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Cancer Survivorship -- |
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I suspect that most of you, like me, have had the experience of coping with cancer -- seeing the wrenching changes to the lives of sisters, mothers, best friends or yourself when faced with the insidious onslaught of cancer, be it uterine, ovarian, cervical, or breast. The August 2010 episode of Future Choices spotlights a cutting edge support program at Lawrence Hospital Center for people who have been treated for cancer, for your friends and family and mine.
A nurse practitioner, an internist and a cancer survivor convened with Future Choices to reveal the strengths and benefits of the new Cancer Survivorship Program at the Bronxville, NY, Hospital Center.
The Future Choices episode may now be seen on YouTube.
Shirley Stagner, the Nurse Practitioner who directs the program, explains that the Survivorship Program at Lawrence is for post-treatment cancer survivors; that is what makes it new and noteworthy. There are now thirteen million people in the United States that fit this category. Their needs are different than those in treatment. Typically they have progressed beyond the life-threatening stage, but are still undergoing interference in having the quality of life desired and anticipated.
Ms. Stagner summarizes the condition, saying: “A person may be cancer-free, yet not free of cancer.” |
"I am not afraid any more"
In a recent Journal News article about the Lawrence Hospital Program, two participants asserted that
"they owe their lives to their doctors — and their self-confidence and healthy outlook to the cancer survivorship program at Lawrence Hospital Center.
"I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid anymore," [one of them] said.
Shirley Stagner directs the survivorship program at the hospital... The nurse practitioner has spent decades working with people diagnosed with cancer and brings a sensitivity to issues and worries based on years of talking with those touched by the diseases. |MORE
Survivorship -- a growing medical specialty
The whole area of cancer survivorship is a growing medical specialty that was given exposure and impetus from an Institute of Medicine position paper in 2005. We learn from the Institute of Medicine's research that:
In the United States, half of all men and one-third of all women will develop cancer in their lifetimes. Advances in the detection and treatment of cancer, combined with an aging population, mean greater numbers of cancer survivors in the near future.
Despite the increase in survivors, however, primary care physicians and other health care providers often are not extremely familiar with the consequences of cancer, and seldom receive explicit guidance from oncologists. Furthermore, the lack of clear evidence for what constitutes best practices in caring for patients with a history of cancer contributes to wide variation in care.
Citing shortfalls in the care currently provided to the country's 10 million cancer survivors, From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Transition recommends that each cancer patient receive a "survivorship care plan."
The program at Lawrence Hospital Center, modeled on the prototypes cited in the paper, is one of the earliest established in the U.S., and the only one in New York other than Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Although it is possibly the only one at a small community hospital, the Lawrence program welcomes cancer survivors living in southern Westchester County, whether or not they have been treated at Lawrence. There is no charge for the survivorship services. For more information
about this program,
call 914-787-4115.
When is Future Choices aired in your community?
See Local TV schedule for time and channel in each participating community in Westchester County.
Partnering with other organizations
- The Lawrence Hospital Cancer Survivorship Program works in close coordination with the Cancer Support Team, whose services focus largely on "enhanc[ing] the quality of life of those dealing with the many challenges of a cancer diagnosis."
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that "Millions of Americans are cancer survivors, living with, through, and beyond cancer. As the number of cancer survivors grows, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working with partner organizations to help survivors throughout their cancer experience." See further. The Lawrence Hospital Cancer Survivorship Program is a direct outcome of CDC's promotion of such programs to help survivors address the "physical, emotional, social, and financial challenges as a result of their cancer diagnosis and treatment."
Cancer Survivorship - Charting the Course to Renewed Strength
The Future Choices episode which illuminates the strengths and benefits of the Lawrence Hospital program aired for the month of August 2010 on local access TV stations throughout Westchester County, and may now be seen on YouTube:
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Lance Armstrong Foundation
Extensive information about cancer survivorship may be found on the Lance Armstrong Foundation website , where the testimonials from cancer survivors parallel that of the cancer survivor who was one of the guests on the Future Choices show.
Shirley Stagner has served as director of the Lawrence Hospital Center's Cancer Survivorship Program since its inception. Her academic training includes B.S.N. from the University of Tennessee for the Health Sciences (1970) and M.S.N. Maternal – Child Health, University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences with Major Focus in Oncology (1985). She brings to her position at Lawrence nearly 40 years of professional experience in oncology. |MORE
This page last updated August 13, 2010 17:59 .