The Complexity Of Having Cancer During Pregnancy
Cancer is a terrible disease that can affect us all equally. However, we cannot imagine a more complex scenario than having cancer during pregnancy. A pregnant woman can have serious health problems, which must be treated with great care. In the case of a disease that requires so many procedures and treatments, the situation becomes extremely delicate.
In addition, it is not only suffered physically, there is also an overwhelming psychological complexity. Facing this dire situation deserves a lot of courage from everyone involved. It takes a lot of family support, because the medical issue is not everything, emotionally there is a lot of work to be done.
The additional risks that a pregnant woman with cancer faces can fill her with deep stress. Decisions are more difficult, fear is endless, and anxiety takes center stage. In these cases it is essential that a positive attitude spread in the patient and those closest to them, it is imperative that there is hope that everything will improve.
Cancer during pregnancy
It is difficult to imagine two more opposite news, on the one hand you receive an incomparable gift when you become a mother, on the other, you are at risk of dying. Some people believe that all the strength to fight this disease is in the unborn baby. However, the emotional characteristics of the pregnancy could complicate the situation. In addition, the fear of not surviving for our son must be a difficult obstacle to overcome.
Psycho-oncology specialists consider that everything will depend on how each patient deals with it. Not all people are the same, therefore, it is possible that there is a more positive attitude in some than in others. Although the disease can be similar in all cases, the way we experience it is decisive for our emotions.
Similarly, there are things that cannot be avoided, for example the emotional sensitivity of the pregnant woman. This is something that does not necessarily have to be bad, the mother’s emotions can be negative or positive. At this time, support must come from everywhere, it is essential in the family and also in doctors.
Psychological evaluation and treatment is recommended, in addition to the already known procedure to attack the disease. Various factors affect the development of the disease, therefore, the number of decisions in this regard increases. There is no single recommendation or recipe to address this issue, which is why the prognosis and attitude of the patient greatly influence.
How to proceed if there is cancer during pregnancy?
As such cancer is not a standard disease. It is a group of diseases with similar characteristics. Depending on the place where the cancer occurs and how advanced it is, a medication and procedure will be planned to attack.
Other influencing factors are the patient’s age and gestation time. The main treatments, which are chemo and radiotherapy or surgery, can be risky for pregnancy, but it depends on many factors.
As we know, the chances of surviving cancer depend on when it was diagnosed. Although this disease is always associated with a clear danger of death, a large number of patients overcome it with success. Medical advances have improved the life expectancy of many patients. However, in the case of pregnancy, there are fears for the life and health of the mother and the fetus.
The psychologist and oncologist Damián Enríquez, a specialist at the Universidad del Pacífico, affirms that all cancer patients must mainly evaluate their quality of life. Enríquez maintains that it is difficult to decide on the future of the pregnancy; a woman can agree to interrupt him before his diagnosis. However, he advises that an attempt be made to preserve the life of the baby, but expresses that he supports any decision.
A woman may not be willing to deal with such a difficult situation, which is why she would put her health first. However, according to the beliefs of each one, it is possible to fight so that both are favored. Either way, the psychologist expresses his willingness to help the mother professionally, regardless of the decision he makes.
