ABSTRACT
My story is the tale of an individual, her thoughts, feelings and experiences recounted as they are logged in the archives of her memory. But how does it compare, in its twists and turns, to the experiences of others? The experiences of the numerous cancer patients and their relatives, of the GPs, oncologists and other health professionals working in the area? Cancer is frighteningly common. Current figures suggest that it touches one family in three. National newspapers carry articles weekly, proclaiming medical break throughs or warning of new risk factors and concerns. Its nature and its prevalence beg a multitude of questions regarding the psychological aspects of both the treatment and management of cancer patients and their disease. As I charted my progress through the murky water of my disease and its treatment, and as I sat down to remember, to retell my story, a multitude of questions collected in my mind. Could the diagnosis have been handled more effectively? Did other patients feel upset and dissatisfied by clumsy consultation and ineffectual communication skills? Was I unusual in my desire for information and involvement in decision making? To what extent did other patients need or exercise control over their disease process? And from the other side, how did doctors feel about the training and
support they were given in handling such difficult consultations? My questions went on, each experience I had had added a further layer of complexity, overlapping and enfolding each other like the petals of a tightly curled rose bud.
