Communicating with Your Doctor After Treatment

With almost 15 million cancer survivors now living in the United States and with that number growing, there is concern about how our healthcare system will provide proper after-treatment medical care for a burgeoning population of survivors. “We do not foresee an expansion of the number of health professionals specifically devoted to caring for cancer patients. That means more survivors will receive their long-term follow-up care from health professionals other than those who provided their cancer treatment.“ says Len Lichtenfeld, MD, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

Most primary care clinicians don’t have specific knowledge or training in cancer survivorship, so getting them relevant information is vitally important in order to facilitate their understanding of the physical, emotional and practical needs of cancer survivors.

Ask your healthcare provider if he or she knows what you need for your care long-term as it relates to your cancer diagnosis and treatment. If you get a puzzled look, don’t panic. Take charge! And, share with your primary providers this important survivorship resource published by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) that will hopefully help them help you.

Category: Cancer

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,