Coping with cancer can be extremely difficult for the patient, their close friends, as well as their family. Coping with cancer can include multiple variables that are all equally important. When diagnosed with cancer, a patient is forced to think about financial issues pertaining to how they will pay for tests and treatment. There are also many emotional issues that the patient must become aware of, as both the disease and the treatment they receive can cause many different health conditions. This is why symptom management is so important. Symptom management is the process in which the patient identifies and attempts to treat every symptom they experience as early as possible, so that they do not progress into much more threatening and dangerous symptoms. One of the most important components of coping with cancer is family support. The symptoms from the cancer and the treatment can easily become overwhelming to the patient. Therefore, it is important that the patient's family support them physically and emotionally. Whether the cancer is short lived or fatal, the patient needs a strong support system, comprised of close friends, family members and health care providers. It is also important for the patient to do their best to maintain faith, hope, confidence, and determination in order to fight cancer.

Financial Issues

When a patient is first diagnosed with cancer, they should talk to their health care provider and their health insurance company, to find out all costs that they will need to take care of. If the patient does not have health insurance, they should talk to a representative at the hospital's financial aid department to see if they qualify for health insurance, or any other program that can assist them financially. Depending on the type, location, and stage of the cancer, the patient will need to pay for many different services. Common services that cancer patients will need to pay for include the screening/testing for cancer, Their stay at the hospital, medication(s), various different tests, treatments (chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgical procedures), transportation to and from medical centers, and hospice care (if the cancer is fatal).

Emotional Issues

Cancer can cause the patient to suffer from multiple different health conditions, which they have to deal with in addition to the cancer. These conditions can be caused by either the cancer itself or the treatment they are receiving. Anxiety, depression, confusion, and memory loss are very common in cancer patients, especially in patients who have an advanced case of cancer.

Anxiety

There are many conditions that can be caused by anxiety. Anxiety conditions that are most common in cancer patients are phobias, panic disorder, adjustment disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. It can be very easy for a cancer patient to start thinking irrationally, and this can lead to a panic disorder. These conditions can cause patients to worry about problems that do not exist, or exaggerate a minor conflict into a major devastating issue. These conditions can also change the way in which patients think and/or behave. Patients with severe anxiety may not be able to function normally, preventing them from socializing and dramatically changing their lifestyle

Depression

Depression is very common in cancer patients because they are constantly thinking about their disease, which can also lead them to think irrationally. It is very common for people with cancer to think about death, which can lead to depression. Cancer patients may start to feel depressed about how the cancer and chemotherapy are changing their physical appearance. This can have a big negative impact on their confidence. The cancer and treatment can prevent the patient from doing normal activities, which can prevent them from having a normal social life. The disease and treatment will also most likely put a strain on their financial situation. All of these factors can cause the patient to be depresed

Confusion

Confusion and/or memory loss are other common symptoms that are usually caused by the cancer. Depending on where it is located, the cancer can interfere with blood circulation, damage cells that are needed to support normal brain activity, and tumors in or around the brain can directly impair the patient's ability to comprehend and/or remember events. Health care providers can treat these symptoms with medication, psychotherapy, and methods of relaxation.

Spirituality

A cancer patient's spirituality and/or religion can affect how they fight and deal with cancer. Once a patient is diagnosed with cancer, their health care provider may conduct a spiritual assessment. A spiritual assessment is when the health care provider asks the patient many different questions about religion; if they believe in one, if they are a practicing member of one, if they belong to any religious groups and/or congregations in their community, etc. They will also ask questions and discuss topics regarding the role that spirituality plays in their life. The spiritual assessment is important, because it can give the health care provider information about what decisions the patient may or may not make because of their spirituality, and what role, if any, spirituality will play in their fight against cancer.

Symptom Management

Symptom management can greatly benefit a cancer patient. It is in the best interest of the cancer patient to maintain good symptom management, by identifying each symptom they feel, whether it is caused by the cancer or the treatment they are receiving. The patient should talk to their primary health care provider about any and every abnormal feeling they are experiencing. This way the health care provider can attempt to treat each symptom as early as possible, so that the symptoms do not get worse and possibly untreatable. Most symptoms of cancer are treated with different forms of palliative treatments. Palliative treatment pertains to forms of treatment that ease symptoms without the intent of completely curing what is causing the symptoms. For example, if a cancer patient is experiencing nausea, their health care provider may suggest that they take Pepto Bismol. Pebto Bismol may heal the symptom of nausea, but it will not treat the cancer. Palliative treatments range from over the counter medications to chemotherapy, and even surgery. Common symptoms of cancer include fatigue or excessive tiredness, nausea, constipation or diarrhea, eating and digestive problems, anemia, bleeding problems, fever and/or infection, loss of hair, confusion and memory loss, lymph-edema, changes in appearance of skin, and sexual and fertility problems. Each of these symptoms may be treatable with palliative treatment if they are identified early on.

Family Support

Family support is instrumental in every patient's fight against cancer. When considering all of the financial and emotional issues that every cancer patient has to deal with, it is easy to see why family support is so important to the patient. Cancer patients who do not have family support, can have a tough time fighting off the disease mentally. Cancer patients can often feel like they are alone, and helpless. It is the job of every family member to emotionally and physically support the patient by talking to them, entertaining them, assisting them in activities, and making sure that the patient knows that he or she is loved. Family support can help the patient if they are suffering from anxiety and/or depression. Talking to family members, on the phone or in person, can give the patient the sense that they are not alone, which could restore lost confidence, faith, and hope.