“You have cancer,” her doctor tells her. One of the most horrible news that any human being can hear, regardless of gender, socio-economic level, race and others; such news is usually the worst received by a high percentage of people.

One of the most frequently asked questions is: “Doctor, do I have a cure? In reality, the fear is not so much of illness but of death. Anything that puts a human being’s life at risk is capable of producing radical changes in his or her emotional state.

Cancer is a disease like any other, capable of compromising the life of a human being, however it is not seen in the same way as: Diabetes Mellitus, Arterial Hypertension, acute or chronic Renal Insufficiency among others, which are potentially fatal diseases that may be at a stage where the treating physician can offer a curative, maintenance or simply palliative treatment. On the other hand, cancer has initially taken on a synonym in the eyes of society that, despite new research and technologies that have given it another face, still the majority of the population continues to believe that it equals death (Cancer = Death).

New advances in histopathological diagnosis, molecular and genetic studies, new surgical techniques, different types of chemotherapy, multiple radiotherapy techniques, hormone therapy, immunotherapy, among others, have erased this synonym that cancer acquired decades ago. Now having cancer is having a disease that, depending on the stage, can receive curative, maintenance or palliative treatment just like the others mentioned above.

If your doctor tells you: “You have cancer”, there is no need to change your state of mind; what you do need is to follow all the recommendations given by the specialists with great faith and good spirits.

Gabriel García Márquez says: “The journey is better than the arrival”; life is a journey and the arrival is the last second of our breathing. So, enjoy it with or without cancer because in the end no one knows what will cause your death tomorrow. Live today, enjoy your family, your friends and always have God as the epicenter of everything.

Dr. Oriol Baptiste, Radiation Oncologist
Cancer Center