If You're In the Process of Diagnosis

Being diagnosed with cancer is a process. It doesn't happen all at once. If you have just gotten word you may have cancer, probably have cancer, or even do have cancer, the type and stage of your cancer may still be unknown. In many cases, the doctors can be pretty sure of the type and stage just from the initial studies, but sometimes even the type of cancer is in question for quite some time. A few pointers: Until a pathologist has examined a sample of your tumor from surgery or a biopsy, the exact type of cancer may not be known. For cancer in a number of organs, the vast majority of cancers are of the same type. For example almost all prostate cancers are adenocarciomas and a large majority of cervical cancers are squamous cell carcinoma. The grade and other cellular prognostic factors will also not be known until a sample of your tumor is examined. In a quite a few cases this may not happen until after surgery to remove the primary tumor. Before surgery to remove the primary tumor, the staging is only presumptive. The exact degree of spread is often impossible to determine until the pathologist examines the surgical specimen. The actual degree of lymph node involvement is often not known until after surgery. For some cancers, such as breast cancer, surgical procedures are done just to determine whether the nodes are involved. Despite these uncertainties, you can start researching the staging and treatment of the type of cancer you are suspected of having well before the final diagnosis is in. If you do, you will get far more out of your doctor visits, and you will be primed to make the important decisions ahead. Be prepared for surprises as new information comes in. Cancer is a real roller coaster, and you may have to change your direction many times before you are done.