For the Patient

A cancer diagnosis is a devastating experience and with that diagnosis you may feel overwhelmed with questions, fears and worries. To answer these questions, you have a number of resources - your doctors, patients and survivors, online resources and now a Nurse Navigator can be by your side – an ally for your health and recovery.

A Nurse Navigator is a specialty trained registered nurse who becomes your advocate, care coordinator and often becomes a supportive friend.

Your care and your future are the top priority. Your Nurse Navigator can assess reproductive status and help preserve fertility prior to treatment. Fertility options include oocyte freezing, IVF - embryos freezing and sperm freezing/banking.

Services are available to you - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in dozens of ways -

• Facilitates continuity of care between primary care physician and specialist
• Educates and supports each patient, empowering them to make informed treatment decisions
• Serves as your guide to answer questions about financial assistance
• Facilitates appointments, whether you need transportation or a valuable friend to attend appointments with you
• Offers patients a wide array of resources from specialized support groups to genetic testing

Your Nurse Navigator Team is here for You – from diagnosis to survival!

Testimonial

"It gave my family and I great comfort in knowing someone was there for us anytime, day or night!" -Dori Voorhees

"My name is Tanisha. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2009. I was devastated. There were no words that could describe the way I felt. I felt like I was alone.

I was given a Nurse Navigator named Ronda Rogers. She was "God sent." She comforted me and assured me that everything would be okay and that I would not have to go through this alone.

I couldn't have asked for a better person, to be by my side through this experience. So I would like to say Thanks!!"
-Tanisha Diggins

Nurse Navigator Cancer Diagnosis Glossary of Terms

Chemotherapy -
Treatment with drugs that kill cancer cells.

Chromosome -
Part of a cell that contains genetic information. Except for sperm and eggs, all human cells contain 46 chromosomes.

Clinical trial -
A type of research study that tests how well new medical approaches work in people. These studies test new methods of screening, prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of a disease.

Compassionate use -
A way to provide an investigational therapy to a patient who is not eligible to receive that therapy in a clinical trial, but who has a serious or life-threatening illness for which other treatments are not available.

Five-year survival rate -
The percentage of people in a study or treatment group who are alive five years after they were diagnosed with or treated for a disease, such as cancer. The disease may or may not have come back.

Genetic Profile –
Information about specific genes, including variations and gene expression, in an individual or in a certain type of tissue. A genetic profile may be used to help diagnose a disease or learn how the disease may progress or respond to treatment with drugs or radiation.

Informed Consent –
A process in which a person is given important facts about a medical procedure or treatment, a clinical trial, or genetic testing before deciding whether or not to participate. Informed consent includes information about the possible risks, benefits, and limits of the procedure, treatment, trial, or genetic test.

Mutation –
Any change in the DNA of a cell. Mutations may be caused by mistakes during cell division, or they may be caused by exposure to DNA-damaging agents in the environment. Mutations can be harmful, beneficial, or have no effect. If they occur in cells that make eggs or sperm, they can be inherited; if mutations occur in other types of cells, they are not inherited. Certain mutations may lead to cancer or other diseases.

Off-label –
Describes the legal use of a prescription drug to treat a disease or condition for which the drug has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Overall survival rate –
The percentage of people in a study or treatment group who are alive for a certain period of time after they were diagnosed with or treated for a disease, such as cancer. The overall survival rate is often stated as a five-year survival rate, which is the percentage of people in a study or treatment group who are alive five years after diagnosis or treatment. Also called survival rate.

Prognosis –
The likely outcome or course of a disease; the chance of recovery or recurrence

Progression-free survival –
The length of time during and after treatment in which a patient is living with a disease that does not get worse. Progression-free survival may be used in a clinical study or trail to help find out how well a new treatment works.

Proliferating –
Multiplying or increasing in number. In biology, cell proliferation occurs by a process known as cell division.

Radiation Therapy –
The use of high-energy radiation from X-rays, gamma rays, neutrons, protons, and other sources to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation may come from a machine outside the body (external beam radiation therapy), or it may come from a radioactive material placed in the body near cancer cells (internal radiation therapy). Systemic radiation therapy uses a radioactive substance, such as a radiolabeled monoclonal antibody, that travels in the blood to tissues throughout the body. Also called irradiation and radiotherapy.

Rare cancers –
Cancers for which that incidence rate is less than 15 cases per 100,000 population, or fewer than 40,000 new cases per year in the United States.

Recurrence –
Cancer that has recurred (come back), usually after a period of time during which the cancer could not be detected. The cancer may come back to the same place as the original (primary) tumor or to another place in the body. Also called recurrent cancer.

Remission –
A decrease in or disappearance of signs and symptoms of cancer. In partial remission, some, but not all, signs and symptoms have cancer have disappeared. In complete remission, all signs and symptoms of cancer have disappeared, although cancer still may be in the body.

Side effect –
A problem that occurs when treatments affect healthy tissues or organs. Some common side effects of cancer treatment are fatigue, pain, nausea, vomiting, decreased blood cell counts, hair loss, and mouth sores.

Specialist –
In medicine, a doctor or other health care professional who is trained and licensed in a special area of practice. Examples of medical specialists include oncologists (cancer specialists) and hematologists (blood specialists).

Stem cell transplantation –
A method of replacing immature blood-forming cells that were destroyed by cancer treatment. The stems cells are given to the person after treatment to help the bone marrow recover and continue producing healthy blood cells.

Surgery –
A procedure to remove or repair a part of the body or to find out whether disease is present.

Targeted therapy -
A type of treatment that uses drugs or other substances, such as monoclonal antibodies, to identify and attack specific cancer cells. Targeted therapy may have fewer side effects than other types of cancer treatments.