First Confrontation with the Diagnosis; a Crisis Period
Prof. Dr. Aytül ÇORAPÇIOĞLU ÖZDEMİR
We all can face a crisis at any point over the course of our lifetime. “Cancer”, known as a fatal disease, makes the person face several existence problems after such a crisis period.
Despite the significant developments in diagnosis and treatment of cancer in the recent years, it makes the patient and her close circle experience severe psychosocial problems as well since its treatment takes long time and is expensive, it may lead to organ loss, and the disease may spread and sometimes result in death. The psychological exposure of cancer patients depends on several variables such as the patient’s strong sense of self, personality structure, personal value of the organ affected by cancer, family order, profession and financial position, presence or lack of supportive occupations, etc.
There have been important changes in the breast cancer care nowadays and as a result of the diagnosis at early stages and the improvements achieved in radiotherapy and chemotherapy methods, the surgeries conserving the skin of the breast and the breast tissue have started to become a current issue. Furthermore, the physicians have started to make efforts to maintain and even to improve the patient’s quality of life in addition to treatment of their breast cancer.
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