What should I do after a cancer diagnosis?

My mother-in-law was recently diagnosed with cancer. What steps should patients like her take to ensure they receive the best care?

When my mother called me to tell me about her lung cancer diagnosis in 2017, my brain had a hard time keeping up with what my ears were hearing. The sentences came in isolated fragments: “shadow on chest x-ray,” “doctor says I need a biopsy,” and “malignant.” Suddenly, I found myself in the drama of cancer, playing an unfamiliar role: rather than an oncologist calmly providing information, contextualizing a diagnosis, and developing a treatment plan, I was the son of a patient, trying to get answers.