When you are given the news that you have breast cancer it can come as quite a shock. Even if you have been mentally preparing yourself for the possibility for months now, the sad fact is once they tell you that you have it there is nothing you can do but follow the doctors and orders and truly hope for the best. However there is something to be said about learning all you can and knowing some things that the doctors might not tell you off the bat.
The issue with the information you are receiving about your condition and the information you want to receive concerning your condition is not usually the same thing. Here’s the situation from the doctors perspective.
Let’s say you are the doctor and your patient comes in with a lump on their breast and you go ahead and do the proper tests, which take time, but you do them and they come back that she does in fact have breast cancer. What you tell the patient from there is completely up to you but you have to keep in mind that the last thing you want to do is worry the patient if you don’t have to. Telling them you think the cancer might have spread when all you have is a hunch or a gut feeling is a big no no. They must only tell you what they absolutely know.
So when you decide to look further but the patient wants to know the odds that it has spread. You want to tell them to calm their fears but the truth is you are better off saying nothing at all. It’s not that the doctor wants to keep you in the dark. It’s that the doctor wants you to know exactly what is going on.