Valley is aware of the nationwide supply disruption of IV fluid solution due to Hurricane Helene, and wants to reassure the community that steps have been taken to ensure the situation will have no negative impact on our patients and the community.
There are more than 3.8 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. These include women and men who are currently being treated for breast cancer and those who have completed treatment.
People who survive cancer experience the normal concerns of life, plus the short- and long-term effects of being treated for cancer. In addition to health issues, cancer survivors face psychological, genetic, reproductive, social, financial and employment concerns. That’s why, at Valley, we’ve created at program dedicated to the needs of breast cancer survivors.
At Valley Breast Center, if you have completed your initial breast cancer treatment, you will be seen in our Survivorship Program. This program is a collaboration between breast surgery and medical oncology. In the program, we assess your needs on a regular basis and provide you with evidence-based recommendations to address them.
Our survivorship team includes our breast surgeons, medical oncologists, advanced practice providers in both breast surgery and medical oncology, and a registered dietitian and health coach.
Breast cancer survivors may experience some or all of the following:
As part of your survivorship visit, we will discuss any issues you are dealing with and create a plan for addressing them. This may include referring you to other Valley specialists who can provide additional, coordinated care.
At your visit, we will focus on the following main areas:
You will be asked ahead of time to complete a survivorship assessment survey. The survey will allow your provider to determine whether you have any concerns for the visit.
The survey will ask about:
Your visit will include a detailed medical history and physical exam. The history will focus on any concerns that were identified in the survivorship assessment survey and any other issues that you want to bring up at the visit. The physical exam is comprehensive and will include a breast exam.
At your visit, we will discuss your breast imaging, and your provider will discuss if are up to date with other health care maintenance (including but not limited to, a skin exam, colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening, gynecology visit and bone density scan).
Following this, we will make a treatment plan together, which will include:
You will leave the visit with your next follow-up appointment.
During survivorship, we encourage you to maintain a healthy lifestyle to reduce your risk of cancer recurrence. This will also help you address many of the short- and long-term effects that come with cancer treatment.
Our registered dietitian and health coach will help you with: