How do we take apart the statistics and the estimations about which treatment is effective versus which care is necessary? What are the factors that guide you and your doctor in estimating your first step and then a next step?
The article (link below) below from today’s New York Times discusses the language of mortality rates, recurrence rates, and overtreatment versus unnecessary care. While the writer, Lisa Rosenbaum is using examples from breast cancer; this is an important article for anyone facing a cancer diagnosis or decisions about levels of care and treatment.
She makes an important distinction between “over-diagnosis” and “overtreatment,” and she explains how fear and perhaps your fear temperament can make a difference in how you interpret what a doc is telling you.She makes the other crucial point that “overtreatment” is not the same as “unnecessary care.” Again, your temperament—and maybe the doctor’s communication skills—are going to have an impact on your decision-making.
Do take a look at this brief but important article, and please, share this one with folks you know in CancerLand.
Here's the link:
