Dr. Veda Giri on Supporting Patients with Early Onset Cancer
July 24, 2024Information
What type of support do patients with Early Onset cancer need that is different from other age groups of patients?
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- 00:01This is a really important
- 00:02thing to think about regarding
- 00:04patients with early onset cancers,
- 00:06and the reason why we're
- 00:08developing an entire program
- 00:09addressing these patients.
- 00:11Really, there can be support
- 00:12that's needed from a psychosocial
- 00:14standpoint,
- 00:15from a physical functioning standpoint,
- 00:18and also from a mental
- 00:19health standpoint. So,
- 00:21really, we've noted, of course,
- 00:22that these individuals
- 00:24who have early onset cancers,
- 00:26and again, that can be
- 00:27defined as ages eighteen to
- 00:28forty nine,
- 00:30are really, individuals who have
- 00:32multiple responsibilities in their lives.
- 00:35Oftentimes, they are employed.
- 00:37They are parents. They're taking
- 00:39care of children. They're also
- 00:40caregivers for elderly parents or,
- 00:43other members of their family.
- 00:45All of these things really
- 00:46are, can pose,
- 00:48a significant level of, kind
- 00:51of add overwhelm to a
- 00:52person's own feeling that they
- 00:54have a cancer diagnosis
- 00:55and they have these responsibilities
- 00:57on their plates.
- 00:58There's also some unique challenges
- 01:00to talk about or, help
- 01:02patients walk through some scenarios
- 01:03that can impact them in
- 01:05terms of their quality of
- 01:06life. So for example, fertility
- 01:08issues that can be,
- 01:10you know, that need to
- 01:11be discussed with these patients
- 01:12in terms of maintaining or
- 01:14preserving fertility,
- 01:15which can be impacted by
- 01:16certain treatments or surgeries.
- 01:19Sexuality
- 01:19can be impacted as well.
- 01:21And as well as social
- 01:22functioning. So oftentimes, these individuals
- 01:24may feel very isolated from
- 01:26their peers, from their communities,
- 01:28and have an impact on
- 01:30their self esteem. And so
- 01:31all of these
- 01:32really can have an interplay
- 01:34on how the patient is
- 01:35having their experience with not
- 01:37only a cancer diagnosis, but
- 01:38in their life,
- 01:40even in terms of maintaining
- 01:41employment.
- 01:42So having breaks from their
- 01:44job to go get treatments
- 01:45or recover from surgery
- 01:47could be very stressful to
- 01:48think about. So there's the
- 01:49psychosocial needs that have to
- 01:51be addressed for these patients.
- 01:52Physically, of course,
- 01:54recovery from, say, from a
- 01:55surgery,
- 01:56is really, can be very
- 01:58challenging. And again, these are
- 01:59very busy individuals,
- 02:01so recovery from a surgery
- 02:02plus jumping back into life
- 02:04can be very challenging.
- 02:06Long term toxicity from chemotherapies
- 02:08or other treatments, radiation
- 02:10could be something that these
- 02:11patients grapple with as well,
- 02:12and so we need know
- 02:13that they need support physically.
- 02:15And these things can entail
- 02:17physical therapy, occupational therapy, etcetera,
- 02:20other ways to think about,
- 02:21you know, really getting,
- 02:23back to full functioning, from
- 02:25a physical standpoint.
- 02:27Certainly from the mental health
- 02:28standpoint,
- 02:29we know that this can
- 02:30be very challenging. These individuals
- 02:32are dealing with a new
- 02:33cancer diagnosis at a young
- 02:34age, and it can be
- 02:36very tough to cope with
- 02:37a cancer diagnosis at any
- 02:38age, let alone at a
- 02:39younger age. But also there
- 02:41can be underlying
- 02:42depression and anxiety that could
- 02:44be exacerbated
- 02:45by a cancer diagnosis in
- 02:47addition to all of the
- 02:48responsibilities. So we have to
- 02:50keep an eye on mental
- 02:50health as well for these
- 02:52patients. So we really wanna
- 02:53think about supporting patients from
- 02:55a holistic standpoint as they're
- 02:57going through their cancer care.