“For nearly 10 million Americans now living with a cancer history,
life after cancer means finding a new balance - - one that celebrates
triumph and relief of completing treatment, recognizes changes or losses
the disease has wrought, and assimilates revised perspectives, new found
strengths, and lingering uncertainties. Typically, few signposts exist
to guide these highly personal journeys into a familiar but forever changed
world.”
Living Beyond Cancer: Finding a New Balance
President’s Cancer Panel, 2003-2004
Finding a New Normal...
Three out of four families will have at least one family member who is
diagnosed with cancer and is a cancer survivor. A survivor is anyone living
with a history of cancer from the moment of diagnosis through the remainder
of life. Healthy survival is not just about surviving; it is also about
thriving and living well.
The Celilo survivorship project is about helping patients live well through
the physical, emotional and practical challenges of finding a new normal.
Other topics include joyful living, meeting the spiritual challenges of
post-treatment, coping with fear of recurrence, improving body image and
personal confidence, and re-establishing/establishing intimate relationships.
At Celilo, patient navigators, social workers, nurses and other health
professionals educate and support survivors with their personal journeys.
Cancer survivors have an opportunity to meet individually with a resource
guide and/or social worker for an assessment of needs as they transition
from active treatment to post-treatment. Survivors are linked with community
support services and integrative therapies available at MCMC supporting
a healthy lifestyle and cancer risk reduction.
As patients improve their understanding of disease management and follow-up
care, it is hoped that remission improvement and cure potential will be
advanced. Further, it is hoped that effective guidance and survivor coaching
will lead to improved coping and improved quality of life.
Personalized Survivorship Care Plan
Survivorship Care Plans (SCP) provide a comprehensive summary of treatment
that reflects the treatment received, screening recommendations, wellness
guidelines and follow-up care to improve health and quality of life. Each
patient is offered an appointment with our director of survivorship to
discuss their
personalized Survivorship Care Plan(SCP).
The SCP meets stringent requirements set by Commission on Cancer (CoC),
National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC) and The American
Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
As the only Commission on Cancer and NAPBC accredited program in the Columbia
River Gorge we are privileged to offer this personalized document. We
also provide copies of this document to your primary care provider (PCP)
and other providers that are part of your care team.
For more information, call 541-296-7585.