Medical professionals share tips on preventing cancer as Princess Kate announces diagnosis

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The Royal Family announced Princess Kate Middleton is receiving cancer treatment. She has been largely out of the public eye since her last appearance on Christmas Day last year.

The Princess of Wales had abdominal surgery on Jan. 16 that led to the discovery of cancer cells. Many people online had speculated about her health since a March 10 photo was posted and then removed, after news outlets deemed the photo “digitally manipulated.”

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The Palace did not specify what type of cancer or what stage cancer the Princess is dealing with, just that she is receiving chemotherapy treatment. King Charles announced earlier this year he is also battling cancer.

Doctor Bushra Siddiqi, Medical Director High Risk Cancer Clinic with Ohio Health, said facing a cancer diagnosis can be shocking and lifechanging.

“No one is immune to cancer. Cancer can hit anybody at any age,” she said. “We have to focus on cancer prevention. And unfortunately, you know, there hasn’t been much public education and emphasis on whether cancer can be [preventable or not.] But cancer can be prevented.”

Cancer can be fought more effectively when it’s caught in early stages. That’s why Dr. Siddiqi urges frequent screenings and not to ignore symptoms.

“Screenings are really important. People don’t pay attention to that. But it’s very important that they get age appropriate, routine cancer screenings because screenings do save lives,” she said.

Dr. Siddiqi urges people not to ignore symptoms.

“Symptoms might be very simple and it’s not necessary that it might be cancer. It might be some other medical concern. You might just have food poisoning. But something that’s, you’ve been having abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, but it’s going on for months, that’s not likely food poisoning so you know get that checked out,” she said.

Dr. Siddiqi also recommends eating healthy, getting plenty of exercis  and not smoking as ways to try to prevent cancer. But even then, it’s no guarantee a person can avoid it.

“Most common cancers that occur are out of nowhere. And, you know, unfortunately, nobody knows who’s going to get cancer when. But the best thing that we can do is we can prepare ourselves,” she said.

There’s much more to a cancer diagnosis than chemotherapy, doctor’s visits, and radiation treatment.

“Cancer affects more than the cells in our body. Our whole life is affected when cancer comes into the issue. It affects our mental health. Depression and anxiety are side effects of cancer that aren’t talked about enough. It affects our social life. It affects our work. It affects our family. It affects our school,” said Angie Santangelo, a Clinical Program Director with Cancer Support Community Central Ohio.

She helps those battling cancer and their families to get support outside of medical care they might need.

“It’s really scary to hear that word. Cancer. And so you never know how someone’s going to respond. So, thinking about how and when you want to share the information is important. And if kids are involved learning how to talk to them in a way that they’re going to understand,” Santangelo said.

Cancer Support Community provides a home for those going through cancer treatments.

“Whether it be in a support group or an exercise class or a cooking class with others who understands, provides you a sense of belonging, provides you some normality, some validity to what you’re going through. It provides them some hope. It also provides them a place where they can be validated and understand what they’re going through is normal. People who aren’t in a community like this often feel alone and often feel like people don’t understand what they’re going through,” Santangelo said.

JamesCare for Life is another local organization providing much needed psychological and social resources through the James Cancer Hospital at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

“We view cancer as a family disease, right? So someone might have the diagnosis, but it really affects the whole family. And so overall wellness, wellness for the whole person as far as the cancer patient is really important. We see that as mental, physical, spiritual,” said social worker Lauren Demoulin.

Part of dealing with the cancer process is communicating what you’re going through to others.

“I think the initial conversation about your diagnosis is such a personal one, right? And so everyone has different preferences. Some people want to update their loved ones and are pretty open about it,” said Demoulin.

For families with kids, especially younger kids, those conversations can be tougher.

“For kids of any age, we want to really focus on honest, open communication. Saying things like ‘Booboo’ or ‘I’m Sick’ is an easier way for us to communicate, but not so helpful for the child. Because we want to be honest about the severity of the situation, the severity of the diagnosis, and also not put a negative connotation to the word cancer,” said Demoulin.

Santangelo agrees that honesty really is the best policy when communicating about cancer with kids.

“If you have young kids to share this message with, it’s very scary. And for them and for the parent to be able to, especially if it’s a parent sharing. But it’s more scary for children to be in a home where there’s lots of unknowns and suddenly everything is different and they don’t know why. And so as hard as the conversation is, the best thing to do is to be honest and to share it in age appropriate level,” Santangelo said.

Cancer Support Community and JamesCare for Life have resources available for the public as well as for patients.

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