Send your cancer questions to a nurse using the form below. This service is run by our Helpline staff and a qualified cancer nurse will answer as quickly as possible (although there will be a delay if you send a question at the weekend).
Questions and answers may be edited before they're added to the list of frequently asked questions (which you might like to browse) below.
Please use our feedback form for non-medical enquiries and comments.
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It can be hard to think about anything else when a doctor gives you a diagnosis of cancer. Suddenly you're hearing a whole new language of medical terms, and it can be very confusing and frightening. Everything that has been said can leave your head when you walk out of the room. However, your appointments are a vital opportunity to get information from those who are treating you. This information can help allay your fears and concerns.
We receive many calls to the Cancer Council Helpline asking what to ask the doctor when you've been diagnosed with cancer. The helpline has a brochure to help you make the most out of your consultations.
We recommend people take a friend or family member to appointments. They can take notes and write down everything you and the doctor say during the appointment.
It's also useful to write a letter with all your questions, which you may send to the specialist ahead of time. Take two copies of the letter with you to the appointment, give one copy to the specialist and keep one yourself. This way, you can use every minute of the consultation usefully, getting answers to your questions. You may also like to take a tape recorder to record the consultation (ask the doctor if this is okay first). There is a lot of information to absorb and it can be hard to write it all down.
It's very helpful to have a record of everything which was discussed at your visit. Here are some questions which you may find helpful:
For more, see our section About cancer
The Cancer Council does not run a skin clinic, it provides information and support to all Victorians. If you are concerned about your skin spots it is best to seek the advice of your local doctor who will refer you to a skin specialist for further investigation if required.
Our website also has information on early detection of skin cancer which you may find useful to read.
If you have any other questions or concerns please contact the Cancer Council Helpline on 13 11 20, Monday to Friday 8.30am to 8pm, and speak with a cancer nurse.
Kind Regards,
Anne
Cancer Nurse
The information on The Cancer Council Victoria website and provided in related emails from cancer nurses is for general information only. It is not intended as medical advice, and is not a substitute for seeing a qualified doctor who can determine your individual medical needs.
Through our Cancer Connect program we connect people with cancer with trained volunteers who have experienced a similar type of cancer, who offer telephone support and are able to share the story of how they coped. We offer this service to people with many different types of cancer. We can also link you with cancer support groups in your local area.
More information about Cancer Connect
More information about finding a support group
Much of the responsibility for day-to-day emotional support and care of cancer patients falls to their partners, family and friends. But many of these relatives and friends don't identify themselves as a carer. They hear the word and think of health care professionals and don't see what they are doing as anything extraordinary.
Being able to talk to someone who understands the physical and emotional demands facing carers can lessen feelings of fear and isolation. Not only are there the practical sides of care to worry about but also the fear that the person you are caring for may die.
Caring for someone with cancer is hard work physically and mentally and may wear the strongest person down. Our trained volunteers have been there and can provide support, advice or even just listen.
A recent study by researchers at the University of Western Sydney found 21% of cancer carers suffer severe anxiety and about the same number are depressed. That's a higher figure than in cancer patients themselves.
If you are caring for a partner, family member or friend, call the Cancer Council Helpline on 13 11 20 to be put in touch with a trained Cancer Connect volunteer.
We can also help with details about respite care and other services available in your local community through the Cancer Council Helpline.
Our annual Cancer Services Directory lists all organisations which assist and support people with cancer in Victoria. Your hospital's oncology social worker can often refer you to financial assistance. We can link your children in with telephone counselling. Many schools provide counselling for children whose parents have cancer.
Please refer to the booklet, Cancer: legal rights and responsibilities, for information about employment, wills, power of attorney, and other issues.
People who survive a cancer diagnosis change; they see life differently and have to adjust to a ‘new normal'. They might appreciate each day more, slow down, and do things they have always wanted to do. Their emotions are changed forever.
Cancer survivors have faced their own death and this puts them in a different group from those around them. Such a change can be difficult for family and friends to accept. The person they knew before cancer is now different.
Cancer can lead to a change in relationships. For a cancer survivor who has lost a body part through treatment, it can be hard adjusting to a new body image. They might feel their partner does not find them attractive any more. Relationships might grow stronger, or they might end.
Cancer survivors might find people view them differently or that they might be seen to have a ‘special power' that enabled them to beat cancer. People may ask what the secret is and expect the survivor to have the answer to overcoming cancer.
For the survivor, facing the new normal can be scary. After months or years of treatment and follow-up visits to their doctor, they are now on their own. There may be a lingering fear that the cancer might return and the worry that no one is carrying out regular check-ups anymore.
For more on being a cancer survivor, see Life after cancer: for survivors
The Cancer Council Helpline's nurse counsellors can give callers up-to-date information on treatment and management of cancer and professional support, but our Cancer Connect volunteers are people who have experienced cancer. They are at least two years past treatment and have been specially trained to provide peer support by telephone to newly diagnosed patients.
One caller said she found it wonderful that she did not have to wash her face or clean her house before being able to access one-to-one support to help her cope with her diagnosis! Men have been using Cancer Connect to speak with other men and find out about their experience of laryngeal, prostate or bowel cancer and strategies to help them cope.
We also have Cancer Connect programs for carers of people with cancer and for parents of children newly diagnosed with cancer. All offer important peer support at a stressful, difficult time for those who are dealing with a new cancer diagnosis.
The cancer nurses on the helpline can put callers in touch with a volunteer from one of our Cancer Connect programs.
If you have already been diagnosed with cancer, we suggest that you talk to the oncology dietitians at your treating hospital. Oncology dietitians can advise you on the appropriate diet for your needs. If you want more information about this service, meals on wheels, or our booklet Nutrition and exercise for people with cancer or other literature on the topic please call us on 13 11 20.
We receive many calls from children who are caring for parents with cancer. Our cancer nurses offer information and support to assist people in the stressful role of caring for someone with cancer. We advise people that when they are a carer, they must build in some time for themselves and do something they enjoy at least every other day. This way, they can retain an enjoyable part of their own lives and reserve energy to help them cope with any difficulties. Our Carers Cancer Connect program means carers can talk about their experiences to trained volunteers who have also been carers.
Embarrassment about sexuality and cancer is common for patients and health professionals, and a barrier to providing holistic care. One way to address this is through skills training, which helps people learn how to discuss intimacy at a time when quality of life is really important. Sexuality is usually a taboo subject. But when the subject is raised appropriately, people are open to learning ways of enjoying intimacy, despite the challenge of cancer, which can make a tremendous difference to a patient and their partner's quality of life.
Cancer and the side effects of treatment often affect a person's sexuality. A health professional can provide information which enables people to relax together and relate to each other even in limited ways at a difficult time. This helps to ease and comfort both. Often just massaging each other's feet while watching TV is a way of showing affection and providing comfort.
Speak with a cancer nurse at the Cancer Council Helpline
Cancer Connect has a parents connect component and we have specially trained parents of children who have experienced cancer and are now doing well. Call 13 11 20 to be linked with another parent who can share ways that they coped and ways that siblings can be reassured and helped.
