It has been approximately a year since I started this website/blog and it continues to be a work in progress.   This website/blog was produced with much thought, time and effort with the goal of helping and generating awareness among cancer patients and their families.  There are still sections that need to be developed, and in recent months I had to put it aside for personal reasons, but now I am back and moving ahead.  For the most part I am satisfied and proud with how this website/blog is evolving.

      Determined that no one should feel helpless and be paralyzed with fear regarding what to do and where to go for help, I created this site. Unfortunately both my parents succumbed to cancer and needlessly suffered.  In hindsight, if only I knew now what I didn’t know before their lives could have ended differently and more peacefully – but regrettably it is too late.   I learned a great deal and want to share my experiences of what my parent’s went through, particular for my mother since I was her caregiver. She passed away a year ago and it still seems like only yesterday. I want to help others, in similar situations, to benefit from my knowledge.

As it is, when one is given the diagnosis of cancer there is immediate shock, dismay, disappointment and disbelief.  I remember when our family learned that my mom had Stage 4 Lung Cancer, following my dad’s death the year before, a sort of paralysis set in my mind.  I couldn’t believe that after losing my dad, my mother was going to have to go through it as well.  All our family was scared.  There is a feeling of helplessness and depression – you want to do something, find the right answers, go only to the best doctors. There is a rush to do research, ask people what they know.  Time is ticking away and yet all the information seems overwhelming and you can’t absorb it all.

Supportive Care Exchange was established so cancer patients and their families will have a central place they can turn to – for resources, research articles, and personal stories.  I continue to do research and look for important up-to-date research and articles that I believe will be important for cancer patients.  The research I find comes from credible sources:  The Institute of Medicine (IOM), The Journal of American Medicine (JAMA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), cancer associations and newspapers reporting on the latest research and developments.

So many times I wish I found the articles sooner, then perhaps my parents would have had better quality of life at the end, with knowledge comes power.  At this point in time I can only help others from “being in the dark” and knowing all their options.  It amazes me how so many oncologists – including my own parent’s doctors – kept my parents “uninformed” and told them only what they felt was necessary.  They should have known what would have happened if they didn’t opt for treatment, since in their cases treatment only exacerbated their situation, and served no purpose.

For many cancer patients treatment is not always the best course of action.  As in my parent’s cases treatment was unnecessary and only caused great suffering at the end.   It is my belief that cancer treatment is not appropriate for the elderly (See my comments in The Forum regarding this).  The majority of people in the oncologist’s waiting room are elderly people (from what I experienced with my parents).  If the elderly decide not to continue treatment – there goes the oncologist’s income.  Cancer is a business and it’s all about revenue!  I sometimes wonder if a cure for cancer will ever be found because of this!

The viagra levitra cialis public deserves clean, continuous and affordable supply service. If you see specific untypical signs, the call to go to a physician at the cheap viagra from canada earliest opportunity. This will help the component to obtain the viagra tablet for sale medication without visiting a physician. For instance, there are foods canadian levitra which treat erectile dysfunction. I welcome others to share their own personal stories or research and share it with everyone on this site.  My ultimate goal is to create an interactive community of patients and their families, medical professionals, caregivers, nurses and home care aides, pharmacists, social workers – people who can share their stories with one another.  There can be anonymity – no one needs to disclose any personal information – just share your experiences, research and resources so that others can benefit from it.  The motto of this site is:  Sharing is Caring!  It’s a horrific time when a person and his or her loved ones finds out he or she has cancer.  No one need ever be alone.  Let’s help one another. Please go to the “Forum” on this site – share your advice and comments there.

I would like to thank all those who have supported me in my efforts and appreciate all the positive feedback.  Now you too can become proactive and take the next step and become a member of an interactive, sharing and caring community – known as the “Supportive Care Exchange.”  Not enough is done in this regard.  The focus on cancer is in prevention and a cure.  While this is important, the supportive care of cancer patient deserves greater attention; it is about helping patients deal with their symptoms, and try to improve their quality of life.  It shouldn’t have to be about suffering. Research has shown that palliative care is very important and should not be discounted at the early stage of diagnosis.  Many, including doctors, do not truly understand what it is all about and see it as “giving up” instead of being about supportive care. I hope to find more articles on “Palliative Care” and provide patients with resource information.  This is an area that needs more development and focus.

As more people begin to age their risk of getting cancer is much greater after the age of 65.   More and more articles are being written about how the costs of cancer care are very high and many are questioning the over treatment and over diagnosis of cancer.  I am including here very important articles reported in the New England Journal of Medicine (IOM-Institute of Medicine) and the Journal of American Medicine (JAMA) – about the “Crisis of Cancer Care” and how  the medical community needs to reevaluate and reexamine the current cancer treatments.  The articles provoke thoughts and bring up concerns over the quality of care that is provided to cancer patients: “Overdiagnosis and Overtreatment in Cancer:  An Opportunity for Improvement,”  ”Do Physicians Have an Obligation to Disclose the Uncertainty About Harms or Just the Harms?”  ”The Value of Sharing Treatment Decision Making With Patients Expecting Too Much,” “IOM Report:  Aging US Population, Rising Costs, and Complexity of Cases Add Up to Crisis in Cancer Care,” “It Is Possible Quality Measurement During Serious Illness,” “Women With Breast Cancer Who Opt for Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy May Overestimate Future Risk.”  These articles can be found in the “Relevant Articles” section of this website.

Please let me know what topics of research you are interested in.  I am doing my best to find the type of information I believe will help cancer patients and their families make informed decisions.  Keep supporting me!   Participate in the Forum!  Spread the word about the Supportive Care Exchange!

Thank you all,

Cheryl Silverman, Founder of Supportive Care Exchange