by Patricia B. Mirasol , Producer Survivorship care – or the physical, psychosocial, non-medical, and economic impact of any person living with and beyond a cancer diagnosis – is an underrepresented part of the disease’s journey, according to breast cancer survivors at an October 4 forum by the non-profit ICanServe Foundation (ICS). Survivorship care seeks to prevent and control the adverse effects of treatment, and can include chronic fatigue, bone density loss, and financial toxicity.
“A lot think that after radiotherapy, after chemotherapy, tapos na [it’s done],” said Doris Nuval of the ICS board of trustees. “That’s just the start.” Survivorship starts at the point of diagnosis, according to Dr.
Don S. Dizon, the director of medical oncology at Rhode Island Hospital and a women’s cancers specialist. “You are not the “only” survivor; it encompasses your family, friends, and loved ones,” he said at the October 4 event.
The four essential components of survivorship care, he said, are: “This fourth one is critical because if you had breast cancer, you are less likely to be screened for colon cancer. You are also less likely to get the flu shot because no one took ownership of that care,” Dr. Dizon said.
Cancer survivors will need to get used to their new normal, which may include the long-lasting complication of fatigue. “One way to manage fatigue and not just accept it as a known complication is to correct any underlying factors, like anemia.