Feb 13, 2020
Vidcast: https://youtu.be/lwVLUsXVm40
The celebratory bell ringing when a cancer patient finishes radiation, chemo, or immunotherapy fails to prompt good feelings but rather conjures flashbacks of physical and emotional pain.. Oncologists at USC now publish a study of 210 patients half of whom rang the bell. All filled out an opinion survey to measure distress.
The bell ringers turned in worse distress scores immediately after therapy completion. Three to four months later, their negative feelings were even worse.
Finishing treatment for cancer is a milestone, but cancer control is a marathon and not a sprint. More treatment may be necessary but the goal is to be certain that your cancer isn’t life-threatening.
Patrick A. Williams, Jinxiang Hu, PhD†, Dongyun Yang, PhD‡, Shu Cao, PhD‡, Richard L. Jennelle, MD∗. The Cancer Bell: Too Much of a Good Thing? Radiation Oncology.. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2019.06.012
#cancer #bell #chemotherapy #radiationtherapy #immunotherapy #PTSD