Living with cancer: Guidance from Mayo Clinic experts

By Nicole Ferrara • July 30, 2024

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

By Mayo Clinic staff

Whether cancer runs in your family or you've recently been diagnosed with the disease, living with cancer can be hard. Every day at Mayo Clinic, healthcare professionals care for people who face this reality.

A group of these Mayo Clinic cancer experts helped create a series of short videos sharing their guidance on how to cope with the challenges of life with cancer. These videos feature advice from these experts:

Judy C. Boughey, M.D., a surgical oncologist.
Shawna L. Ehlers, Ph.D., a psychologist and psycho-oncology expert.
Joy R. Heimgartner, a dietitian specializing in cancer nutrition.
Dawn M. Mussallem, D.O., an integrative health and breast cancer specialist.
Mabel Ryder, M.D., an endocrinologist.
Adam M. Shultz, an exercise physiologist.

Each video is no more than two minutes long. Watch one now:

When cancer runs in your family

Worried about a family history of cancer? Hear Mayo Clinic experts Dr. Dawn Mussallem, Dr. Shawna Ehlers and Adam Shultz offer advice on managing your risk — and your worry.

Show transcript

We asked Mayo Clinic experts: What advice do you have when cancer runs in the family?

Dawn M. Mussallem, D.O.: There are certain types of cancers that occur in families that raise red flags, such as a family history of breast cancer in a relative that happened at a young age.

If you have a family history of any of these sorts of cancers, it's important that you talk with your doctor about potentially having genetic testing.

Shawna L. Ehlers, Ph.D., L.P.: Most commonly, this conversation comes up with parents who are worried about their children. There are sometimes feelings of guilt or even blaming themselves. And so, we'll have a conversation, just kind of poking holes in that because it can't be your fault. These were your genetics that you had when you were born.

Adam M. Shultz, CEP: Instead of focusing or even worrying about genetic predisposition, we focus on the things they have control over such as their activity habits, nutrition, stress management and those things.

Dr. Ehlers: Simply separating it into what they control and what they don't control can be very helpful.

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Why goals matter during cancer treatment

What's most important to you? Hear Mayo Clinic experts Dr. Mabel Ryder, Dr. Judy Boughey and Dr. Shawna Ehlers share why your answer matters when creating a cancer treatment plan.

Show transcript

We asked Mayo Clinic experts: Why are goals so important during cancer treatment?

Mabel Ryder, M.D.: Often treatments for patients' cancer can be different. There can be different options, and so it's important for the provider to know what the goals of the patient are, so we can pick the right treatment for them that perhaps enables them to achieve their goals for care and their other goals in life.

Judy C. Boughey, M.D.: It's really important for the treating team to know what the patients' goals are. These can vary based on how far they're willing to travel, how much work they're able to miss, and whether we need to adjust treatment plans to fit in with their family, with their job in order to enable them to complete their treatment course.

Shawna L. Ehlers, Ph.D., L.P.: You might see a young mom and she needs to be a parent. And so it's really important for the team to understand how important and central that is to her. And that may mean trying treatments that are experimental. Because at all costs, she just wants to survive and be there. That may mean different treatment regimen that allows her a little more energy or even scheduling in the morning, so she can take a nap before the kids come home at the end of the day.

Dr. Ryder: Thyroid cancer for example: If the patient has a particular goal — such as "I'm a singer" or "I'm in a band" — and they want to preserve their vocal cord function, then a lobectomy as opposed to a near-total thyroidectomy might factor into that approach of what type of surgery we do.

Dr. Ehlers: You, as the patient, are the captain of the team, and really the only thing that matters is what your goals are. And your care needs to be built around those goals. So every part of your care should support what's important to you in life. That's why you're fighting cancer.

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How to talk about a cancer diagnosis

Patients often ask Dr. Shawna Ehlers how to talk to friends and family about a cancer diagnosis. Here's what she tells them.

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We asked a Mayo Clinic psychologist: What's the best way to share a cancer story with others?

Shawna L. Ehlers, Ph.D., L.P., Cancer Stress Management Program: Part of what I do as a cancer psychologist, I think, is empower patients that it is their life. It's their story.

Patients come to my office a lot, asking about how to talk to other people about cancer. Sometimes people avoid going out of their house, because they don't want anybody to ask them about cancer.

You know the full experience like nobody else can, so the big, thick novel experience of your cancer. And the people closest to you know the abridged version. And people a little bit further away, the outline. And then three bullet points.

