Take an Active Part in Your Health Care

Introduction

Cancer, cancer treatments, and other medical conditions can cause symptoms. Some of these symptoms are treatment related, such as nausea, diarrhea, or hot flashes, and are addressed by your oncology team. There are other symptoms, not necessarily treatment related, that you can help manage.

This information focuses on six common symptoms. With the help of this guide, the following are symptoms you and your loved ones can help manage:

• Fatigue
• Pain
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Weakened physical function
• Trouble sleeping

Cancer affects each person differently. It may feel overwhelming. The good news is there are ways to manage symptoms before, during and after cancer treatment. You can and should be an active member of your own health care team. Use the following information to help you take an active part to manage your symptoms. Your care team is here to help you along the way.

If you have more than one symptom

It is common to have more than one cancer symptom, and they may be related. For example, lack of sleep can cause depression and fatigue. The good thing is, when you treat one symptom, you often reduce other symptoms. For instance, better sleep may lessen both depression and fatigue.

You may need to use different methods to manage symptoms. For instance, you can combine medication with diet changes and integrative therapies. Integrative therapies, such as yoga and acupuncture, use health and wellness practices for physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being. Combining treatments often works for many people. Talk to your cancer care team about your symptoms and treatments that are available at your hospital or clinic.

Do not wait to manage your symptoms

You may think you should wait until after your treatment is done or until after an upcoming surgery to focus on your symptoms. But waiting can lead to more problems. Be proactive. As soon as you notice symptoms, take action.

When to contact your health care provider

Contact your health provider when you have: 

• New or worsening numbness and tingling in your legs or arms
• New or increasing pain
• Excessive vomiting or inability to maintain adequate fluid intake.
• Burning discomfort when you urinate or new frequent urination in small amounts.
• New loss of bowel or bladder control.
• New loose stools or diarrhea for more than two days.
• A temperature of 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher if you are on chemotherapy.
• Bleeding or unusual bruising.
• Inability to do your usual daily
• Worsening shortness of breath.
• Severe mental or emotional distress.

Monitor your symptoms

Keep a diary or log of your symptoms. This can help you see patterns with your symptoms, such as what makes them better or worse and when they occur. Knowing those details may help you develop a treatment plan that works for you.

Recording information about a symptom in a diary or log (you can download a log here) can be helpful when you talk to your care team. Your care team may be able to develop a plan to manage a symptom based on the following information:

• When the symptom started.
• How the symptom improved or became worse.
• What makes the symptom better or worse.
• How the symptom feels at different times of the day.
• How the symptom affects your usual activities.

Wherever you are in your journey, keep in mind the following: 

• Make caring for yourself a priority. Your needs and wants are important. Ask others to remind you to take time to care for yourself. 
• Try strategies that may be new to you.  Keep an open mind about what you can try to relieve symptoms. If a strategy doesn’t work, try a different strategy. 
• Build a support system. Let people know how they can help you during your journey.  (least important, remove if not enough space)
• Use visual reminders to stay motivated and committed to a strategy. For example, put actions steps into your calendar or post a list of your goals on the refrigerator.  
• Be kind to yourself. Healing and recovery takes time and energy.

Make an action plan

Your habits and activities can affect your symptoms. Action plans help you make changes to manage your symptoms. It can be hard to make changes without a plan.

Follow these steps to create an action plan and download helpful templates here and here:

Choose something you want to do this week. For example, choose to go to bed at a certain time every day. Or choose to exercise every day.

Be specific about your action. What will you do? When you will do it? How much or how long will you do it for. For example, “I will go to bed at 8:30 every night this week.” Or, “I will go for a 30 minute walk in the morning on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.”

Rate how confident you are that you will be able to do your plan. Use a scale from 1 to 10, ten being the highest. You will hopefully have a confidence level of 7 or higher. If your confidence level is below 7, you should change your plan to something you feel more confident about.

Share your plan with a friend or family member who can support you. Sharing your plan also may make it more likely that you will complete it. Your friend or family member should check in on you during the week to see how your plan is going. If you are struggling with your plan, your friend or family member might have ideas.

At the end of the week, report to your friend or family member on how you did with your action plan and make a new plan for the next week.

Reward yourself. Sticking to an action plan during or after cancer treatment can be hard work.