barbara ann karmanos cancer institute



welcome back to today's health. in this segment i'm speaking with julie dickinson, oncology nurse navigator for the karmanos cancer institute at mclaren port huron. julie, tthank you for joining us today. thank you for having me. now let's talk a little bit about your role as the oncology nurse navigator? i try to connect with most cancer patients, but specifically breast cancer patients, so i try to



barbara ann karmanos cancer institute

barbara ann karmanos cancer institute, connect with them early on so i can help answer their questions. sometimes, they don't understand what their treatment options are or who they have to go to...the next step. so that's where i like to start seeing patients. then can you give us some examples of how you can assist women who are facing a breast cancer diagnosis? sure i think?


removing a lot of the barriers to care that people have. a lot of times they may not have transportation or insurance or they're already worried about paying the utility bills or they're worried about not understanding what the doctors are trying to say. so providing them with education and knowledge so they can make an informed decision. it is sometimes overwhelming - making appointments or consenting for treatments, knowing they have a lot of physicians and treatment workups they have to do. so trying to get them to where they can get to their treatment. nothing is worse than hearing someone say 'i'm not having treatment because i can't afford it' or 'i don't have insurance'... 'i don't have transportation'. i mean those types of obstacles. i try to remove the barriers so patients can't get those options.


aand then, when i do see and assess the patient, if they do have some issues with home care medical equipment or psychosocial distress or something, i have a referral system. i can contact the dietician, social worker, billing; help the patient get massage therapy, i mean i can refer them to the appropriate people that can help. when do you typically reach out to a cancer patient? with breast cancer patients, for instance, i'll see them when they have their stereotactic biopsy. before that i'll give them my card. you know, if they if their biopsy and it is negative, that's great. they can still call me if they need anything or if it's positive. now i've checked with some sooner to get that process moving quicker. i don't want anything to interrupt that flow to getting them their earliest treatment they can. so i usually also reach out to them by telephone. i call them on the phone


i also see them pre-op, at the wismer center, before their mastectomy or lumpectomy. i see them post-op. after they've had a lumpectomy or mastectomy, i'll follow up with them within the next day if they stay overnight. i don't usually make a phone call until about a week later then i'll check and see how they're doing. so you're there for them basically through every stage, let's say? yes. that's the goal now. we know that breast cancer not only affects our patients, but also their families. how are we able to help them? the patients aren't just by themselves. you know they have a family and the breast cancer impacts everybody. so having family or significant others involved in their care is really important. i want them to bring their questions, write them all down. go to see their physician, go for consults or follow-ups or treatments.


they need to be involved in their care to know what's going on and what they can do to help. we also do have a caregiver support group. so while there's a women's support group on the opposite side. there's a caregiver support group also. it helps when the women can come and then the the guys can come in and get some counseling or support if they need to. that's great for our patients. what other types of information can you give to cancer patients? you know, if you're a patient at karmanos, we do give you a portfolio. it's has a case with a handle and it's unzips. inside, there's information on advanced directives, about radiation or chemotherapy, your skin care, your nutrition, the resources available in this area. the resources available mclaren port huron -


support group information. and all the american cancer society information. we get a lot of information from them. if they have breast cancer, need reconstruction, a mastectomy and lumpectomy, we provide all that information for them. so getting educated is one of the biggest priorities that i have. well julie - thank you for all that you do for patients with breast cancer, and thank you for joining us today. thank you. thank you for allowing me to share my information. and thank you for watching. if you have questions or need a physician referral, you can contact us by calling 1-800-228-1484; you can also watch today's health at www.mclaren.org/phvideo,


request a copy of our program at www.mclaren.org/phth, and access other reliable healthcare information by visiting our website. as always, tune in next time to today's health. today's health is brought to you by mclaren port huron.


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