As you enter the post-cancer treatment phase, you may….
- “Look better”, but you likely still have more healing to do – physically, functionally – but also emotionally and spiritually. Being told “you have cancer” and having to put your life unexpectedly and urgently on hold to undergo life-saving treatments can be traumatizing.
- Feel alone, since it may be hard for others to understand you, especially if they haven’t experienced it themselves.
- Feel like you are riding an emotional rollercoaster.
- Notice that your priorities in life are changing, perhaps even rearranging!
- Find yourself trying to balance your health and healing while minimizing disruption to your home, work, and financial status.
- Have lost trust in your body, wondering “what will happen next?”, and be searching for ways that allow you to heal and stay healthy.
- Be uncertain and concerned about what the future may hold for you and for your loved ones.
- Find yourself spending hours on “Google” trying to answer your many questions, only to discover that you have even more questions!
- Yearn to renew your pre cancer self and embrace the feeling of wholeness that may have been lost in your journey.
This juggling can be overwhelming, confusing, and stressful. You may have a large team of health care providers, but you may not always know what to do or where to direct your questions, your concerns and your needs. Your providers may not always have the time to work with you in finding the answers that you need, or the specific skills to support you and as a result, you may feel lost or abandoned in your journey.
Even though the field of cancer research and treatment field has made huge advancements towards the prevention, diagnosis, and survival of cancer patients over the last few decades, the post-treatment phase has been relatively undervalued and under-explored until recently. But the “times they are a changing” and that means good news for survivors, caregivers, and providers as well.
As a first step, to facilitate the transition of cancer survivors into the post-treatment phase [From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Transition (IOM 2005)], large organizations such as LIVESTRONG, National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, Office of Cancer Survivorship at National Cancer Institute(https://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/ocs/), and American College of Surgeonshave identified the following five essential elements and recommend that providers incorporate these elements as an integral part of the post treatment care plan:
- Surveillance (watch for cancer recurrence)
- Screening (for new cancers)
- Assessment and management of the effects of cancer treatment(s)
- Adoption of positive health behaviors
- Care coordination between health providers
These areas represent only the first steps to assuring successful survivorship for both patients, their families and health care providers; more improvements in cancer survivorship continue to emerge as recognition of the post treatment phase evolves.
This informational site hopes to help you to navigate your unique survivorship journey and to empower you to regain control and better care for yourself.
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