IMPORTANCE OF ‘SURVIVORSHIP CARE PLAN’- EXPLAINED
Surviving something as disastrous as Cancer causes an aftermath that the patient has to deal with. Not just the patient, but also the friends and family.
A cancer survivor celebrates victory not as we imagine it to be.
Coping up with the repercussions of Chemotherapy, Radiology, Brachytherapy and other cancer treatments can be a hard nut to crack.
As we have always mentioned, curing cancer is not just tackling the disease. A lot of other factors also have to be taken care of.
How can an erstwhile cancer patient get back to his normal life? This blog is your answer. Keep reading as we reveal more.
Survivorship in Cancer Care – What Is It?
Let us start by understanding what a Survivorship Care Plan is.
Cancer affects one’s body drastically. The damage caused by either cancer or the treatment leaves a permanent scar on the patient.
So, a Survivorship Care Plan helps the patient get back to their regular day-to-day activities before the cancer occurred.
Each survivorship care plan is tailor-made for different patients based on the type of cancer they suffered from and how it has affected their bodies.
Certain lifestyle changes have to be implemented by the patient and routine tests and check-ups have to be done.
Why is Survivorship Care Plan Important?
Once a person is treated with Cancer, it is not an easy thing to get back to their regular day-to-day activities before Cancer diagnosis.
So, a Survivorship Care Plan empowers you and pushes you to your very best.
To help you live your life to the fullest after Cancer and also to curb the possibility of a Cancer recurrence.
You can consider this Survivorship Care Plan as a detox or a rehabilitation process for a Cancer survivor that helps the person let go of the after-effects cancer has put onto the body.
If you are a Cancer survivor reading this blog, take this as an opportunity to understand that it is not just you who has to get over cancer- it is your body, your friends and your family.
Do You Need a Cancer Survivorship Care Plan?
Many people only know about the treatment options when one is diagnosed with Cancer, as shown in a lot of movies.
It is rather a sad thing that not many people are aware that the battle is not over just yet. Moving on from a crisis like this needs a lot.
Our answer to this question is an absolute Yes. Yes, because merely surviving Cancer won’t do the job.
You also have to consider a lot of parameters like taking care of side effects caused by cancer, your mental health and most importantly- making vast changes in your lifestyle.
What Are The Essential Components of A Survivorship Care Plan?
Moving onto the final segment of our blog – Let us walk you through what all happens in a Survivorship Care Plan.
Also Read – Importance of physical exercise in cancer treatment
Details of Your Cancer, Diagnosis and Your Treatment
A lot of Cancers cause side effects- some very specific to the part of the body where the Cancer initially started.
Based on the Cancer stage, variant, type and the treatment you had undergone, a follow-up care plan is curated for you.
Providing Assistance on Maintaining Your Lifestyle
After cancer, your body encounters a tons of changes. Hence, doctors advise all the survivors to make changes in their lifestyle and get on the healthier side so as to maintain their body properly and not be down to face any medical complications.
Emotional Support
Not any medical assistance is needed here. Cancer patients should consult psychologists or any mental health professionals and gauge the status of their mental condition as well.
As cliché as it might sound, therapy is also as important as the other things in this Survivorship Care Plan.
Read on – Recurrence Cancer
Finally, Taking Everything into Account
We hope that we have done everything to put to light all the things that happen in this treatment plan.
Mission Cancer Care is here for all those Cancer patients and Cancer Survivors and our hearts always go out to them.
Make sure to keep up with us as we come up with more informative blogs and articles and bust myths that make people take the wrong choices.
You can also check out our Instagram for our informative content on Cancer and videos of our oncologists talking about a lot of things they come across in their field of work.