How Do You Know If a Breast Cancer Treatment is Right for You

With the growth of the Internet and just about every business and individual having its own website, the information highway has grown by leaps and bounds. You can search anything and everything and the results that you receive will provide you with such a volume of information that it can quickly become overwhelming.

This also applies to the world of breast cancer and all of the treatments available that not only include those from the medical community but from the holistic and naturopathic realms as well. So how does one know what is personally best when taking all of these options into consideration?

“Remember that each person’s cancer is different from everyone else’s cancer so what has or is working as treatment for a cancer in the same stage and classification as yours does not mean that it will automatically be the best for you.”Barbara Jacoby

As with every decision in life, we have options and choices. Once an initial diagnosis has been made, you may choose to start exploring the information available about your particular type and stage of breast cancer. You may be perfectly satisfied with the advice that you received from your medical doctor especially if surgery has been given as the first step.

Removal of a tumor will allow for an assessment of your actual cancer and will play an important part in determining the best course of treatment from that point forward. But if such is not the case, your decisions may be a bit more difficult.

A lot will depend on your trust and confidence in your doctor. If you have developed a relationship with your primary care provider, you are more likely to be willing to follow their recommendations especially when it comes to referrals to other doctors that will become part of your team. There will be the surgeon, the oncologist and perhaps a radiation oncologist and a plastic surgeon, all depending on the course of treatment that will be designed as best for you.

However, if at any point you are not happy with a recommendation or the medical professional, you should feel comfortable to do some research about alternatives to discuss with your doctor or to request a second opinion. If you are not 100 percent on board with each step of your treatment, your commitment to it and your recovery may very well be compromised.

If you are not in agreement with a medical recommendation that you have received and wish to pursue treatment in an alternative arena, it will be imperative for you to either receive recommendations from your primary care doctor or be prepared to do a thorough research job. The most important thing to remember is to find those who are educated and credentialed in the area of treatment that you wish to pursue.

There are medical professionals who have trained in holistic and naturopathic treatment. Be sure to confirm the information that you find and not just rely on recommendations and accolades that may appear on a site since it is easy to have a person’s family, friends and associates create those without any actual experience with the work of the professional.

Regardless of what you ultimately choose, your progress should be monitored in order to determine if a particular therapy is working. If you always work in tandem with other medical professionals, you will be in the best position to change course if what has been chosen either by you or your doctor is not working as hoped.

Remember that each person’s cancer is different from everyone else’s cancer so what has or is working as treatment for a cancer in the same stage and classification as yours does not mean that it will automatically be the best for you. Your best chances for a successful outcome will always be with the medical community who has been dealing with breast cancer for a long time but ultimately it is your life, your choices and your responsibility