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Donald Wilhelm is the author of This Times a Charm and a 5 time cancer survivor.

Donald was a guest and Medical Expert on the webcast on Patient Power.info.  The subject of the interview was “Benefits of Survivorship Treatment Care Plans.”  Recently here in Nevada, Nevada Cancer Institute, designated by the state legislature as the official cancer institute for the State of Nevada, opened up “The Survivorship Clinic.”  The Survivorship Clinic is believed to be the first of its kind in Nevada; it was created to meet a need in the community. The clinic is partly supported by grants through the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The clinic is for breast cancer patients who are no longer receiving chemotherapy or radiation.

Major advances in cancer prevention, early detection and treatment have resulted in longer survival rates. However, surviving cancer can leave a host of problems in its wake.

Dr. Karen Milligan is the head of The Survivorship Clinic at NVCI. “There is a large and growing need for this type of service and support for today’s cancer survivors,” said Dr. Milligan. “As the number of survivors continues to grow, survivorship clinics will become part of standard treatment.”

NVCI is a collaborative, statewide effort involving concerned citizens, the oncology community, academic leaders, legislators, corporations, health care advocates, and cancer patients and their families. NVCI is wholly committed to offering the residents of Nevada a facility that offers the most current and most advanced cancer treatment options.

As a nonprofit research center, an essential part of NVCI’s mission is to ensure cancer patients and their families, regardless of their geographic location, have access to the latest in cancer prevention, education, detection and treatment option.  The Survivorship Clinic is an amazing addition to NVCI’s mission.

Donald, says during this interview that “patients are basically left out on their own.” “You go through this support system that you have had for 3 months, 6 months, or more, then you are claimed magically in remission and boom, you are out on you own.” Donald is an advocate for the benefits that a Survivorship Treatment Plan can provide to the survivor, as well as the physicians treating the patient in the future.

Dr. Scott Baker, is a pediatric medical oncologist. He is the director of the Survivorship Program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.  He is interviewd as well, within the program, and stresses the importance of Survivorship Treatment Care Plans.

Within the program they discuss the effects of specific medications on the body, and how important it is to know the medications that you are on during treatment. These medications effect your body in a number of ways, and when you are a survivor, you need to know which drugs you are on, and how they will effect your body in the future.

Please take the time to listen to this great webcast, and ask your local physicain if there is a Survivorship Treatment Care Plan after your treatment.

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