We are more aware every day that surviving is not just about getting rid of the cancer. It’s also about getting through the side- and after-effects of the treatment.

Apparently, there are other folks thinking about these issues, too. There was an article in the New York Times a couple of days ago about cancer survivorship, in which mention was made of a growing awareness that survivors need more than they’re getting in terms of follow-up care.

According to Dr. Julia H. Rowland, director of the Office of Cancer Survivorship at the National Cancer Institute:

“What’s new is the recognition and growing attention to the fact that people are living long term… Follow-up care is not offered routinely and so if you need rehabilitation, or if you become depressed after treatment or have chronic fatigue or chronic pain or cognitive problems, you wouldn’t necessarily have access to resources. We don’t really have guidelines for what that follow-up care should look like.”

I must say that this comes as no surprise to us. While I feel that Paul has had good surgical follow-up care, the attention that has been paid by his doctors to the non-wound-care-related aftereffects of his surgery has been [insert swear word(s) of your choice that mean “really really bad” here].

Tomorrow the NCI’s President’s Cancer Panel report on survivorship is due out. It’s supposed to address a lot of issues related to long-term survivorship. I’m more than a little leery these days of anything that has “President’s” attached to it, especially where it’s related to science and health care. (OK, so not just science and health care. Foreign policy, environmental issues… the list is long.) However, the panel includes Lance Armstrong, who’s one of my heroes, both for his cycling and for the work he’s doing as an advocate for cancer survivors. I’ll wait and see.