What will be your first reaction if you find out you got cancer?

She? He is a he. lols. Anyway I think its only going to make him more depress than manage something. He is a family man. And even though he is old and his children has family he is still the breed winner. That's why if he knows I'm sure he will going to feel depress as he can't only provide his family food in their table he become a liabilities also.

Yes cancer is treatable if it is diagnosed in its beginning phase, I just heard. But in Bangladesh we are all so vulnerable to cancers as we are eating all insecticides contaminated food, arsenic contaminated water and living or moving in an severely polluted environment. Here is none to promote our situations. Govts is too idiot to understand what serious vulnerability we are being in. And yeah if I can know that I am attacked with any incurable disease I would not get affected a bit even as already I know this is my destiny. If I die I'll blame the whole world that they could not been able to save our lives. And its my consolation I'll pass so easy.

@owlwings I guess its depends on the culture. In our country its always the family who will be told by the doctor the condition of the patient especially if its terminal. So that its give time for the family to talk about family matters but same time shield the patient of depression and just enjoy the remaining of that patient life.

I agree, Bulastika, that it depends on the culture. I guess that where families are very close knit (as they are not here in the UK and even less - to a certain extent - in the United States) it is considered ethical to tell the patient first and then the family. In societies where families are much more closely tied, it is probably assumed that bad news like this should come from the immediate family and so the family are told first. The trouble is that fanily will often withhold information like this and so the system falls down. I believe that it is everyone's right to know first whatever information about their health a doctor knows. Culture and custom simply do not come into the argument at all. If culture and custom say that it should be the person's closest relatives who should tell the patient, that is fine ... as long as they DO SO! Very often, they do not. If my doctor told my close family something and did not tell me, I would be very annoyed (and, in fact, in this country, the doctor would be guilty of gross misconduct). Please do not think of 'shielding the patient from depression' or anything like that! Everyone has a right to know whatever information others have about themselves. If someone is adult and, presumably, capable of dealing with things pertaining to their health and welfare, then they have an absolute right to know all the information and to be given the chance (and necessary support, of course) to make their own decisions and conduct their own life accordingly. Bulastica, you should actively FIGHT this custom in your country. It is basically WRONG and against all principles of human rights.

You are correct that it is NOT right for you to tell this person what you know. The ONLY person who has a right to give this information to a patient is the doctor himself. Culture and custom may say that, out of kindness, the people who should actually tell the patient ought to be his close family but, in that case, the doctor must be able to trust those people to do so. Very often, he cannot be sure that they will and very often he assumes that, by telling them, he has absolved himself. The ONLY proper person to tell a patient that he is dying is the doctor himself. His training and knowledge is the BEST source of information and his training should also have taught him how to best pass on the information to the patient and his family. It is always the doctor's responsibility and it cannot be absolved merely by expecting someone else to pass it on.

In this condition right now. He is old and same times does not have enough money even for his eating. So I don't think he can do anything about it in term of medical because of financial constrain. But in term of acceptance. I guess so. He really need to know just to prepare himself. But I guess he already knows.

The ONLY person who is capable of deciding and qualified to decide whether they can accept the fact of their imminent demise is the patient him- or herself. Much support may be necessary, of course, but the FIRST person to tell must be the patient unless they are quite definitely mentally incapable of dealing with the information themselves. In most cases, even where very young, mentally incapable or senile patients are involved, they should be given at least as much, if not more, information than they are capable of absorbing.

Lets hope so. Not only for the sake of financial reason but for the sake of living also. Its because if you have cancer of course you want to live and you want to do anything to live and that means going to hospital and take some treatment. Problem is that they don't have money so its going to make him depress more.

Its good if you have financial stability at least if you know that you going to die in ten months you know that your family is stable. But if you are a breed winner and you have financial problems if you know that you going to die within ten months its going to make your life more miserable knowing that you die and your family is not secure financially.

God has given each of us people a specific life and no one can live beyound that. The only thing we can do is just to lend prayers to him. May god bless you.

I guess its really important that we know if we are dying or not. Even though we know we can't do anything at least we know that some how we can live a life knowing that we are leaving. I have hard time thinking that someday we can see our love one goes. But that's part of life.

I guess if you have cancer you also know that theirs something wrong with you really. I know its hard to earn money if you are sick but if you are not financially stable chance are you going to be in state of denial and still will try to make sure that you are earning money just to have food in your table even though you know you have only few months to live.

I guess he really has the right to know but the big question is will its going to help him or not? Its because he has financial problem right now and if he knows that he has a cancer he even going to have even more problem and maybe going to be stress out and instead of living for 10 months he can last in less than 3 months only.

Having 10 months to live I don't think he can prepare anything. At most he can do right now is prefer his mind and soul for his time. But same time since he is not financially stable I guess if he going to know that he has 10 months to live he going to get more worried about his family and going to make him more depress and may end up dying much earlier than 10 months.