Well-Meaning Friends Can Make Treatment Choice Difficult

[Guest guest]

Cancer " Coaches " Sway Treatment Choices

February 18, 2008

(The Associated Press) -- The advice made her head spin: Have the

lump removed. No, let them take the whole breast. Chemo? Radiation?

Everyone seemed to have an opinion.

" I just shut everyone down around me, " said Bernie Brann, a newly

diagnosed cancer patient from upstate New York. " You're just so

overwhelmed with information. "

Bad advice, or just too much of it, can compound the trauma and

damage done by the disease itself, cancer patients often find.

Friends and relatives are important for support, but when these

untrained people act as cancer coaches, they can sway people to make

poor decisions about their care.

This includes survivors, whose opinions are highly valued by

patients suddenly facing the scary diagnosis. They may know a lot

about cancer, but can do harm if they project their own experiences

onto someone else, who may have a different form of the disease that

needs different treatment.

Survivors also may be out of touch with changes in the field, where

genetic discoveries are rapidly reshaping notions of who needs

chemotherapy and what kind.

What's the solution?

Many advocacy groups and hospitals are using " professional " coaches -

- trained volunteers or paid workers who can objectively help new

patients navigate the maze of information and options.

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