A growing number of hospitals and cancer centers nationwide are launching programs targeted at adolescents and young adults. Patients in such programs get counseling, personalized screening and a sense of community with other young people.
“I was scared, completely terrified,” said Schmidt, now 35. “It was like everything that I had known up until that point was just gone almost in an instant.”
“Once you finish the active treatment, like the surgeries and the chemotherapy, that’s when the hardest part comes,” said Schmidt, who survived through multiple operations, radiation and chemotherapy. “Because then you have to sit with your new reality and figure out what that looks like now.”that young cancer survivors had a higher risk of 24 health problems, including heart failure, kidney and liver disease, hearing loss and even stroke.
“How do I disclose this huge thing that happened to me to someone that I just started dating?” asked psychologist Stacy Sanford, a co-director of the adolescent and young adult cancer program at Northwestern Medicine. “In some relationships it can even cause conflict, because it’s hard being a caregiver, and some people aren’t equipped to do that.”
For Schmidt, getting back into dating was terrifying. The chemotherapy and the surgery that kept her alive destroyed her ability to have a biological child. “Changes in heart function, heart valve disorders, both related to radiation, as well as certain chemotherapies, can impact the function of the heart over time,” she said., may experience permanent hearing loss because of damage to the inner ear, for example.
Sanford of Northwestern helps young survivors work through fear using a form of psychotherapy called acceptance and commitment therapy, in which she helps them with the uncertainty that their cancer might come back.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Some Breast Cancer Patients May Safely Forgo ChemotherapyResearchers are looking for less aggressive cancer therapies that won't affect odds of survival. One new study shows HER2-positive breast cancer patients were successfully treated without chemotherapy.
Read more »
Two cancer drug trials put on hold after patients died, companies say | CNNTwo clinical trials have been paused within the past two days because six participants – including one child – have died, according to reports by the drug companies.
Read more »
Heatwave: People urged to use alternatives to A&EOne hospital says it treated 560 patients on Monday, when it would normally see about 350.
Read more »
Dr. Maya Green helping to bridge healthcare gap for LGBTQ+ patientsAs we celebrate pride, members of the LGBTQ+ community continue to make countless contributions to moving Chicago forward.
Read more »
Patients with HIV in US saw rise of rare, deadly bacterial illness last year: CDCA new CDC report found that HIV patients in the U.S. saw a rise of a rare, deadly bacterial illness in 2022 due to low vaccination rates.
Read more »