I did not forget you, if you have been checking in. I was having some IT issues and it is just now back up. I am continuing to work on the building of the survivorship program. I am working on getting the information and putting it into the data base and will also be interviewing breast patients in the future in order to personalize their survivorship plan. This is a learning tool and as such it will take time to learn the in's and out's but also what should be added or deleted in order to make it a usable tool. I put myself as the first guinea pig and realized how much I needed to check back to see what was actually done. Yes, I forgot. I know patients look at me crazy when I say, keep a copy of your records as there will be a date when you will not remember everything involved in your diagnosis and treatment. It is true, I am eight years out and some things I am checking on in order to make sure it is accurate. Then you have different doctors involved as well and there is just a wealth of information needed in this process. I remind my patients that it is a good thing when you do forget as it means you are moving on. With the onset of the diagnosis, you live, eat, and breathe cancer and your appointments, treatments, and more. Today, I had a patient that has completed all treatment and doesn't have to come back for a month. The sigh of relief that we both understood was audibly heard but I also reassured her that we were here if she needed us even just a quick call for any concerns she might have. I don't know where you put that on a survivorship plan but I make many phone calls in a day to address current issues and concerns for now and in the future. I would like to say that as I look out my window and see the snow falling and how it is so beautiful out and that we learn to appreciate things in a much different way. In reality, I don't have a window, I am already tired of the snow and could hibernate each night when I get home from work, rather than go out in this weather and that having lived through this all that I am a totally new person. Survivorship means so many things and you can become a new person but just like everything else it is easy to fall back to old patterns. So for the start of the new year, I will be glad that my computer issues are over for now, that I can touch base with you all, and that we can talk about survivorship. Makes it a great day (even as the snow piles up)! S
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AuthorMy name is Sue Kilburn and I am a clinical nurse breast cancer educator at the Yolanda G. Barco Oncology Institute in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Archives
March 2015
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