Resolutions, breaking bad habits, wiping the slate clean and starting over again--these seem to be the things that a lot of people are buzzing about at the beginning of the new year. Even if you’re not into resolutions (that are often scrapped by February), you may want to consider one thing this year.

Resolve to communicate better with members of your healthcare team – the doctors, nurses, oncologists, hematologists, radiologists, social workers, and others who are involved in blood cancer treatment. While they have a lot of expertise, there is sometimes a communication divide that can add to the stress of diagnosis, treatment and healing.

So how can you close the communication gap?

Think about how involved you want to be. Some patients are very involved in their healthcare from the start, while others might prefer not to ask too many questions or talk too much about their diagnosis or treatment. If you tend to be less involved, consider that taking an active role in getting an accurate diagnosis and making treatment decisions could have a positive effect on your health and quality of life. You can enlist the help of family members, friends, other cancer patients, and patient advocates to support you with provider communications. Remember that you and members of your oncology team are working together to beat blood cancer.

Ask questions. But don’t just ask questions – make sure you take notes in case you forget anything that you might want to remember later. Not sure what to ask? Go to www.lls.org/whattoask to download printable question guides you can take with you on your medical appointments. You can also refer back to a recent blog post we wrote called Healthcare questions to ask if you have been diagnosed with a blood cancer. You might want to contact the Information Resource Center to speak to a specialist about ways to communicate with members of your oncology team.

Find out what lines of communication are available to you. Are you the type of person that picks up the phone when you have a question or are you more likely to want to send an email? Ask your medical team if they wouldn’t mind you calling or emailing them with additional questions.

Do you have any other ideas on how to improve communication between medical staff and patients? What is your preferred way to communicate with your doctor? If you are a healthcare provider, do you have helpful patient-provider communication ideas to share?

No one response to a blood cancer diagnosis is universal, but for many people the time of diagnosis may be a challenging and confusing time. Here are a few ideas on ways to cope, based on tips in our online Coping booklet (downloadable as a .pdf).

1. Consider sharing your diagnosis. If you have been newly diagnosed with cancer, you may wonder if you should share this diagnosis with others. It’s possible that you may encounter some people that will have a hard time showing support, but more often than not you may find that many will give you the support you need. If you do share, make sure you are ready and comfortable.

2. Talk about it. As the patient, you may want to talk about your diagnosis and treatment. It is important that the family member or friend you want to talk to is ready to discuss this, as they are likely feeling stressed about your diagnosis as well. Ask them directly if this is a good time to talk, and respect the answer given.

3. Ask questions. Newly diagnosed patients benefit from asking their doctor(s) questions about their cancer and treatment. If you have several questions, you may want to write them down prior to your appointment to make sure you don’t forget any of them. You can also print out some of our question guides which cover different aspects of diagnosis and treatment.

4. Coping with side effects. Cancer treatment can be unpleasant, but remember that most side effects are temporary and that the goal is to destroy the cancer. Ask your medical team if there are medications you can take or things you can do to deal with the various side effects like nausea or hair loss. You may also want to warn your family or friends of potential moodiness, which can be a side effect of treatment. Giving them a heads up on this can help to avoid misunderstandings or conflicts.

5. Understand your health insurance coverage. It is important to know what treatment is covered by your health insurance. Coverage can vary depending on what plan you have, and it is a good idea to keep track of what medical fees the insurance company is responsible for paying.

Download the Coping booklet which has many more beneficial tips for patients, caregivers, family members, and friends affected by a blood cancer diagnosis. You can also download the Spanish-language version of Coping, Lidiando con la Supervivencia: Apoyo para personas que padecen de leukemia en adultos, el linfoma y el myeloma. You may want to download another booklet as well, Each New Day, which also has suggestions on how to cope with leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma.

What are some ways you have been able to cope with a blood cancer diagnosis?