Academic Master

BIOLOGY

Lung Cancer Case Study

Introduction

Cancer: The human body is made up of countless cells. These cells are born, divided, and die according to their lifespan. These cells help the body to heal and function. Cancer takes place when these cells become abnormal. These cells start growing in an abnormal fashion and join to cause lumps, called a tumor. These lumps may be benign, which means limited to the organ that is affected, or malignant, which means that it is spread across other parts of the body.[i]

Lung Cancer: Lung Cancer is a state in which there is an abnormal growth of cells into the air passage that further spreads across the lungs. These abnormal cell growths do not allow air to reach the lungs, which is a necessity to survive. These abnormal cells start to join together to form tumors. There are two kinds of tumors. Malignant tumors are those that spread to the whole part of the body. When these cancer cells spread, it is very difficult to treat them. Benign tumors are those that do not spread and are easily treatable. There are two stages of Lung Cancer, the primary stage of this cancer is limited to the lungs, but in the secondary state, the cancer cells reach the lungs through some other body parts through Metastasis. Metastasis is when abnormal cancer cells spread throughout the body, other than the spot where they first resided.[ii] Normal cells in the body grow and die normally. When this normal process of growth and death of cells is hindered, that is when cancer is formed. Cancer cells do not die; they continue to grow and divide. Sometimes an early stage of cancer cannot be observed. Later stages of cancer can show its symptoms which may include coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing, weakness and fatigue, weight loss, headaches, numbness in body parts, and yellowness of eyes and skin.[iii]

Case Study:
Sven Knoll is a 35-year-old male who currently works as an accountant in his neighborhood’s Leisure Centre. He is a highly paid individual, who has a wife and two children. He has been referred to me by the Gastroenterologist so that his stress could be managed to minimize the attack of Gastritis that has been quite worse within the past four to five years. Sven’s wife, Nancy is a great support to him since he has been diagnosed with Lung Cancer. She looks after his diet and his medication and does not let him eat anything that can increase acidity in his stomach. Sven’s life has been like a rollercoaster. Getting married to Nancy felt like he had started a new life. When Sven was 13, he was sexually abused by his uncle. The abuse did not last long, but it had left its trauma. When he tried to tell his parents, they asked him to remain quiet about it because the Uncle had very close ties with his family.

This built the stress and Sven could not cope with it. He started showing signs of Gastritis at 15 years of age. Because of the trauma faced, and the low self-esteem, Sven started to smoke at the age of 16. He became a chain-smoker and would smoke packs throughout the day, utilize weed and other soft drugs to lower his anxiety. Sven was always good at studies and also found an escape from his trauma by doing well in school, college and university. His job as an accountant does get stressful sometimes, but it helps distract him from his haunting past. But even this distraction does not help him with his chain-smoking. Sven recently got diagnosed with Lung Cancer. To go through its treatment, it is important for him to manage his stress. Because of Sven’s anxiety, his indigestion also gets triggered which can be difficult to deal with along with the symptoms of the early stage of Lung Cancer.
Sven is very keen on seeing the positive side of life, keeping in mind whatever has happened to him and he is willing to fight his cancer with a positive outlook. However, for that, it is important to draft a distraction plan other than his accountant job to help him cope, which can also eliminate his addiction to cigarette smoking from his life. Nancy and Sven have had a happy marriage. Sven never let the darkness of his past become a burden on Nancy which is also why she is more than willing to support him in every step of life.

References:

[i] What is cancer? – Understanding – Macmillan Cancer Support. (2018). Macmillan.org.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2018, from https://www.macmillan.org.uk/information-and-support/understanding-cancer/what-is-cancer.html

[ii] Lung Cancer: Facts, Types, and Causes. (2018). Medical News Today. Retrieved 7 February 2018, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/lung-cancer

[iii] Lung Cancer: Causes, Stages, Life Expectancy, and More. (2018). Healthline. Retrieved 7 February 2018, from https://www.healthline.com/health/lung-cancer

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