Valley of Life | Online Memorial Blog

A recent article by Joe Rojas-Burke in The Oregonian caught my interest because it addressed something that I think so many of us forget.  Though we lose many loved ones to cancer – a truly staggering number I’m afraid – we celebrate cautiously those that have had successful cancer treatments.  So many of those that beat cancer are left with little information on what to do next to stay that way. And even more so, families and friends rarely get advice or help on how to handle moving forward after this great thing occurs.

Rojas-Burke’s article provides some great suggestions for those in this exact position.  If you are a cancer survivor – Congratulations! - and here are some things you can do to help you move to the next stage in your life with confidence and strength.

1. Ask your oncologist for a survivorship care plan. These plans should include a list of treatments you received, their potential side-effects, strategies for recognizing the return of cancer and advice on diet, exercise and lifestyle habits that can keep you healthy for many years.

2. Make a list of your questions and concerns and get answers from your oncologists right away.

3. Use the free services that may be available to you from social workers and cancer centers.

4. Stay in contact with your primary care doctor and notify them of any changes or issue

5. Get emotional support from relatives, friends, co-workers.  Survivor support groups are very helpful in dealing with your fears, issues or questions as well.

Tags: after cancer help, surviving cancer, survivor support group, survivorship care plan

This entry was posted on Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 7:34 am and is filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.