Pfizer Health Solutions

Often when patients finish treatment they feel abandoned. They can find it difficult to approach the breast cancer nurses after active treatment as they know how overstretched the service is. Surviving Cancer Living Life provides a reassuring alternative to patients. In my experience, the patients feel confident in their Care Managers as well as themselves as they become aware of long term management of breast cancer. The telephone based service also helps them to open up and feel comfortable about bringing issues up sooner rather than later, not to mention the flexibility which the service allows such as the option for evening outreach calls."

Surviving Cancer Living Life is a patient driven service. It offers holistic support and security built around the progression of the patient according to their care plan and they benefit from the relationship that the Care Manager builds with the patient. One of the benefits of the service is its consistency allowing the patient to speak to the same person all the time. Often the questions asked are the issues that the patients have been thinking about for some time and now, can discuss in the comfort of their own home."
 

I really did not know that I was going to feel so tired, it's more or less you're resting all the time and you go to bed tired and you wake up tired, and I've always walked about 1-1½ hours every day… but I can do about 10 minutes and then I get tired. But I was able to talk to my Care Manager and she said 'You're not alone in this, this is what it means by what you've had as your treatment'… I've got a bit lazy, I think I've become a TV addict; I know I've put on weight as well because you're mentally depleted as well. When I go shopping, I don't think properly, I just buy things for quickness or already prepared, which is totally against what I used to do before. But with support from the service I am going back to cooking for myself properly and not buying the instant or food already pre-packed."

Cancer is a very lonely business, and the thing about cancer, which is very well documented, is that it has a very different effect on your immediate family - which means that sometimes you can't turn to them for support because they're too busy getting over it themselves, but it's great to have support from somebody."

…it's the most supportive system of the whole of the cancer process… it's made a huge difference."