New Year, New Strength: Finding Light in the Journey

  
To cancer patients, the beginning of a new year is scarcely a re-start. There is no pronounced boundary between the past and the future. The medical visits persist, the choices are still hard, and the uncertainty is not going to vanish just because the date has changed. But more importantly, a fresh year brings along something significant: an opportunity to take a break, contemplate, and stride forward with a power that has been molded by one’s experience.

We witness that power at CancerGuru.com every day—in the patients who are thirsty for knowledge, in the caregivers who are learning to live with the change, and in the doctors who are collaborating and sharing knowledge to achieve better patient outcomes.

Revisiting the Past Without Being Controlled by It

Thinking back does not entail going through every trauma. It rather implies taking notice of the year’s demands and taking them as lessons. The year that has passed was for most people a mix of regular and irregular big events.

It might have been such a thing as:

• Invitation to new diagnosis or move in therapy
• Combating with side effects and healing
• Long times of observing, waiting, or not being sure
• Having good times, getting better or having a period of no symptoms

Every one of these situations calls for a strong person. The process of reflecting gives a person a chance to acknowledge that strength without comparing or judging. One does not have to always pass the cancer affected year just one way—there is only what you are going through.

In the case of doctors, the act of reflection usually leads to the recognition of the changing of care standards, the introduction of new diagnostic approaches, and the constant necessity of converting research into practice as the main challenges.

The Power of Understanding

Knowledge is one of the most effective forms of strength. Cancer creates complications, and in the absence of clear and trustable sources, one may find himself during an incredibly overwhelming situation.

CancerGuru became an answer to the problem by uniting the medical professionals, hospitals, researchers, and companies that make the drugs. It is our ambition to minimize the gap between diagnosis and treatment and see to it that both the patients and the doctors are making well-informed choices.

CancerGuru being a patient-oriented platform, is there to help in all aspects of healing. The collaboration of doctors, medical institutions, researchers, and pharmaceutical innovators is the way we reduce the gap between diagnosis and treatment, and between questions and answers. We hold that the provision of accurate and up-to-date medical information is itself a healing process—because understanding gives power to the patients and they can then be more involved with their treatment.

The provision of accurate information builds power in four ways:

• Assisting patients to understand their medical condition along with the treatment options open to them
• Enabling patients to engage in informed conversations with their physicians
• Supplying physicians with the most recent research and resources
• Making things clear and certain rather than creating uncertainties through old and scattered information

Such strength is firm and permanent. It does not depend on positive thinking but on the understanding that comes along with the good practice of medicine.

Reasons Why Connecting is Important in Cancer Care

Cancer treatment is not a separate field. Connection is a necessary link—between skills, technology, and the patient’s requirements—that lead to better results.

Now the digital platforms play a critical role in these connections by:

• Increasing the reach of expert knowledge from one place to another
• Updating the medical community regarding the most recent treatment choices
• Establishing a common understanding of the latest research and technological breakthroughs

CancerGuru is a medical portal where the different parties involved in cancer treatments, medical products, and services can be up to date with the latest changes. When knowledge flows, the care given becomes both more efficient and more humane.

Moving Ahead Without Pressing

Every new year comes with the expectation of moving forward. But in cancer treatment, the improvement sometimes does not come at all or very slowly, although it can be seen at certain points. Going forward might mean:

• Going on with the same treatment or making changes in the treatment plan
• Requesting additional opinions or new diagnostics
• Mastering the issue of long-term effects or living with uncertainty
• Taking a break to relax, stabilize, and evaluate again

These steps do not signify halts in progress. Rather, they are the signs of responsible, patient-centered care. At CancerGuru, our view is that the movement forward should be well-informed and backed up, not hurried.

The Coming Year: Based on Experience

The power that the new year gets is not just a hypothesis, but a reality. It is the result of having a living experience, making correct choices, and having a close relationship with all the parties involved in cancer care.

CancerGuru is making these commitments as we move on:

• Providing patients with easy access to reliable information
• Allowing doctors to keep up with changes in the standards of care
• Promoting the awareness of new research, diagnostics, and treatment that is innovation.
• Using digital technology to better widen access and improve the outcome of the patients.
• The journey still goes on—not because it is easy, but due to its significance.

We will be in the new year all through with great clarity, connection, and quiet confidence—discovering the light not by avoiding the obstacles but by comprehending them and collaborating with each other to finally overcome them.

Image Credit: nikahgeh at FreePik