Finished with Cancer Treatment…Now What?! Creating Your Cancer Survivorship Care Plan!

By Tambre Leighn, MA, CPC, ELI-MP (guest blogger)

Founder of WellBeyondOrdinary.com

Ring the bell, hug the nurses goodbye.  Part of you is celebrating and another part is wondering, now what?

A recent report by the Center for Disease Control, announced the great news that overall trends show lives lost to cancer are decreasing.[1]  This corollary of this is that more people are living longer as survivors…often dealing with significant challenges as a result of their cancer or treatments.

Finally, there is an increasing awareness that while the end of treatment is a milestone, it is not the finish line and, in many ways, it is just the beginning of not only recovery from cancer but recovery of your life. 

Now what?  A cancer survivorship care plan is a great place to start.  It’s now considered standard of care according to the Commission on Cancer 2012 New Cancer Program Standards The Future of Quality Cancer Care.[2]  This is new territory.   It will take time to develop guidelines, systems and processes to support the implementation of this new tool for survivors.

Being proactive requires self-advocacy, which, in turn, requires knowledge.  A basic survivorship care plan includes the following elements:

•  An organized, thorough and accessible personal health record summarizing the history of your care  including scans, test results, treatment plans, etc.  This personal health record should be portable so that you can bring it to future appointments.  It can be in the format of well-organized physical documents, created using personal health record software – or a mixture of both.
•   A schedule of follow up care including information on potential late effects of treatment
•  Guidelines for well being including physical, emotional and financial along with an outline of resources to support you.

If your medical team has not provided you with a care plan even though you’re coming up on the end of treatment or you’re finished, it is up to you to ask.  For more information, check out Livestrong http://www.livestrongcareplan.org/ (also available in Spanish) and my blog post, Survivorship Care Plans ~ Empowerment Through Awarenes.

---

[1] Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2009 http://seer.cancer.gov/report_to_nation/

[2] www.wicancer.org/documents/McKellar_1245pm.ppt

 

This blog post is part of the Resource Roundup series sponsored by Cancer Blog: Lots To Live For! in which the spotlight is shined on a resource that can help improve the journeys of cancer patients and caregivers. Past Resource Roundup stars have included the Annie Appleseed Project, Imerman Angels and Caring Bridge.

The Power of One "Plus" and Creating the 10 to Thrive eBook



Click here for link: 10 to Thrive eBook 



According to the Livestrong Foundation, one in three people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime and three out of four families will provide caregiving to a loved one with cancer.[i] 

The Power of One+...

By Tambre Leighn, MA, CPC, ELI-MP (guest blogger)

One of the most common issues cancer survivors and caregivers face is isolation. Often you feel alone because cancer has changed your lives in so many ways you no longer relate to the one you were living before the experience.

The emotional journey of cancer is complex. Many survivors and caregivers avoid asking for help out of a desire to not burden others or equate asking for help as a sign of weakness.

The reality is no one gets through the experience of cancer on his or her own. It requires the support, cooperation and coordination of a relatively wide circle of people from treatment through into survivorship.

It requires.....

The power of one +.      We're in this together....and we can't do it alone.

As a caregiver, I learned this the hard way. So earlier this year when Nico Juber, one of the founders of Thrive/Survive Los Angeles (link: www.thrivesurvive.org) and I were discussing the huge impact cancer has for young adults in survivorship we created an idea for an eBook…and then we asked for help.

We reached out to the cancer community including medical professionals, health and wellness experts and founders of other cancer non-profits. Would they contribute a list of the top ten insights, resources and action steps in their area of expertise to help survivors take practical action steps to increase their quality of life?

Almost every invitation to contribute was accepted and it was only due to conflicting schedules that anyone took a pass. What does this say about people? This experience and other past evidence as well as the outcomes my clients have shared when they’ve learned to reach out for help is that people, in general, have a strong desire to make a difference for others.

Asking simply creates an invitation for them to choose, or not, whether they have the resources to assist. If I had attempted to undertake an eBook project of the size and scope of 10 to Thrive, it simply wouldn’t be in existence right now. Nico and I couldn’t pull together that much expertise in several life times to write on all ten areas. This project required a team approach.

The experience of co-creating the 10 to Thrive eBook with Nico and the long list of amazing contributing authors models the power of what can be done when you dig into your contacts list and then have the courage to invite people to help. If they can’t, they can’t. But that opens up the chance to ask them if they know anyone they can recommend. 



Tambre Leighn, MA, CPC, ELI-MP



Whether you’re writing an amazing eBook to help AYA cancer survivors, going through treatment, caring for a loved one or struggling with survivorship challenges, building a team makes a major difference in the journey and the outcome. We cannot know, do and be it all in life. To read more about building a team, check out Strength in Numbers (link: http://wellbeyondordinary.com/strength-in-numbers)

Meanwhile, if you or someone you know could benefit from a free copy of 10 to Thrive: a comprehensive, easy-to-use guide to life after cancer for young adults please go to www.thrivesurvive.org/10toThrive or pass this link on to someone you know is struggling. Completely free because we believe in…

The Power of One+!

For more insights, tips and resources go to:

http://www.WellBeyondOrdinary.com

---

[i] Lance Armstrong Foundation Annual Report, 2004.

This blog post is part of the Resource Roundup series sponsored by Cancer Blog: Lots To Live For! in which the spotlight is shined on a resource that can help improve the journeys of cancer patients and caregivers. Past Resource Roundup stars have included the Annie Appleseed Project and Caring Bridge.