AFTER CANCER: FOLLOW-UP
You are a cancer survivor. Although you would like to put your cancer totally behind you, you are different now. In order to minimize your chance of future problems, you need to be evaluated periodically for evidence of problems from your cancer or its treatment. This section will teach you about your follow-ups and about available treatments aimed at keeping you healthy and preventing recurrence.
What Is the Purpose of Routine Follow-up?
Regularly scheduled checkups allow your oncologist to "follow you." This involves • monitoring the continuing response to your treatments net to
• evaluating and treating problems left over from your cancer or small l1 cancer treatments months
• looking for signs of complications or aftereffects of the treatments
• looking for signs of recurrent cancer
What Determines What Is Needed at My Follow-up Visits and Their Frequency?
Many factors affect the specifics of your follow-up evaluations:
• your type of cancer
• your type of treatment
• the length of time since your last treatment
• the stage of your cancer at the time of diagnosis
• the rapidity with which your cancer was growing at the time of diagnosis
• the presence or absence of persistent problems related to your cancer or cancer therapy (e.g., abnormal blood tests and lung/ digestive/kidney problems)
• tests needed for data collection if you were part of a clinical trial
The routine follow-up schedule provides only a broad guideline. Exactly when you have your follow-up and what is done there must be tailored to your circumstances.
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