{"id":3737,"date":"2015-10-28T11:26:11","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T15:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/52.229.122.34\/en\/?p=3737"},"modified":"2021-02-17T11:46:16","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T16:46:16","slug":"wellness-program-helps-cancer-survivors-thrive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/uncategorized\/wellness-program-helps-cancer-survivors-thrive\/","title":{"rendered":"Wellness program helps cancer survivors thrive"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text-center\"><em>Nurse practitioner Gail Larocque (right) follows cancer survivors who have finished active treatment, as part of the Wellness Beyond Cancer Program at The Ottawa Hospital.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Carolyn Shelley has survived breast cancer, but where should she receive follow-up care?<\/p>\n<p>Cancer is now considered a chronic disease, with an increasing number of people surviving, so The Ottawa Hospital developed the Wellness Beyond Cancer Program. Although still in early stages, it\u2019s receiving enthusiastic support from patients.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s helpful to see there are other people in the same boat, that you don\u2019t feel alone,\u201d said Shelley.<\/p>\n<p>Traditionally, patients were followed for many years at the hospital after active cancer treatment had ended, for various reasons but mostly because of concerns that patients could not otherwise return quickly if the cancer recurred.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe felt there had to be better options to meet patients\u2019 needs,&nbsp; provide follow-up care closer to home, and help them transition into wellness,\u201d said Dr. Roanne Segal, Medical Oncologist.<\/p>\n<p>The steadily growing program began with colorectal cancer and expanded to breast cancer one year later. Well patients who have completed active treatment are referred for follow-up care by their family doctor or, for those with complex treatment side effects or risks, by the nurse practitioner, before discharge to their family doctor.<\/p>\n<p>Program highlights include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An education session called \u201cLiving well and managing your health after cancer,\u201d which teaches patients about common survivorship concerns, late and long-term treatment effects, and reducing risk through healthy lifestyle.<\/li>\n<li>A personal survivorship care plan and review, which outlines their treatment, follow-up tests and outstanding self-identified needs.<\/li>\n<li>Rapid re-entry for patients back to the Cancer Program for reassessment at any time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>After attending the education session, Shelley recently met with RN Carrie Liska to review her care plan, which summarizes her entire cancer journey from diagnosis in 2004 through chemotherapy, surgery, radiation and brachytherapy, and the recommended tests for her follow-up care.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy family doctor gets the exact same care plan, in case there are any questions later on,\u201d Shelley said. \u201cIt recommends I have a mammogram every year for the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The program also allays her biggest worry, which is what to do if cancer recurs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf there is cancer that comes back, you don\u2019t have to start from the beginning again \u2013 you can get in there quickly,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s a number for the family doctor to call. They don\u2019t drop you. It gives you some reassurance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Family doctors like knowing they can get their patients back into the Cancer Program quickly if needed. \u201cIt gives them the tools and the safety net that we all need to ensure best outcomes for our patients,\u201d said Dr. Segal.<\/p>\n<p>Shelley would definitely recommend the program to fellow cancer survivors.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-3740 size-full img-responsive\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/WellnessgraphicENWEB_m.jpg\" alt=\"wellness-graphic\" width=\"336\" height=\"372\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/WellnessgraphicENWEB_m.jpg 336w, https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/WellnessgraphicENWEB_m-271x300.jpg 271w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nurse practitioner Gail Larocque (right) follows cancer survivors who have finished active treatment, as part of the Wellness Beyond Cancer Program at The Ottawa Hospital. Carolyn Shelley has survived breast cancer, but where should she receive follow-up care? Cancer is now considered a chronic disease, with an increasing number of people surviving, so The Ottawa [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":3739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}