Why You Should Establish a Care Provider Contact During Chemotherapy for Colon Cancer

Should I establish a contact person at my health care provider’s office during chemotherapy for colon cancer?

Patients facing chemotherapy for colon cancer likely have many questions about the side effects of the therapy. Dr. Madappa Kundranda recommends having a single person at your health care provider’s office you can talk to. This can help to get your questions answered more quickly and efficiently. If unexpected symptoms occur patients may need to have questions answered in a timely manner. It can be nice to hear a familiar voice answering your questions. For more, watch Dr. Kundranda in the video below:

Video Transcripts Madappa Kundranda, MD: It is important to know who your contact person is to discuss questions about your newly initiated cancer care. A patient who is newly diagnosed with colon cancer and starting chemotherapy have a lot of questions, one with regards to the side effects of the cancer, the side effects of the treatment and hence, it is very important for a patient to have a single point person who can address these questions. In my clinic, I usually talk to the patient about the chemotherapy, give him the bullet points of the most common side effects. This is then followed up by my clinic nurse who gives the sheet of paper to the patient with this most common side effect, but also explains all of this and then I reiterate to the patient that if there are any symptoms which are new, which the patient did not experience previously, he or she is to call us immediately to have that clarified. In the majority of the cases, these are just mundane questions and not life threatening issues, however, that small subset of patients of even about 5%, these questions can truly be life threatening conditions that need to be addressed immediately. Hence, it is very important to have that approach to have a point person to talk to in your health care provider’s office to have these questions resolved and answered.