Cancer Care

[legalmoose]

Cancer Survivors May Not Get Needed Care. The short version is that the Institute of Medicine found that cancer survivors aren't getting the long-term follow up care they need after their initial treatments. Scary quote:

Half of all men and one-third of women in the United States will develop cancer in their lifetimes. Thanks to advances in early detection and treatment, the number who survive has more than tripled over the past three decades.

I have to say, cancer is the one health risk that just gives me the willies. My mother is a breast cancer survivor, her father and two brothers have had prostate cancer. Both of her grandmothers died of cancer, one from breast and one from ovarian cancer. My father's mother had a cancerous tumor in her brain that killed her, and her sister, his aunt, has had melanomas removed from her face. If there's a genetic component, I certainly have a high risk, then, given that family history. I've already had a talk with my doctor about it, after the latest diagnosis of an uncle. I'm going to start screenings for prostate and colon cancer about 5-10 years before the normal recommended time to start those, just in case. And otherwise I try to do the right things with diet, exercise, etc. But just the fact that it could pop up at any time scares the living daylights out of me. With other health risks (i.e., HIV, colds, broken bones, etc.) I can weigh the risks that they'll happen or not and manage those to a point where I'm comfortable with my actions. Not so much with cancer. Scary, scary stuff.

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Comments

[dipdewdog.livejournal.com]

Cancer scares the fuck out of me.

My dad had skin cancer when I was younger; my mom survived breast cancer, so did my grandmother and one of my mom's sisters. My grandmother ultimately died of spinal cancer. My grandfather had bladder cancer. Both of my parents smoke.

Bleh.

[gunther-cub.livejournal.com]

What that article fails to point out, is that a great number of people ignore attempts from their oncologists to follow-up on their treatment.

I understand that cancer is a traumatic thing, but too many people try and act like it never happened - and that isn't good.

When I worked in Pediatric Oncology, we had a seperare program for children who were deemed cured.

http://www.atcfkid.com/cure_beyond.php

There wasn't a similar program in adult oncology, because the cost was prohibitive. The ACS needs to start funding programs like this for adults.

[avironneur.livejournal.com]

No you certainly cannot manage it. I think worse than being afraid of it is being afraid that it could come back and that if it does, you won't be ok this time.