Energy and fatigue management

It is well known that many treatments used to treat cancer can cause a level of fatigue that may vary in severity and time. For some this can last just weeks, for others months and for a minority it can be ongoing despite completing therapy years before. Understanding ways to improve your energy using the Survivorship Care Plan will assist in your recovery.

Neuropathy painful fingertips and toes or loss of balance

Many patients may suffer temporary or permanent disabling pain or tingling in their fingers or toes from chemotherapy treatments used to treat their cancer. You may also be experiencing changes in your sense of balance and fear of falling. Understanding how to manage the risk of these symptoms developing or how to lessen their impact on your quality of life and when or whether they may lessen will be discussed in your Survivorship Care Plan.

Cancer risk and longer term health from the metabolic syndrome

Cancer treatment can affect your longer term health and ongoing cancer risk through weight gain as a result of medications used to treat your cancer directly or used to lessen the side effects of the treatments you received. You may notice changes in your body with weight gain and loss of muscle mass. You may be unaware of how your treatments may affect this risk in the longer term. Your Consultant Physician at Evexia Care will discuss how you can manage and reduce these effects on your short and longer term health and wellbeing using the Survivorship Care Plan.

Bone health

Many cancer treatments can affect your risk of osteoporosis and fracture risk. Understanding the links of cancer treatment to your bone health and how you can improve this will be discussed as part of your Survivorship Care Plan.

“Chemobrain” and cognitive changes

You may have noticed some changes during or following your treatment in your ability to remember, process information and perform at the same level that you did before your cancer diagnosis. Some changes can be transient and are described by some as a “chemo – fog”. Some changes can be subtle and you alone notice, some may be more marked and sensed by others. You may have lost your ability to remember, process information and perform at the same level you experienced before your cancer treatment. It can affect decisions in your work life balance, affect your employment decisions and ability to function at home. Our Consultant Physicians at Evexia Care will discuss tools and ways to manage this within your Survivorship Care Plan.

Mindfulness

Professor Smith has many years of experience in the benefits of mindfulness and meditation. A cancer diagnosis can bring intrusive thoughts and a feeling of loss of control. Learning techniques such as mindfulness has been demonstrated to reduce high levels of anxiety and distress associated with a cancer diagnosis and its treatment.

Pain

You may be experiencing pain following any of the cancer treatments you received. Pain can be post-surgical, radiation or chemotherapy. It can develop acutely or as a later effect of treatment. Pain can vary in cause and intensity as well as expected recovery and earlier interventions may prevent longer term issues. Evexia Care can assist understanding of why your pain is present, whether it will improve and how you can manage it on an ongoing basis.

Nutrition

The role of diet in cancer management has for many focussed on a patient who has lost weight either from their cancer or as a result of the surgery they have had or the side effects from their treatments. Our Consultant Physicians at Evexia Care will discuss the role of nutrition to maintain and improve health and how this can be achieved.

Will my cancer recur?

It is natural for you to harbour questions as to whether your cancer could recur and what that means to you and your family, your life and your quality of life if it does.

Fear of recurrence may be at times foremost in your mind, for others prompted only through hearing about it in the media when the latest breakthroughs are discussed or a celebrity is battling their own diagnosis and sometimes recurrent diagnosis. Some may never have given time to these thoughts.

If you feel that these thoughts are intruding on your life it is worth raising this as to how you can manage what is only a human reaction to a life-changing and sometimes life-threatening event. For many the worry and dread of being through cancer treatment once only to go through it again is foremost. For others it is the fear of the cancer returning only not to be curable. Some may fear how it will affect their family. Discussing this within your Survivorship Care Plan at Evexia Care and any benefits through healthier living will provide structure on how to manage this important issue.

Sexual health and relationships after a diagnosis of cancer

Many cancer treatments both surgical and or radiation or hormonal can have profound changes on both how you feel and live with your body. Many of these changes can affect feelings of intimacy with a loved one as well as function or discomfort limiting the ability to enjoy the sexual life you had prior to your diagnosis. Such intimate discussions may seldom be raised in a routine cancer appointment due to time pressures of what may be perceived as more “needier” issues. Understanding how the treatment’s effects on your sexual health can be lessened or how to regain intimacy with your partner or bridge this with a new partner in your life is essential in the Survivorship Care Plan.

Role of clinical trials

Evexia Care may discuss with you and your doctor whether any clinical trials in supportive care would be of benefit to you in your ongoing survivorship care and wellbeing.