Cancer

Facts about Cancer

An average of 990 new cancer cases are recorded in the UK every day
In the UK someone is diagnosed with cancer every 2 minutes
Breast, prostate, lung and bowel cancers combined account for over half of new cancer cases in the UK in 2015
Cancer survival has doubled in the UK over the last 40 years
45% of cancer patients have surgery to remove the tumor as part of their cancer treatment
28% of patients with cancer receive chemotherapy
27% of patients with cancer receive radiotherapy

Top Tips for Living with Cancer

Be Informed

Before attending your first few Doctors appointments, write down all your questions so you can obtain as much information as you can to help you prepare and make decisions about your treatment.

Take in a pen and paper, or a family member or friend to help you remember what you hear.

Let your healthcare team know whether you would prefer to to receive basic information and leave details and decisions to the doctors, or all the facts and details so you can be very involved with the decisions.

Take One Day at a Time

Maintain your day to day lifestyle, but remember that you may need to adjust it where necessary. Make time and save energy for the activities that are most important to you, these are the things that give life meaning and help us keep going.

Assemble Your A-Team

Collect the people who are going to be involved in your treatment. This will include your GP and healthcare team, as well as family and friends who can help you with day to day tasks, such as food shopping and meal prep, and can be there to talk to. Consider taking a delegate member of Team You to appointments to hear all the information given, and pass it round to relevant members of Team You to save you the job.

Also consider if having an outside person to talk to will help, such as a community group, support group or counsellor.

Keep Healthy

Eating right and getting plenty of rest, as well as participating in exercise and fun activities can improve your energy levels as well as your mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. See out pages on healthy eating to see how, and see the healthy eating blog and healthy lifestyle blog in the links above for ideas.

Recent data suggests that people undergoing treatment for cancer can cope better and even live longer if they can participate in some physical exercise.

Develop Your Coping Strategy

Every patient experiences treatment and cancer differently, and different strategies will work differently for each person. Consider trying:

Meditation, mindfulness apps such as Calm and Headspace can be really helpful
Talking to a counsellor, friend or family member, local support group, spiritual advisor or online community
Keep a journal, make sure to list your victories for the day, however small (ie, had a shower, cleaned teeth by 11am etc)
Remain involved with work and recreation as much as possible
Make yourself aware of support, such as financial support in case you need it. The Macmillan support line is free and can advise you on finance and welfare rights. Call 0808 808 0000
Seek an image consultant with experience of cancer if you are about to or are losing your hair. Financial support can be available for wigs and scalp care.

Cancer and Work

Consider informing your employer about your diagnosis. They may be able to make reasonable adjustments, or refer you to Occupational Health so we can advise on any reasonable adjustments that can help you to stay in work.

Reasonable adjustments could include:

Taking time off to attend appointments and treatment
Flexible working hours, part time or work from home if possible, or organising time around the days you’re most needed at work
Any special aids or equipment you may need as a result of your condition (this may be funded by Access to Work)

The side effects from during and after your cancer treatment may affect your ability to work. You may need time off work, or you might find that they are mild and don’t affect your day to day work.

Common side effects of cancer treatment are:

Fatigue – you may feel heavy or weak, or very tired, which can make you struggle to do small daily tasks. This may make you feel breathless or dizzy, or you may have no energy after completing small tasks. One way to manage this is avoid a boom and bust cycle, you may experience small portions of energy but trying to do everything in that time will tire you out. Take plenty of rest to recover between tasks.
Numbness or tingling in hands and feet – this can be caused by chemotherapy, and will get better once treatment finishes
Changes in appearance – you may face changes to your skin, weight, hair loss or scars. Consider seeing an image consultant with experience of cancer if this is affecting you.
Risk of infection – you may experience a drop in white blood cells if you are undergoing chemotherapy, which will put you at risk of infection.
Risk of bleeding – you may need to avoid tasks that could cause you to cut yourself or bruise if you’re platelet cells are low. If your normal work tasks are likely to cause bruising talk to your employer about any other tasks you might be able to do, or any adjustments you can make to the task

Your doctor can give you medicines to help control any symptoms.

What to Know if your Colleague has Cancer

If you are offering help be specific. Offer exactly what you can do to help eg “I can take the post for you on a Monday”, “I can bring lunch in for you”. If you say “let me know if I can do anything”, your colleague will have to figure out what they need doing, what you may be able to do and if you’re agreeable to doing it, which is a lot of hard work.
If you do bring lunch, or make dinner for your colleague, tell them what it is and ask if they’d like some eg “I’m making chili, would you like me to bring you in some to work, or I can drop it round?”
Offer to reduce workload, even if your colleague is off work for treatment. Ask them if there is anything specific they are worried about, like taking care of a special customer or planning how to manage a project.
Ask if they would like you to send them a weekly update so they don’t feel left behind when they do return to work.
Send an office card or gift basket so they know you haven’t forgotten them. The gift basket can be anything, consider things that may make day to day tasks or coming back to work easier, or things that will ease their symptoms such as non-toxic hand cream.
Offer to do research into things they need, such as community support groups or maybe a hospital bed for home, or where to rent wheelchairs from (or charities that may provide one for free)
Ask if they’d like to go for a walk with you. Staying as active as possible is important, and when you’re feeling weak it can be frightening to go out alone. Whether they agree will depend on their current energy level and physical state, but it can keep your colleague feeling normal and keeps the possibility of activity alive for tomorrow even if they can’t do it today.
Text ahead-ask your colleague if it’s ok to drop round to their home or hospital.
Do not visit your co-worker if you are poorly, even if you can’t decide if your sniffle is a cold or allergies.
Text before phoning, find out if they are awake and able to talk, and keep it brief when you do ring. Fatigue is common with cancer survivors, your colleague will need time to rest and heal.

Useful links

Cancer Research: Cancer Statistics

Cancer Research: Coping

Mayo Clinic: Cancer Diagnosis – 11 tips for coping

Macmillan: Coping

Macmillan: Work and Cancer

Cancer+Careers: Coworkers, What to do and not do