Follow-Up Care for Breast Cancer

-

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among urban Indian females, and the second most common among the rural Indian women. After you have been diagnosed with primary breast cancer, your specialist team will discuss your treatment options with you and their possible side effects.

Your cancer care does not end when the active cancer treatment has finished. After treatment for breast cancer, follow-up care is important to help maintain good health, manage any side effects from treatment, watch for signs of a relapse, and screen for other types of cancer. Your health care team will continue to check on the cancer relapse, manage any side effects, and monitor your overall health.

This is also a good time to talk with your doctor about who will lead your follow-up care. You and your doctor should work together to develop a personalized follow-up care plan which may include regular physical examinations and other medical tests to monitor your recovery during the coming months and years.

Be sure to ask about any concerns you have about your future physical or emotional health. Some survivors continue to see their oncologist, while others transition back to the care of their family doctor or another health care professional. This decision depends on several factors, including the stage of cancer, side effects, health insurance rules, and your personal preferences.

If the doctor handling your follow-up care is not the one who was a part of your treatment, make sure to share your cancer treatment summary and experiences with her / him and with all future health care providers. Details about your cancer treatment are very valuable to the health care professionals who will care for you throughout your lifetime.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Building back better for the next normal

-
Image
  Access to   a healthcare facility is vital for good health, but people in rural areas face several healthcare access barriers. Hence, they are unable to achieve the best health services. Currently, the COVID-19 stigma has worsened the situation in rural India. Due to the lack of proper awareness, people in the rural areas have a misconception that healthcare professionals are sources of infection and they will force people to be removed from their families into quarantine centers. So, they limit their ability to obtain the care they need from healthcare professionals. This not only increases COVID-19 cases but also lags in recovery and progress. Despite all these COVID-19 challenges, the commitment and innovative spirit of GeBBS Foundation volunteers remain steadfast. Together they have taken various approaches to prevent cervical cancer as well as spread awareness on the pandemic trajectory in the rural areas. The volunteers even during these difficult times visited diffe...
Read more

Fighting COVID-19 and Cervical Cancer Together

-
Image
  Healthcare and medical aid is at times weak in rural India.   In many areas there are no formal hospitals and clinics in rural places hence, they mostly have to depend on untrained healthcare workers. Over two-thirds of these rural health providers have no medical training. But these providers are the only medical support for most of the rural population. Now the COVID-19 stigma has worsened the situation in rural India. Due to the lack of proper awareness, people in the rural areas have a misconception that healthcare professionals are sources of infection and they will force people to be removed from their families into quarantine centers. These quarantine centers are viewed with suspicion and fear. This not only increases COVID-19 cases but also lags in recovery and progress. The challenge of COVID-19 has shown us the importance of good health. So, despite all the COVID-19 challenges, the commitment and innovative spirit of GeBBS Foundation volunteers remains steadfast...
Read more

Continuous attention on cervical cancer prevention

-
Image
  Precancers grow very slowly, hence getting screened regularly will prevent precancers from becoming cervical cancer. Screening for cervical cancer is recommended at the age of 25 and it should be done every 5 years. Cervical cancer is very rare before the age of 25, hence women between the age group 25-65 years should do their PAP test at regular intervals. The goal of cervical cancer screening is to find precancers early so that they can be treated before they develop into cancer. Screening can also find cervical cancer at an early stage when it is easier to treat. There are 2 types of the cervical cancer screening test, they are: The HPV test looks for infection by high‐risk types of HPV that are more likely to cause precancers and cancers in the cervix. The Pap test looks at the cells taken from the cervix to find changes that might be cancer or precancers. For women living in low-income settings with limited financial, cultural, or and lack of quality medical care it ...
Read more