Cancer Survivors: Two Myths that Will Compromise Survivors’ Life Quality
The roughly twelve million cancer survivors living in the United States have a complex set of health needs that must be met besides regular care and screening, as highlighted by a recent report from the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Craig Earle from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto, Canada, recently did cancer research and found patients had higher expectations than their oncologists that the oncologists would frequently contribute to non-cancer related survivorship care, including routine screening for other cancers. Myths such as these continue to prevail. Here are two more.
Survivors’ Myth #One: Homeopathy is useless in the treatment of cancer survivors
Survivors Fact:
Some professional homeopaths specialize in cancer treatment, and can manage the disease in all its stages. Some people report feeling worse briefly after starting homeopathic remedies. Homeopaths understand this as the body temporarily imitating symptoms while it makes an effort to re-establish and maintain good health. If you are considering using homeopathic remedies as part of your post-cancer care, you should discuss it with your doctor.
Survivors’ Myth #Two: It is impossible for cancer survivors to obtain medical insurance coverage
Survivors’ Fact:
The easiest way for survivors to get health or life insurance is to work for a company or institution with a large number of employees. In general, employees do not have to prove that they are healthy to be insured with their job’s plan. Cancer survivors may face a pre-existing condition exclusion period, where the insurance company makes them wait for as long as a year before giving them coverage.
Cancer survival means facing the late effects of the disease, which can be defined as complications, disabilities, or adverse outcomes resulting from the disease process, the treatment, or both. It’s comforting to know that survivors can turn to homeopathic medicine for relief, and that it’s possible to obtain medical insurance, though there may be a bit of a wait for it.