At Memorial Sloan-Kettering, we are dedicated to helping lung cancer survivors live their lives to the fullest after treatment. We offer comprehensive follow-up care for people who have been treated here as part of our institution-wide Survivorship Initiative.
Your follow-up care is provided by a nurse practitioner who specializes in the care of lung cancer survivors. In addition to monitoring for signs of cancer recurrence, she focuses on identifying, preventing, and controlling any long-term and late effects associated with cancer and its treatment.
A visit with the nurse practitioner includes the following:
- Review of your recent medical history and a physical examination
- Assessment to detect recurrence of cancer
- Identification and management of the effects of cancer and its treatment
- Screening referrals for other cancers
- Health promotion recommendations related to nutrition, exercise, and smoking cessation
- Treatment summary and follow-up care plan
- Consultation with your Memorial Sloan-Kettering physician as needed
In addition to working closely with your treatment team, the nurse practitioner provides a treatment summary and survivorship care plan to you, your primary care doctor, and other medical providers. Your physicians can then incorporate this information into your overall medical plan.
After each visit, the nurse practitioner will continue to update your other medical providers.
Your Follow-Up Care Provider
Mary Schoen, NP
I am a nurse practitioner with special training in lung cancer survivorship issues. I graduated from New York University's nurse practitioner program and have worked at Memorial Sloan-Kettering since 1999.
Smoking Cessation
Because a history of tobacco use is a major risk factor for lung cancer, you will be asked at your first appointment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering whether you have ever smoked cigarettes. If you still smoke, you will be asked to stop. This is a chance for you to make your treatment more effective and safer. You also reduce your risk for future lung cancers — and the risk to those around you — by stopping today. Quitting is hard and everyone involved in your care wants to help you find the best way for you to stop. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering has special smoking cessation programs to help set up the best plan for you to quit ….for good.
