Protected: Patient education and symptom management
Before Seeing Our Team
Diagnosis
You may have scans, blood work, tests and appointments as your healthcare team works together to find out if you have cancer. This may be done at Markham Stouffville or at another hospital close to your home.
Treatment
Three main ways to fight cancer include: the removal of tumors by surgery, stopping or slowing their growth by using systemic or radiation therapy treatments.
What Can I Expect?
Our clinic consists of specialized Oncology Health Care professionals that work together to design a treatment plan that is right for you.
First Appointment
Your first appointment may require you to do bloodwork 1 hour before your appointment with the doctor.
You will be greeted by the nurse, your height and weight will be taken. There may be paper work to complete and a set of questions to be answered.
Checklist:
Health card
Medication and vitamins list
Support person (1-2 persons)
Any other information you feel is important
First Treatment Appointment
After checking in at the Chemo Main Reception, you will receive an arm band.
Please have a seat in the waiting area and a nurse will call you in.
You will walk through our chemotherapy suite and will have a seat in an assigned station with your assigned nurse.
You will receive chemo teaching from our chemo nurse and will be speaking with a pharmacist.
Video 1: Introduction to the clinic. What to expect during their First visit in clinic and first treatment visit.
According to Cancer Care Ontario, anxiety is a range of symptoms such as feeling nervous, worried, and fearful and can cause different symptoms in your mind and body such as uneasiness, restlessness, trouble sleeping, and shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, and chest pain/heart palpitations.
What causes anxiety when you have cancer?
Medications i.e. steroids or antinausea medications
Depression or anxiety before you had cancer
Side effects like nausea/pain
Worries about the future, family or cancer coming back
Worrying about suffering or death
Worries about money, job or other practical things
Waiting for results
Loss of control over parts of your life
Treatment and When to get Help
Moderate to severe
Last more than 2-3 weeks
Interferes with your ability to cope with daily life
Combined with symptoms of depression or feeling down most of the time.
Counseling
What can I do to help my anxiety?
Support system
Find out about support resources in your community by contacting the Canadian Cancer Society Community Services Locator at 1-888-939-3333 or at csl.cancer.ca
You can also speak with your cancer care team or family doctor.
Keep your regular routine as much as you can.
Things you enjoy such as hobbies, favorite TV shows, social things with friends/family.
Move your body, light exercise and movement and slowly increase the amount of time you move.
Focus on what makes you feel better
Spend time with supportive people who make you laugh
Focus your attention on the things and people that bring you joy
Avoid negative people/things that cause you stress
Try relaxing activities
Mindfulness
Yoga
Acupuncture
Music or art therapy
Deep breathing
Guided imagery
Get good rest
Eat well
Where to get more
information about anxiety
For more links to helpful information go to:
• Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario): cancercare.on.ca/symptoms
• Anxiety Canada: anxietycanada.ca
• Canadian Cancer Society: www.cancer.ca or call: 1-888-939-3333
Feeling sad and worried is normal when you have cancer.
Depression can cause you to have low energy, feel sluggish, sleep and eat more or less than before, feel hopeless, have feelings of guilt, anxiety, trouble thinking or remembering things.
Depression is an illness that can be treated, talk to your health care team if you need help coping.
Loose, watery or unformed stool that can happen more than 3-4 times per day. May cause an urgent need to go to the bathroom and may not be able to stop yourself from having a bowel movement.
Can also cause stomach cramps, restlessness, dehydration, sore skin around the bum area.
Causes: cancer treatments, medications, stress, anxiety, infection, foods that upset your stomach, health products or vitamins and other medical problems.
Treatment:
Take anti-diarrhea medication prescribed by your health care team.
Drink lots of fluids. 6-8 cups of liquids each day.
Avoid artificial sweetener, spicy foods, greasy friend meats, raw vegetables.
Nausea is defined as an upset or queasy stomach that makes you feel like you may throw up (vomit).
Vomiting is “throwing-up” the food and liquid in your stomach through your mouth.
Causes:
medications
cancer
headache
pain
anxiety
infection
constipation
cancer treatments
Management:
Take your nausea medication. There are 2 common ways: 1) on a set schedule to prevent and control nausea, or 2) as needed when you begin to feel nauseous.
Drink and eat slowly.
Start with clear liquids such as juice or clear broth, Jell-O, popsicles, water or flat soda like ginger ale. Once you can have these without throwing up, you can slowly start adding solid food back into your diet.
Begin with the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, apples without skin, and toast).
Clean your mouth: brush teeth or use homemade mouthwash, avoid commercial grade mouthwash.
Homemade Mouthwash Recipe:
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
4 cups of lukewarm water
Rinse and spit at least 4 x per day after meals or as needed.
Can be described as hurting or suffering, may come and go or be with you al the time.
Types of Pain:
Bone
Nerve
Soft tissue
Causes
Tumor pressing against organs, nerves or body parts
Symptoms or side effects of cancer and treatments
Medical tests and procedures such as biopsies.
Managing Cancer Pain
Take your pain medication(s)
Move your body
Mindfulness or complementary therapies
Other treatments recommended by your health care provider.
Your team may also choose a palliative approach to managing your pain. Palliative care or Pain and Symptom Team focuses on reliving your symptoms and helping you feel comfortable. It can help people at all stages of cancer and treatments, not only those at the end of life.
Menopause – when the ovaries stop making estrogen and you have not had a menstrual period for at least 12 months. Usually occurs around 50 years of age, however, some cancer treatments cause menopause to occur eelier.
Regularly applying moisturizers can help keep the vaginal tissues moist and relieve vaginal dryness.
Lubricants are used during sex to make it more comfortable.
Medications may be suggested depending on the cause of the sexual problem (low-dose vaginal estrogen, vaginal lidocaine, hormone replacement therapy, intravaginal dehydroepiandrosterone.
Vaginal dryness – refer to Sexual Health, for more information
