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Katherine Puckett, Ph.D.
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VIDEO: Katherine Puckett, Ph.D. - Cancer Diagnosis, How Should A Woman Tell Her Spouse?

Katherine Puckett, Ph.D. explains how a woman diagnosed with cancer may want to share the news with her spouse.

Katherine Puckett, Ph.D.:
I think the way in which a woman chooses to share that kind of news, a cancer diagnosis, with her spouse, partner, significant other, is going to depend on the kind of relationship they already have. Hopefully it’s a close enough relationship that it’s not going to seem daunting or impossible to share this kind of news even though it will be very emotional and very difficult to share, hopefully that the person, the partner, knows that the woman has already had a health concern and was going to the doctor.

Some women choose to keep that to themselves though, and they might not have shared that with their partner. So, we say in mind-body medicine, ideally to be as real as possible. No matter how hard it is, no matter how raw the emotions are, to be real about what’s going on is going to help in the long run, and I don’t think it matters so much how the words come out, but I think to turn to that relationship and to say to this person, “You know, I got some hard news. I need to let you know what’s going on, I want to let you know what’s going on.” Even if the woman is crying, even if it’s hard to get the words out, “I need you to hear what I have to tell you, and I need you to be here for me, and then we’ll think about this together.” Probably at that point the woman doesn’t know what it means yet. “You know, I don’t know yet what we’re going to do. Can we think about it together? Can we figure this out as we go?”

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