During a biopsy, your doctor removes a small amount of tissue for examination. It is an important way to diagnose many different types of cancer. After a biopsy, your health care team completes several steps before the pathologist makes a diagnosis. A pathologist is a doctor who specializes in reading laboratory tests and looking at cells, tissues, and organs to diagnose disease.
Even with the best treatment, a cure for cancer might not be possible. If cancer does not respond to treatment and continues to grow, doctors talk about advanced, terminal, or end-stage cancer. This is a difficult diagnosis. But there are steps you can take to prepare yourself and your family for your final days.
If you are living with advanced cancer, it is normal to feel many different emotions. You may feel things you do not expect. Know that your feelings are completely normal.
If your parent has cancer, you may feel torn between independence as a young adult and helping your parent. Caregiving can be a rewarding way to reconnect with parents. It may also limit your freedom and ability to explore new opportunities.
As a caregiver for your parent, you may be concerned about how to provide support with limited time and resources. Meanwhile, the lives of your friends may revolve around careers, relationships, and outside interests. These differences may cause you to feel alone in managing your new responsibilities and emotions.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a test that can be used to find a tumor in the body and to help find out whether a tumor is cancerous. Doctors also use it to learn more about cancer after they find it, including:
The size and location of the tumor
To plan cancer treatments, such as surgery or radiation therapy
To see how well treatment is working
If you are over the age of 65 and have been diagnosed with cancer, you should know that you are not alone. In fact, most people who are diagnosed with cancer and most cancer survivors are older than 65. Because of this, most cancer care teams have experience treating people who are older. This means that they often know how aging can affect cancer and cancer treatment. In some places, there are also specialists who can provide additional help for older adults.
Having cancer does not necessarily mean you will stop working. You might take time off for appointments, treatments, or extra rest. You might work as much as possible or take a leave of absence and return later.
There are benefits to working even when you have cancer. Going to work can help you feel more normal, and remind you that life goes on. Work can also provide important financial support, including health insurance benefits. This article tells you about working while you have cancer and returning to work after treatment.
