast cancer patient through treatment emotionally and findings suggest that alongside counseling and support groups, open communication with loved ones …show more content…
It is very common for patients to go through this wide array of emotions from diagnosis through treatment, and I feel as though it is our job as therapist to better prepare the patients and their loved ones for what is to come physically as well as mentally. Furthermore, the quality of life assessment tools such as the Quality of Life Index (QLI), Function Living Index-Cancer (FLIC) and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Scale (FACT) should all be more accessible and used more frequently before, during and after treatment. In order for therapists to better treat patients they need to understand what the norm is for each patient emotionally and physically so they are then able to see when the patient is digressing during treatment and offer help before it is too late. I also believe reproduction and the effects treatment may have on fertility for both men and women should be an important topic discusses when the doctor is going over all of the side effects from treatment and not something glossed over. In order for therapists to treat the patients to the best of their ability they must understand all of the side effects patients may come across during the different types of treatments emotionally and physically, and have a better grasp on how to help the patients not only with treatments