It Seems The More We Find Out, The More Questions We Have. Can Too Much Information Be A Problem?
Some family members cope well by learning every-thing possible about the cancer and its treatment. However, there is a bewildering amount of information out there—on the Internet, TV, radio, and newspapers—and being bombarded with all of these sources can contribute to feeling overwhelmed. Additionally, diagnosing and treating cancer are complicated processes, often necessitating specialists to understand all this information.
As a nonmedical professional, you cannot be expected to read and understand all of these details in the short time you have to make a decision. Start by reading information given to you by the physician. Review this information and then discuss it with the doctor. If you have more questions or wish to do more research, investigate legitimate resources (see the Appendix). Write down questions as they come to you, and then organize them according to subject. This not only will help you organize questions for the doctor but may make you feel less overwhelmed by making your questions seem more manageable.
Keep in mind that not all questions can be answered. Medicine simply cannot answer all questions about treatment effective-ness or side effects, since so many individual differences occur. If no answer is available and you have discussed it with the physician, try to accept this and move for-ward. A cancer diagnosis is a venture into the unknown, for both the person with cancer and family.