Cancer survivors say teamwork is crucial during treatment

Cancer. The word changes lives the second it's uttered.

More than 1.48 million Americans will hear the word cancer as part of a diagnosis this year. And their worlds will be turned upside down.

Many will think the diagnosis is a death sentence. Sadly, for some, it will be.

Still, nearly 4 percent of all Americans living today consider themselves cancer survivors. That's 11.4 million people who successfully navigated at least one round of attacks on the abnormal cells invading their body tissue, blood or lymph nodes. Some are just out of treatment. Others have lived cancer-free for decades.

The number of survivors has grown steadily in the past three decades, thanks to improved screenings, treatments and technology. In particular, cancers of the breast, prostate and colorectal region are being battled and overcome more than ever, the National Cancer Institute says.

Cancer survivors have a different outlook on life. They know what it's like to think cancer will kill them, but they also know it's quite possible to return to a more normal routine after surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

Four cancer survivors recently shared their special perspective with health professionals at Moffitt Cancer Center's Cancer, Culture and Literacy Conference in Clearwater Beach. They told health care workers and cancer patients that the best way to navigate through diagnosis and treatment is by working together as a team.

Rosalinda Martinez, 28, Tampa

Breast cancer survivor

Martinez and her family didn't know how to react when she was diagnosed at age 21. "The word cancer to me was taboo. I didn't speak of it; my family didn't," she says. "When it was talked about, it was about somebody who had died."

A survivor for seven years, she now is most concerned with her future and her hope to have children some day. That requires making sure she and her gynecologist and oncologist are all on the same page.

"I'm more in tune with my body, and I communicate more with my doctors," she says. "It's almost a paranoia, where with any ache or pain, I report it."

All cancer survivors should keep communication a priority, she says.

Rosa Manglona, 60, San Diego

Breast cancer survivor

Manglona encourages people diagnosed with cancer to take a relative or friend to every appointment to make sure all questions are answered.

You're not in any frame of mind to hear or ask questions, she says, because all you're thinking, really, is "I'm going to die."

"You're living in a fog, and the doctor is talking about treatments and your options," she says. "Please have someone there who can be your eyes and ears and mouth."

Translators may help for cancer patients who don't speak English well.

The comfort of a native tongue goes a long way toward relieving anxiety, Manglona says.

Bob Samuels, 70, Tampa

Prostate and throat cancer survivor

Having lived through cancer twice, Samuels says he knows that cancer patients must always remain aware that the disease could show up again.

"There are no rules in this game. Some people like to say 'I'm cured,'" he says. "But I'm not sure it works that way. We try to apply logic to this disease, but it doesn't work."

Men don't react to cancer the same way women do, Samuels says. That's especially true with cancers that affect their reproductive organs. "Anytime you talk to a man about something below the belt and above the knees, they don't hear you."

He says it can help to have a woman you're comfortable with serve as a health advocate.

Viann Guzman, Tampa

Lung cancer survivor

Respect was an important part of Guzman's treatment and subsequent recovery. She needed her doctors and other health caretakers to see her as an individual.

"I didn't want to be seen as just a sick person. I wanted to be treated with dignity," she says. "I wanted to be treated well and well-respected."

Be yourself during treatment, and rely on things that in the past have helped you deal with tough times, Guzman advises cancer patients.

"Humor is what helped me," she says.

Let your care team know if their jokes - or something else - will offer an emotional boost, she says.