Cancercare: The Philippines' First Cancer Survivorship Care Program Now Open in Cebu

The time period after treatment is recognized as an important time for cancer patients where a lot of concerns arise. This period is known as cancer survivorship, the process of "living with, through and beyond cancer", a time of mixed emotions due to psychological, physical, relationship, financial, spiritual and work-related challenges.

Until now, there is no facility in the Philippines which offer cancer survivorship care program.

Thank God, here in Cebu there is Cancercare or Comprehensive Cancer Survivorship Center located in Robinsons Cybergate 308-A (across Chong Hua Medical Center) which has a team of board-certified experts, the best in Cebu offering 15 comprehensive clinical sessions in one fully integrated care program led by Dr. Omid Etemadi, a former student of mine and one of CIM's top medical board placers who underwent training abroad in Integrative Medicine.

In the picture below are the team members with their area of expertise.

9 in-depth consults including follow-ups will be done in the consultation rooms as shown in the pic below:

There is another room like this for consults. The in-depth consults are comprised of:

• Psychological care of the cancer patient and their families (1 hour consult).
• Personalized diet and nutrition plan for the cancer patient (one 30-minute consult and 2 follow-ups)
• Cancer co-morbidity mamnagement (one 30-minute consult and follow-up)
• Evidence-based complementary medicine (one 30-minute consult)
• Pain management and/or palliative care (one 30-minute consult and 1 follow-up).

There will be 6 comprehensive group sessions and lectures in this room:

The comprehensive group sessions and lectures are comprised of:

• Cancer nutrition lecture (1 hour) - anti-cancer diet, how to manage cancer-related weight loss, meal augmentation and meal replacement, etc.
• Chemotherapy/Radiotherapy Patient Education and Orientation (45 minutes) - understanding the different cancer treatments and how to manage side effects.
• Evidence-based complementary medicine (1 hour) - understanding the safe usage and clinical benefits of phtonutrients.
• Mind-body medicine (1 hour) - learn breathing and relaxation techniques and how to manage stress/anxiety to cancer and cancer treatment.
• Pastoral care (1 hour) - group prayer session and Life spiritual session
• Patient Navigation Service (15 minutes) - understanding Cancer Survivorship and benefits of a fully integrated cancer care program/system.

So if you know of a cancer patient in this important period of his life, why not send him to the capable hands of Cancercare? If I remember correctly, the entire package is less than eight thousand pesos (PHP 8,000).

For more information, call landline number +6332 520-8870 or visit Cancercare.