• 5/24/2008
  • New York City, NY
  • Tara Parker-Pope
  • New York Times (nytimes.com)

Hamilton Jordan, the former White House chief of staff for President Jimmy Carter, was a well-known force in the health community. During the past 24 years he battled four different forms of cancer and urged cancer patients to empower themselves with information.

After bouts with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, prostate cancer and skin cancer, Mr. Jordan, 63, yesterday died as a result of mesothelioma, another form of cancer. Mr. Jordan often speculated that his lymphoma may have resulted from exposure to the chemical Agent Orange while serving as a volunteer during the Vietnam War. Mesothelioma also has been linked to the chemical.

In his 2001 memoir, “No Such Thing as a Bad Day,’’ Mr. Jordan outlined his “Top 10 Tips for Cancer Patients.’’ He spoke about them during this undated interview with WebMD. Here they are:

No. 1: Be an active partner in the medical decisions that are made about your life.
Don’t be passive. Learn about your disease, and participate in the decisions that are made….For example with my lymphoma, if I would have accepted the first treatment offered, I’d be dead today. It was assumed that I only had a mass in my chest. I later learned that the lymphoma was all through my body.

No. 2: Seek and know the truth about your illness, and prognosis.
If you don’t have the facts, and don’t know the truth, you won’t make good decisions. It takes courage to ask questions about statistics and your prognosis.

No. 3: Get a second opinion.
We wouldn’t buy the first computer or cellphone we looked at. Shop around when your life is at stake….I got second opinions on all of my cancers.

No. 4: Determine upfront how broad or narrow your physicians’ experience is.
If you have something that your doctor says, “I’ve never seen this before,” get another doctor. You want your doctor to be very familiar with your disease.

No. 5: If you have a poor prognosis, or a rare form of cancer, try to get to a center of excellence.
If your doctor doesn’t believe he or she can cure you, you won’t believe you’ll be cured.

No. 6: Do not allow your caregivers to project their values, goals and expectations onto you.
In my book I tell the story of a 68-year-old man who was diagnosed with PCa (prostate cancer). And this man is in very good health other than the PCa. His 35-year-old doctor reasoned that since his life expectancy was only five or six years, that he recommended that the man do nothing for his PCa and told him it would take the PCa four or five years to kill him. This man wanted to live to be 80 or 85. He didn’t accept that. He had his prostate removed, and many years later he’s in good health, and probably will live to be 80 or 85. Don’t let your doctor project his or her expectations in life out on you.

No. 7: Understand the economics of cancer care.
You don’t want to be in a situation where your doctor wants to run a $150 test that your insurance doesn’t cover, but it contains critical information for making your diagnosis or deciding treatment. You need to understand what your insurance covers, and let your doctor know what you’re willing to do to supplement that coverage to get a good diagnosis, and the best possible treatment. If your doctor says that he wants to run another test, but insurance won’t pay for it, find out what it is. Why does he want to run it? Find out the cost, and determine whether you should pay it yourself. It might save your life.

No. 8: Ultimately, find a doctor that you trust and believe in.
Find a doctor with a fighting spirit, and who thinks that they can cure you. You tend to find doctors that reflect your own attitude. I always found doctors that liked the fact I was aggressive and going to fight for my life. They didn’t object to my asking a lot of questions.

No. 9: Treat your mind as well as your body.
Just because we can’t quantify, and don’t understand the power of the mind, to deal with disease, it doesn’t mean that attitude and the will to live is not a powerful, powerful force in the course of an illness.

No. 10: Your attitude and beliefs are your most powerful weapon against cancer.
I believe that deeply. There have been studies that show when you are happy and engaged and positive, your immune system is at its strongest. When you are depressed or unhappy, your immune system is weakened.