First came the diagnosis, then treatment. Now, you're cancer-free! What's next? Cancer specialist Arash Asher, M.D., has tips to help patients get back to "a new normal" in Ask The Doctor, a new women's health video series, produced in partnership with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center...
Ever since you learned you had cancer, you've envisioned the finish line: After surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation, the doctor says the cancer is gone.
What now?
Most patients are sent home to pick up their lives again and return for periodic checkups. But for about half of cancer patients, returning to a normal routine isn't easy.
They have post-cancer problems, such as fatigue, "chemo brain" and depression, which may last for weeks or months after treatment ends, says Arash Asher, M.D., Director of Cancer Survivorship and Rehabilitation at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
To help them adjust to their "new normal," more U.S. hospitals, such as Cedars-Sinai, are offering post-cancer rehabilitation services.
Cancer treatment affects people mentally and physically, and aftercare programs need to address both issues, Dr. Asher says.
For example, some patients report problems with sexuality and body image, while others have chronic pain, balance issues or swelling in an arm or a leg (lymphedema), he says.
"Everyone is an individual … and it's important to address these kinds of quality-of-life issues [with aftercare]," Dr. Asher explains.
Source: http://ift.tt/1i6R5nk
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