Survivorship is a lifelong phase of cancer care
When a child has cancer, the parents and whole family focus their time and energy on getting that child through chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy or a combination of those treatments. This usually means many appointments at the hospital, Cancer Center and doctor's office, medications to manage, schedules to adjust and thinking no further ahead than the next medical appointment. If treatment is successful, the child and parents enter a new phase: cancer survivorship, which lasts a lifetime. Assistant professor of pediatrics Jody Sima, MD, is the pediatric oncologist who directs the Survivor Wellness Program at Upstate. She talks about survivorship with Jim Howe, the parent of a childhood cancer survivor and a member of the "HealthLink on Air" team.