Young Adult Cancer Service in south-east London

Transcription

1 Young Adult Cancer Service in south-east London

2 Contents p.3 About our service p.5 Meet the young adult cancer team p.12 Peer support p.12 Young adult research p.13 Useful web links p.14 Notes p.16 Contact us 2

3 About our service Being diagnosed with cancer when you are in your late teens or early 20s is always difficult. We are here to help make things easier, both for you and your family. There are many forms of cancer that develop in people aged These include leukaemia and lymphomas; testicular and germ cell tumours; melanoma; brain tumours, and other cancers that usually affect older adults, such as bowel, thyroid, ovarian or breast cancers. You will have already had your diagnosis made by your oncologist or haematologist, and it is their expert team who will treat your particular cancer. The role of the Young Adult Cancer Service is to provide the extra support you might need to help you cope with the diagnosis and the way it might impact on your plans for education, work, and possibly your relationships with family, friends and partners. Ways we can help: Deciding where to be treated Guy s and St Thomas, together with King s College Hospital, have some of the best oncologists and haematologists in London. When considering your options, it is important to choose a hospital that provides the best treatment, but you might also want to think about how easy it is to travel to the hospital and the type of support it offers. We can discuss all the options with you, tell you what is available where, and help you make the right decision for you. 3

4 Fertility Some cancer treatments affect fertility in the short or long-term and your oncologist may have discussed this with you already. We work with the fertility unit whose experts will be happy to talk to you about the impact your treatment may have on your fertility. They can also tell you about the options available for storing sperm, eggs and embryos before chemotherapy, and help you decide on the best option for you. Contact with other young people with cancer Being diagnosed with cancer can make young people feel very alone and isolated. We can put you in touch with other young people diagnosed with cancer, either via Facebook or in person, for support or to share experiences. Getting the support you need, when you need it We will invite you to our specialist Teenage and Young Adult Clinic as soon as possible after you have been given your diagnosis. This will give you the opportunity to meet the young adult cancer team, and for us to meet you. We will work with you to find out how we can best support you, and to make sure that you know where you can find help if and when you need it. 4

5 Meet the young adult cancer team Dr Robert Carr lead clinician of the Young Adult Cancer Service I am a consultant haematologist and I lead the Young Adult Cancer Service. I established the service in 2009 to support all young people with cancer in southeast London. I treat patients with leukaemia and lymphoma, but my role here is to make sure that we provide the best possible support to young people, whatever their type of cancer. You will meet me in the Teenage and Young Adult Clinic and I will also be happy to meet your partner, parents or a close friend if they would like to come to the clinic with you. If you or your family would like to talk to me about how we can best support you as you go through diagnosis and treatment, please call my secretary Suzanne Bates (direct dial ) or Gavin Maynard-Wyatt, lead young adult cancer nurse specialist (mobile ). We look forward to meeting you. 5

6 Gavin Maynard-Wyatt lead young adult cancer nurse specialist You might have already met your clinical nurse specialist (CNS) who cares for you in your cancerspecific team. I work alongside your CNS as well as a part of the young adult cancer team to ensure that all your needs are met. I will meet you for the first time in our Teenage and Young Adult Clinic held on Thursday afternoons. Here are just a few things I can help with: I offer 1-to-1 sessions where you can discuss any worries or concerns you may have. I will try to help you resolve them, or signpost you to the best qualified person to help you. I organise fun events where other young adults with cancer meet one another. I can also text you on a regular basis to check that everything is going well remember that I m here to support you. I can liaise with schools, universities and employers on your behalf. I look forward to meeting you and helping you throughout your diagnosis, treatment and beyond. Remember, no problem is too small if you are worried about it, then it needs to be addressed. Please feel free to , phone or text me. My contact details are: gavin.maynard-wyatt@nhs.net and I work Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. 6

7 Dr Clare Jacobson clinical psychologist Clinical psychology in the Teenage and Young Adult Clinic I meet everybody who comes to the Teenage and Young Adult Clinic for a brief 15-minute appointment. I don t assume that because you have cancer you will have psychological problems I will just ask how you are getting on and whether there is anything we can think about together to help you or your family. This may include ideas for ways of approaching certain treatments. Even if you are coping really well with diagnosis, treatment, prognosis and any other related changes, it can sometimes be useful just to acknowledge that. Clinical psychology appointments I also meet with patients outside the clinic for more indepth clinical psychology sessions that last for up to 50 minutes. In these meetings, patients and I use different types of talking therapy. Topics that are common for some of the young adults with whom I work include: managing difficult feelings (such as anxiety, anger or low mood) at any point during cancer or afterwards specialist strategies to cope with some treatments and their short- and longer-term side effects exploring ways of letting family/friends know some things that might be hard to say 7

