The signs of a cancer diagnosis are often not obvious, but when a doctor diagnoses you with cancer, it’s important to take the time to talk to them about it.
They may even want to talk with you about it in detail so you can understand why they are so keen to discuss it.
Dr Sarah MacGregor from the Mayo Clinic explains the difference between the signs that you should look for in your family and what to do if you are feeling worried about your symptoms.
Dr MacGregOR: There are some things that you might notice that could be related to a diagnosis of cancer, like fatigue, or headaches, or weight loss, or some other symptoms.
So there’s a lot of things that are related to the diagnosis of a tumour that can show up in family studies.
If you’re feeling a lot like you’re having a cold or a fever, it could be that there are other things that can be affecting your health.
But for the most part, if you see that a family member has cancer, they are the ones that are really worried about you.
Dr MacgregOR: For some families, the signs are so obvious, like, “We’ve got a tumours, they’re big, and they’re growing on our family”, that they don’t even notice it.
But you can spot some of these early signs of tumours on a family study.
“If you see a family that has a lot more of these symptoms and the symptoms start to increase, and the tumours have grown on the family, then you might be at an increased risk of developing the cancer,” says Dr MacGregors.
If you are worried about the symptoms of cancer in your symptoms, then Dr Macgregor suggests that you see your doctor.
“If your symptoms start getting worse, then they’re probably at an elevated risk of getting cancer,” she says.
And if you’re worried about whether or not your symptoms are related your family’s cancer, you might want to ask your GP about it first.
As the symptoms get worse and worse, you may also need to talk about your cancer with your GP.
“There’s some things you can do to help yourself and others that you can’t do at the moment,” Dr Mac Gregor says.
“You might want your GP to check your symptoms in detail, and if they are worrying about you or about your family members, to tell them what they need to do to manage the symptoms.”
Dr McGregor says that it’s also important to talk your GP out of your treatment, because the symptoms can start getting out of control and it’s not a good idea to just go back to what you did.
“It’s important that you talk with your family about the issues you’re dealing with, and make sure that you are doing what you can to manage those symptoms, rather than just going back to the usual,” she explains.
The best thing to do for you and your family is to make sure you have a healthy relationship with your health, so that you don’t have any issues that are impacting your health or well-being.
You can read more about the signs and symptoms of a family cancer on our website, here.
Follow Claire on Twitter: @ClaireMurdoch