And I ask them to push that all the way out to the one bullet point you could put on the headlines at news at night and you wouldn't care who saw it. That one bullet point that you carry with you all the time so you have a response for anyone.

And it can be very sincere and genuine: "I am really tired about talking about me. I've been going to the Mayo Clinic, and they're really helping me out." And then to steer the conversation and say, "What I really want to hear about is, how are your kids?"

Dr. Ehlers has helped thousands of patients through the emotional side of being a cancer survivor.

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Why you should accept help when you have cancer

Dr. Shawna Ehlers calls cancer a team sport. Learn why she says asking for help is important for patients and loved ones.

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A Mayo Clinic expert explains why it's important to accept help when you have cancer

Shawna L. Ehlers, Ph.D., L.P.: One of the best things that patients can do when they're diagnosed with cancer is allow other people to help them.

Often people feel like they don't want to be a burden. And so they won't share. But sometimes that leaves the loved ones feeling like they're just helplessly watching, almost through a glass wall, watching somebody they love, and they can't do anything.

But if you can think of a way that that person can be genuinely helpful, it might actually help them feel helpful, and give back in a reciprocal relationship.

These are the things that families and communities are made of — those connections, those networks.

Sometimes it's better for me and my loved ones if they can help me and they're a (part of my) team. Cancer is a team sport so to speak. You can't do it alone, and everybody is better off working together.

Dr. Ehlers has devoted her career to helping people face cancer with resilience.

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Tips on what to eat during cancer treatment

Your appetite changes during cancer treatment. Learn how to plan for changes from Joy Heimgartner.

Show transcript

We asked a Mayo Clinic expert: What nutrition advice do you give patients during cancer treatment?

Joy Heimgartner, Dietitian, Clinical Nutrition: I think if it were up to a lot of us, probably myself included, if I was going through a harsh treatment, I might just say, "I'll eat better when I feel better."

Unfortunately with cancer treatment, you can't do that. You have to eat when you don't feel like eating. It's just part of your treatment plan, and just like taking your medications, you have to nourish your body.

Especially if it's a patient that I know, and I know that they enjoy eating. That's a sad moment for me when they tell me they don't want to eat, because I understand that's a part of something we've been doing since the day we were born. Our goal is to get them back to having more days of being to eat for pleasure, eat with friends, enjoy their food. But for right now that might mean we're eating because it's part of the treatment plan.

Usually it's about OK, "What is working for you?" Taste changes during cancer treatment are very common. One of the things we find as dietitians is that root beer tastes the same to a lot of patients throughout all of their taste changes. And so I'm not against making a patient a root beer float even if it's their breakfast for that day. Because that gets them some fluids, some calories, and gets them off to a better start of the day, so they have more energy to consume some other nutrition.

It's not necessarily what foods, it's really more the logistics of what's working, how do we get that in more often to get you what you need.

Joy Heimgartner is a dietitian who has helped hundreds of patients stay nourished through cancer treatment.

Get expert health tips delivered daily when you download the Mayo Clinic App.

Exercise during cancer treatment

Staying active is one of the best things you can do for yourself during cancer treatment. Hear Adam Shultz discuss the benefits.

Show transcript

We asked a Mayo Clinic expert: Why is exercise so important during cancer treatment?

Adam M. Shultz, CEP, Preventive Cardiology and Cardiovascular Integrated Stress Laboratory: Certain types of chemotherapy can cause damage to the heart so that it can't pump as effectively. And that's where additional therapy such as exercise can come in. Because one of the benefits of it is to help improve heart function.

One of the most important predictors of how someone's going to do clinically, or their outcomes, is the ability to do activities like walking, biking, swimming for extended periods of time. The fitter people are in that regard, the better their outcomes, (and) the less likely they are to die of not only cancer but any cause.

The benefits extend well beyond just physical. Fatigue is considerably improved with exercise. (There are) also improvements in depressive symptoms, anxiety, and we can actually rate overall quality of life.

Oftentimes, when I'm meeting with cancer survivors, they mention to me that there's a sense of lack of control. And so, it's really valuable for mental well-being, and of course physical, to have something that you have say over, that you can take the reins on. And an exercise program tends to be one of those things.

Adam Shultz has helped hundreds of cancer survivors lead healthier lives.

Learn more

Learn more about coping with cancer by reading these articles:

Join the Cancer Support Group on Mayo Clinic Connect, an online community moderated by Mayo Clinic for patients and caregivers.

Learn about the free education and resources offered to cancer patients at all Mayo Clinic sites by the Stephen and Barbara Slaggie Family Cancer Education Center.