A Specialist surgeon at Ridge Hospital, Dr Nana Ama Christian, stressed the importance of emotional support in helping cancer patients navigate life after diagnosis.
A cancer diagnosis, she said does not end with the words, “you have cancer.” For many patients, that moment marks the beginning of a difficult emotional journey filled with fear, uncertainty, and questions about what lies ahead.
Speaking on TV3’s The Afternoon Show on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, she explained that some patients become difficult to reach after receiving their diagnosis, with depression and misinformation sometimes pushing them away from proper medical care.
“We are hoping to demystify the concept of cancer being a death sentence,” she said, pointing to advances in medicine that are helping patients live longer.
At the hospital, patients are counselled and encouraged with evidence of what treatment can achieve. Cancer survivors are sometimes invited to share their experiences, while stories of well-known survivors are also used to give patients hope.
But the support, Dr Christian noted, cannot stop with the patient. For some women, treatment may involve losing one or both breasts, a reality that can also affect their spouses and other caregivers.
“They must also get used to that,” she explained, stressing the need to help families adjust to what she described as their “new normal.”
For Dr Nana Ama Christian, keeping patients and their caregivers closely supported is therefore just as important as the medical treatment itself.
By Whitney De-graft
