Decision making & treatment intent

One of the hardest parts about a cancer diagnosis and your treatment is the lack of time. From the moment you're told that you have cancer, your life becomes a complete whirlwind of frantic appointments and emotions. There is little time to think.
But more than any other time in your life, it's extremely important at this point to PAUSE and consider the decisions that you're making and the decisions that are being made on your behalf.

Participate: Ensure you are actively involved in decision-making, you can't take a back seat. You and those closest to you need to ask questions and advocate for your rights and needs. Decisions about cancer treatments will require your participation.

Ask: about the goals and rationale behind every step on the path you take. Do these align with the goals that you have.

Understand: Recognise both what you know and what you don't. True advocacy unfortunately means you'll need to become an expert in your cancer.

Seek: As many opinions as you need to before you feel comfortable that you know what's going on and what needs to be done about it.

Evaluate: Continuously assess how well your treatment aligns with your goals and adjust as needed.