The Importance of Follow-Up After Cancer Treatment
The day that your aging parent completes their treatment plan for thyroid cancer is extremely exciting. They had gone through a difficult journey and are on the road toward reclaiming and improving their health. Even if the treatment plan was successful in destroying their thyroid cancer, however, this is not the end of the journey.
After an initial treatment plan for such cancer comes follow-up care, and as a family caregiver, it is vital that you not only understand the importance of such care but that you are there to support your parent in pursuing this care for as long as their doctor deems necessary.
Follow-up care is all about keeping up-to-date on your parent’s health, monitoring the effectiveness and lingering effects of treatment, and supporting efforts to reduce lasting negative effects and rebuild health. This type of care is also about reducing the risk of and detecting the potential of, recurrence of cancer. Recurrence is when cancer that has been eradicated by treatment returns, and in the case of thyroid cancer it can happen as much as 20 years after initial treatment due to the slow-growing nature of this particular type of cancer.
What can you expect?
Follow-up care can consist of a variety of appointments, tests, and screenings. These are used to review various aspects of your parent’s health and determine if any further treatment or management is necessary. It is very important that your parent attend all of these appointments and follow through with any guidelines that are given to ensure the most benefit from their care. Talk to your parent’s doctor about follow-up care as early in their treatment as possible so that you can be prepared for what this type of care will entail and be ready to do your part.
Can home care services help?
Starting elderly care can be one of the best decisions that you can make in the course of your caregiver journey with your senior. An elderly home care services provider can be with your parent on a fully customized schedule to ensure that they are getting the care, support, and assistance services that are right for their individual needs.
By evaluating their specific challenges and limitations and understanding their goals and preferences, this elderly care provider can give your parent a highly personalized set of services specifically designed to help them remain safe, healthy, comfortable, and happy, and to pursue the highest level of activity, engagement, independence, and fulfillment throughout their later years. As a family caregiver this can give you tremendous peace of mind knowing that both when you are able to be with your parent and when you are not, your senior is in the best hands.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring home care services in Loudoun County, VA, please contact the caring staff at LivinRite Home Care.
Call Us Today at (703) 634-9991.
Serving Northern Virginia, The Valley, and Surrounding Communities.
Sources:
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/thyroid-cancer/about.html
http://www.thyca.org/how-to-help/awareness/september/
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/thyroid-cancer/after-treatment/follow-up.html
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