Leukemia (cont.)
Sources of Support
Learning you have leukemia can change your life and the lives of those close
to you. These changes can be hard to handle. It's normal for you, your family,
and your friends to have new and confusing feelings to work through.
Concerns about treatments and managing side effects, hospital stays, and
medical bills are common. You may also worry about caring for your family,
keeping your job, or continuing daily activities.
Here's where you can go for support:
- Doctors, nurses, and other members of your health care team can answer many
of your questions about treatment, working, or other activities.
- Social workers, counselors, or members of the clergy can be helpful if you
want to talk about your feelings or concerns. Often, social workers can suggest
resources for financial aid, transportation, home care, or emotional support.
- Support groups can also help. In these groups, patients or their family
members meet with other patients or their families to share what they have
learned about coping with the disease and the effects of treatment. Groups may
offer support in person, over the telephone, or on the Internet. You may want to
talk with a member of your health care team about finding a support group.
- Information specialists at 1-800-4-CANCER and at LiveHelp (http://www.cancer.gov/help)
can help you locate programs, services, and publications. They can give you
names of national organizations that offer services to people with cancer and
their families.
Taking Part in Cancer Research
Cancer research has led to real progress in leukemia treatment. Because
of research, adults and children with leukemia can look forward to a better
quality of life and less chance of dying from the disease. Continuing
research offers hope that, in the future, even more people with this disease
will be treated successfully.
Doctors all over the country are conducting many types of clinical trials
(research studies in which people volunteer to take part). Clinical trials are
designed to answer important questions and to find out whether new approaches
are safe and effective.
Doctors are studying methods of new and better ways to treat leukemia, and
ways to improve quality of life. They are testing new targeted therapy,
biological therapy, and chemotherapy. They also are working with various
combinations of treatments.
Even if people in a trial do not benefit directly, they still make an
important contribution by helping doctors learn more about leukemia and how to
control it. Although clinical trials may pose some risks, doctors do all they
can to protect their patients.
If you are interested in being part of a clinical trial, talk with your
doctor.
NCI's Web site includes a section on clinical trials at http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials.
It has general information about clinical trials as well as detailed information
about specific ongoing studies of leukemia. Information specialists at
1-800-4-CANCER or at LiveHelp at http://www.cancer.gov/help can answer questions
and provide information about clinical trials.
Next: What resources are available to patients with leukemia? »
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