Capping off my posts about the challenges of minor symptoms, here's an excerpt How to Address Minor Symptoms in Long-term Survivors, an essay for clinicians.
If asked for a challenging topic in oncology, I doubt you'd answer “minor symptoms in long-term survivors”....
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How can an app improve cancer survival? My last post discussed an ASCO Post article about the first randomized trial to show improvement in cancer survival with Web-mediated follow-up versus standard office-visit follow-up....
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What if an app could help improve (1) patients' survival, (2) patients' quality of life and (3) the cost effectiveness of cancer care?
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Recent posts outlined some of the many reasons patients may experience conflict and distress when deciding whether to call about minor symptoms. What's a Healthy Survivor to do?
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What's challenging about reporting minor symptoms? They're less frightening. Shouldn't they be easier to report? Like many long-term survivors (LTS), I've felt torn between...
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After someone has been through cancer treatment and recovery, a new mild symptom is no big deal, right? Well, maybe. In the next few posts, we'll explore the difficulty of reporting minor symptoms in long-term survivors (LTS) who want to be Healthy Survivors.
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In "The Healing Power of a Selfie" I shared an essay by Melanie Di Stante. She also wrote a children's book for families dealing with cancer.
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Melanie Di Stante discusses the power of a selfie to help patients and their caregivers see their own strength, courage and accomplishments. Her essay "Selfie," published in the online magazine, PULSE, describes the experience of making a video for her local Gilda's Club.
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Do you want to feel hopeful? If so, check out the Something New (SN) site. of Bonnie Pitman.
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Don't be misled by the splashy headlines about the US Preventive Services Task Force statement that there's not enough evidence to justify annual skin cancer screening by a clinician. Or by the response of the American Cancer Society (ACS), which does not recommend such screening and has in the past recommended against self-screening.
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If you ever wondered if you might be at increased risk of cancer because a family member has or had cancer, this book is for you: A Cancer in the Family by Theodora Ross, MD, PhD.
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Colonoscopy naturally makes you think of all the inconvenience and yuck. Here’s the problem: If you compare the colonoscopy experience to your normal routine, you might be tempted to delay (or decline) the cancer screening test.
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"Doctor, will my illness return?" If the answer is "maybe," the uncertainty can cause suffering in patients who are doing well now. Since you can't live as fully as possible (the second criteria of Healthy Survivorship) if you are overly anxious, let's talk about how to accept the uncertainty, both intellectually and emotionally.
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n "When Do You Give Up on Treating a Child" Esther Levy concludes, "'There are only two states after such a diagnosis: disease and uncertainty." Both sound terrible.
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My blog posts on The Riddle of Hope hint at the complexity of hope. To address hope and the desire for certainty, let's explore further the story of Esther and Dan Levy, parents who gave up hope of their son's recovery (When Do You Give Up on Treating a Child).
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Since January 2008, this blog has provided a place where patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals, administrators, policymakers and anyone else interested in modern healthcare can come together to discuss how to help patients become Healthy Survivors--namely, survivors who get good care and live as fully as possible.
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