What is survivorship and oncology? I think it encompasses a lot of things. We do like to think of it of life after cancer or life with cancer. How do I need to live my life after my diagnosis? Things like taking into account the short and long-term side effects of the treatments that you have received, as well as some of the psychosocial effects of coping with cancer and living with cancer and being a survivor. Those things can include anything from the financial impact of having cancer to can I go back to work? Do I want to go back to work? Can I work through treatment? How do I talk to my children and my family about my diagnosis, my treatment, and their involvement in my care? It also encompasses healthy living with cancer and after cancer. That includes continuing to have your regular screening tests that are recommended by either the American Cancer Society or the U.S. Preventative Task Force. Just because you've had one cancer doesn't keep you immune from others. We always encourage people to do things like have their regularly scheduled mammograms and colonoscopies and get their skin checked and all of those things because it encompasses that part of healthy living afterwards. It's really a lot of different things, little pieces that come together to talk about how we're going to live with and after cancer.
HealthTree • March 27, 2024