8 complex decision-making working with distress related to trauma, bereavement and the ending of life identifying and using people s own internal strengths and resources finding solutions and ways of managing problems helping people remain connected to their goals, values and identity processing what has happened and its personal meaning thinking about what s next. I also offer separate therapy groups for patients and family members as well as family/couples therapy. 8

9 Monika Siemicka haematooncology dietitian about diet and cancer. It's important to be prepared for the treatment and this includes nutrition too. I am here to support you before, during and after your treatment, and I can answer any questions you may have During treatment, you might find that you lose your appetite, go off certain foods, experience taste changes or have side effects that have an impact on what you can eat. I'm here to help you overcome these problems so that you can continue to eat as normally as possible during your treatment. It can also be difficult to get back to a healthy lifestyle after finishing the treatment. I can explain what a healthy, balanced diet really means and how you can make changes to your diet that best suit you. 9

10 Dr Nivedita Reddy gynaecologist and fertility specialist Chemotherapy and radiotherapy can sometimes affect your ovaries or testes, which can have an impact on your fertility. However, there are techniques available to preserve fertility and I am available to talk through some of these options. I can provide you with more information about what to expect during and after your treatment with regards to your fertility and contraception. I can also see you after your treatment is finished if you need advice on the impact it might have had on your fertility. 10

11 Young adult CLIC Sargent social workers The teenage and young adult social work team at Guy s and St Thomas consists of a social worker and a young people s community development worker. It is fully funded by CLIC Sargent, the charity caring for young adults with cancer and providing support for families at home and in hospital. The team provides specialist support for patients, their families and significant others to cope with the emotional and practical impact of cancer. This includes: emotional support with the impact of diagnosis and treatment support around issues concerned with body image, sexuality and fertility help with practical issues arising as a result of cancer treatment, such as education, employment, travel/insurance, or application for benefits or grants signposting to specialist help or information support for family members and friends. 11

12 Peer support We offer different ways for you to get support from other young people diagnosed with cancer. We organise events and activities throughout the year, and link in with big organisations such as Teenage Cancer Trust, TeensUnite and the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. We also have our own Facebook page which is a closed group for our Teenage and Young Adult Clinic patients only. It will help you to connect with other young people facing the same issues as you, and support each other. We will discuss all of this with you in detail at your first visit to the Teenage and Young Adult Clinic. Young adult research You may hear the term clinical trial when you are first diagnosed with cancer. Clinical trials aim to find new and better treatments for all types of cancer by comparing newer treatments to those currently available. In the field of cancer, research is constantly being carried out and all current cancer treatments have been tested (researched) in clinical trials. Participating in a clinical trial is entirely up to you. Your doctor and research nurse will explain everything about the trial to you and give you written information to take away. You can take as much time as you need to make a decision. It can also help to talk it through with the young adult cancer team, your family, friends or GP. Please remember that if you decide not to take part in a clinical trial, it will not affect your care in any way. 12

13 If you are approached about a clinical trial or would like to know more, please contact your CNS or Gavin Maynard-Wyatt, the lead young adult cancer nurse specialist. Appointments at King's We have teamed up with King s College Hospital in a partnership known as King s Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre. We are working together to give our patients the best possible care, so you might find we invite you for appointments at King s. To make sure everyone you meet always has the most up-to-date information about your health, we may share information about you between the hospitals. Useful web links For more information leaflets on conditions, procedures, treatments and services offered at our hospitals, please visit 13

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16 Contact us Pharmacy Medicines Helpline If you have any questions or concerns about your medicines, please speak to the staff caring for you or call our helpline. t: am to 5pm, Monday to Friday Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) To make comments or raise concerns about the Trust s services, please contact PALS. Ask a member of staff to direct you to the PALS office or: t: at St Thomas t: at Guy s e: pals@gstt.nhs.uk Language support services If you need an interpreter or information about your care in a different language or format, please get in touch using the following contact details. t: fax: NHS Choices Provides online information and guidance on all aspects of health and healthcare, to help you make choices about your health. w: Leaflet number: 3984/VER1 Date published: October 2014 Review date: October Guy s and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust 16