Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Follow-up Care

 

You will want to discuss your follow-up care plan in detail with your health care team before your treatment ends so you will know what to expect in terms of physical examinations, tests, chance of recurrence, as well as lifestyle changes and other ways to stay healthy. Before your active treatment ends, be sure you've established a way to contact your physician or nurse to talk about the following questions and any additional concerns you have.

  • Can you provide a comprehensive summary of my care to date and a written follow-up care plan for me and send it to my primary health care provider?
  • What are the chances of my cancer coming back?
  • What are my chances of developing a new cancer?
  • What can I do to stay healthy and maintain my well-being?
  • Will I have any long-term side effects from my cancer treatments?
  • Could having cancer affect my health insurance coverage or job security?
  • Can you tell me how to find a support group that would be good for me?
  • Which member of my health care team will monitor my follow-up care?


 

Latest Cancer News
ACOG Updates Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines

November 20, 2009 — The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has revised its cervical cancer screening recommendations: the organization now recommends that women begin screening at the age of 21 and receive screening at less frequent intervals. These recommendations will be published in the December 2009 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

New Velcade®-melphalan Transplant Regimen for Multiple Myeloma

November 20, 2009 — Researchers from France have reported encouraging results with adding Velcade® (bortezomib) to high-dose melphalan followed by autologus stem cell infusion for initial treatment of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. The details of this Phase II study appeared in an early online publication in Blood on November 2, 2009.

Folic Acid May Be Beneficial in Patients with Recurrent Colorectal Adenoma Who Are Folate Deficient

November 20, 2009 — Researchers affiliated with the Health Professional Follow-Up Study and the Nurses’ Health Study have reported that folic acid supplementation in patients with recurrent colorectal adenoma was not protective or harmful in most patients. However, patients who were folate deficient had a significant 39% decrease in adenoma recurrence. The details of this study appeared in an early online publication on October 28, 2009 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Select news items provided by Reuters Health