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BY LENA HUANG | OCTOBER 15, 2010
Lots of news came out of the European Society for Medical Oncology's 35th Congress over the past few days. On Sunday, there was a meeting on the need for psychosocial rehabilitation programs for survivors. Patients, survivors, and advocates shared information with health care professionals about the ongoing need and importance for psychosocial support during and after treatment.
I was reading a press release about that meeting when I got a note from Katy Plant, MPH, study manager at the Stanford Patient Education Research Center. Katy said they are still looking for survivors for their "Cancer: Surviving and Thriving" workshop and have changed the requirements to allow for more participants. This study is trying to achieve what was discussed at ESMO this past week--create a support program for cancer survivors.
I've blogged about this study before so I won't go into great detail but this Internet-based workshop aims to help survivors with the unique issues that confront them post-treatment, such as fatigue, emotional concerns, physical changes, and late effects of treatment. It also assists survivors in talking to family, friends, and health professionals about their cancer and offers social networking to connect with other survivors online. Each workshop is led by a survivor.
An earlier study by Stanford showed that participants who developed confidence in managing their own health required fewer medical interventions and were overall healthier. For more information and requirements for the current study, go to cancersurvivors.stanford.edu or email cancersurvivors@standford.edu.
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I am an almost 7 year breast cancer survivor and found great support and knowledge online. It helped me get through the difficult patches. I became a member of www.bclist.org and found women and men who were surviving and even having fun, even though some of them were facing metastatic cancer.
The research articles they suggested to me may well have saved my life, as I went back to my doctors with questions several times, and it turned out that a mistake was made in my treatment plan. I would never have known about that if not for the women and men on that email list.
So yes, more support is needed, but also: doctors need to tell their patients about the sources of support that are already in place. It may save lives and it definitely will improve quality of life for many.
Sara Engelsman
- Posted by sara engelsman 10/27/10 4:07 PM
I have been on Arimidex for nearly four years following surgery, chemo and rads for breast cancer. Arimidex has affected my quality of life so much and I want to give it up now. Is it ok to do that now instead of waiting for another two or three years before I can give it up?
- Posted by Judith Sheppard 11/17/10 12:14 PM