Who do you trust?
When you're suffering from a life-threatening illness, it's good to know that doctors are by far the most trusted professionals. According to the 2009 Ipsos MORI poll carried out for the Royal College of Physicians, 92% of people questioned thought that doctors tell the truth. At the other end of the scale (maybe unsurprisingly in the current climate) are politicians, with only 13%. Interestingly, pollsters themselves come fairly low in the list, at only 45% (who was it who made the comment about "lies, damned lies, and statistics"?). Other members of the medical profession are not specifically mentioned in this poll, but they are traditionally high on the list in many other surveys.
Why was I reading a poll about trusted professions? Because through the work I do for Grove House, I come into contact with a lot of people for whom the truth about their diagnosis, prognosis and recommended treatment is very important. And, because I have cancer, it's important to me too. So I do a lot of reading, and a lot of googling. Which brings me on to another area where trust is important. The internet.
Isn't the internet wonderful? To misquote Woody Allen "Everything you always wanted to know about everything, but were afraid to ask". There is an amazing wealth of information out there, readily accessible at the click of a mouse or the touch of a few keys - I know, I know, it's never quite as simple or straightforward as that (computers, eh?). The fact remains that you can find out a lot about what interests you, or worries you, without ever having to talk to anybody at all.
But how do we know what to believe and what not to believe? If it's true that "you shouldn't believe everything you read in the newspapers", it's even more true of the internet. You can find miracle cures for everything, which can be yours if you just enter your credit card details in the appropriate boxes. So I think to myself: if these cures are so effective, why don't our doctors know about them, and why aren't they readily available from the NHS? The answer, of course, is that there is a vast conspiracy, the object of which is to stop us all from being cured! I was fascinated to come across two different websites, from different sides of the Atlantic, both claiming to have discovered the secret of how to cure cancer. The American one said that doctors in Europe had known about this for years, and were curing people left, right and centre, but that the authorities in the USA were suppressing the information "because they don't want you to know about it"! The British website said exactly the same thing, except of course that the cure was common knowledge in America but being suppressed over here.
The point I want to make is this. The more people we talk to, the easier it is to work out for ourselves who we can trust and who we can't. Ask a lot of different people, preferably people who should know, and if the same answers keep coming back, then it's a fair bet that you can trust those answers, and the people who give them. That's the great thing about Grove House. You have a lot of access to people you can trust. There's a day hospice, an outpatient department, counselling services, an information service, a getting-back-to-normal programme for cancer patients. You can also meet, or be put in touch with, people who are going through the same things you are.
If you don't want to talk, you can get access to complementary therapies to soothe and relax you (and believe me, that can be a very important part of coping with your illness). If you really don't want to meet people, and would prefer to get your information from the internet, then start with websites that you know you can trust, such as the following:
- Macmillan (whose invaluable assistance and funding helped to set up Grove House in the first place).
- The NHS (since they're probably going to be treating you, it seems a logical choice).
All the above will give you answers to all sorts of questions you may have. For those of you who have read Maria's story, and are particularly worried about ovarian cancer, why not try Ovacome?
There are many other websites dealing with specific cancers, or other life-threatening illnesses. Grove House check these out on a regular basis, and I will try to provide appropriate links in future blogs. In the meantime: if you have specific queries, please email Canceri@grove-house.org.uk, or contact them by phone on 01727 843401.