NHM Health Focus:
Cancer Survivors
June 2009
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Challenges for Cancer Survivors:
- Physical, emotional, and financial hardships
- Limited access to cancer specialists and promising
new treatments
- Denial of health and life insurance coverage
- Financial hardships long after the initial
diagnosis and treatment
- Employment problems
- Psychological struggles
- Strain on personal relationships
- Profound fear of recurrence
Source:
National Cancer Day Information Guide
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National Cancer Survivors Day®, held annually on the first Sunday in June, honors cancer survivors and calls attention to the many readily available resources to help Cancer
Survivors meet the many challenges they face.
Among the most comprehensive
are those posted by the National Cancer
Institute. Here you will find information about all types of cancer
including treatments and related research. The role of the National Cancer
Institute's Office of Cancer
Survivorship (OCS) is to enhance the quality and length of survival
of all persons diagnosed with cancer and to minimize or stabilize adverse
effects experienced during cancer survivorship.
"When
Someone in Your Family Has Cancer " recognizes that family members
and friends of cancer survivors are impacted in many different ways
and provides suggestions and resources for these individuals.
Online networks of people whose lives have been touched by cancer provide
support by providing information and contact with others who have had
similar experiences. Here are links to some:
- National Coalition for
Cancer Survivorship is "the oldest survivor-led advocacy
organization working exclusively on behalf of people with all types
of cancer and their families, advocates for quality cancer care for
all Americans."
- Lance Armstrong Foundation develops and supports programs for people living with cancer, seeks
the knowledge that people living with cancer need, and provides information
and resources for people living with cancer.
- Cancer Survivors On Line is an extensive site developed by four members of a "cancer cluster" family. Site developers are both cancer survivors and caretakers.
- Cancer Survivor Network,
sponsored by the American
Cancer Society, is a community established by people whose
lives have been touched by cancer to help them find strength and inspiration
from "personal stories, discussions and expressions of caring."
- Cancer
Survivor Network: Discussions and Chat "We, as survivors
and care givers, sometimes have a need to talk about our experiences
with cancer. It can help us to learn new ways to cope. It can also
help us overcome any feelings of isolation by knowing that there are
others like us."
Access Excellence @ the National Health Museum (AE @ NHM)
has a number of postings chronicling the ever changing science
of cancer, its causes and treatment. Some examples are listed below.
Please use the search feature on our home page for additional archived
resources.
Health Headquarters: Question of the Week -
When Someone You Love Has Cancer
Health Headquarters: Question of the Week -
Remembering the Siblings
Resource Center: About Biotech -
Vaccinating Against Cancer
Resource Center: About Biotech -
The Ras Gene and Cancer
Let's Collaborate: SciTalk -
Aging and Cancer: Are Telomeres and Telomerase the Connection?
What's News: Science Updates -
First Monoclonal Cancer Theraputic
What's News: Science Updates -
HER-2/neu vs. Breast Cancer
What's News: Science Updates -
DNA Methylation Provides Cancer Clue
Activities Exchange: Fellows Collection -
Student Cancer Journals- Personal Reflections and Research on Life and Death Issues
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