Tonight's picture was taken on January 14, 2009. Mattie was in NYC to receive his first dosage of experimental treatment. Before treatment began, we asked Mattie what he wanted to see in the City. We gave him options and he chose to go up the elevator of the Empire States Building. Mattie grew up in Washington, DC where there is a height cap on the buildings! So to Mattie, NYC was fascinating with skyscrapers everywhere! We went to both observation floors of the building and Peter snapped this photo of us at the 102 floor!
Quote of the day: Improvements in cancer treatment have led to increases in the childhood cancer survivor population. Many survivors are at risk for serious late effects from their cancer treatment, including second cancers, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory problems. ~ Jennifer Ford
I received an article today entitled, Barriers and Facilitators of Risk-Based Health Care for Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer: A Report From the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. I think our society has a real misconception
about surviving cancer. In that, the thinking is if you survived treatment, you are cured, and life goes on. Unfortunately that couldn't be further from the truth. High dose chemotherapy, like what Mattie endured, has both physical and mental health consequences. What intrigued me about this research article, was the study investigated the reasons why childhood cancer survivors do not receive follow up care (survivorship care). After all with all the secondary issues that arise from treatment, these individuals will truly need to be monitored all their lives.
The main barriers for seeking healthcare in the non-cancer populations are lack of health insurance and transportation issues. These are not the same barriers for cancer survivors (I am not saying this, the research is). One of the main issues for adult survivors of childhood cancer is they become disconnected from the hospital they received their care from when they were a child and finding another facility for cancer-related care may present a problem. It is of concern that survivors do not have the necessary information to facilitate follow-up care in that fewer than 20% reported having a cancer treatment summary. Imagine being diagnosed with cancer as a child, surviving it, and then as an adult being asked about the medical treatment you received as a child. Chances are adult survivors of childhood cancer won't know and without having access to a treatment summary, it makes it very hard to be proactive in survivorship care.
This research study discussed the benefits of educational interventions for patients and improving awareness of a patient's treatment history. Both of these suggestions are accurate, but I would take it one step further and say that the educational interventions also need to be supplied to primary care physicians. Many of whom are not well versed in the long term effects of childhood cancer and they do not understand the relationship between cancer in childhood and the affects on health and well-being in adult survivors. In any medical relationship, there has to be a collaboration between the patient and the physician for care to be effective. The responsibility for follow up cancer care doesn't only belong to the patient, but it belongs to any physician caring for an adult survivor of childhood cancer.
To read the article, click on this link:
https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/cncr.32568?referrer_access_token=IzUd2bp71caT5NQmXLGRgE4keas67K9QMdWULTWMo8P5bzzagg-gaNlhOk_NpiuJ_FYe0ZbkaUmI-UQGrUKQ2i4TDHEBk8fL22hMtPvZn9kfAY4wqula3cHfoHd9FRYeygNfyoeS5OB74TVOQ2palQ%3D%3D
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