At some point in time after treatment ends, your family doctor may resume his or her role as your primary physician. The timing of this transition varies from person to person and it may cause you some anxiety. However, being discharged to the care of your family doctor means that your lymphoma healthcare team feels that you no longer need to be under their watchful eye. This is a good thing!
Notes from your previous clinic visits should have automatically been sent to your family doctor but you may wish to check with your lymphoma healthcare team to make sure this happened. Do not be afraid to be an advocate for your care and facilitate the process of ensuring that all of your records have been sent to your family doctor.
It is very important that your family doctor is and continues to be up-to-date on the following:
- All medications that you are currently taking (including over-the-counter medicines such as pain relievers, laxatives, nutritional supplements, vitamins, minerals and herbal therapies)
- All of the specialists you are still seeing and why
- All your future screening tests and how often these should be scheduled
- Your feelings, fears or concerns about anything that may affect your recovery including symptoms or changes that you are experiencing that cause you to worry
- Any lifestyle changes you make, such as quitting smoking or changing your diet or exercise routine
Be sure to communicate your expectations to your doctor. Remember, that you are a member of your healthcare team.
Also keep in mind that if you change doctors or are under the care of several different doctors, you may be the only one who has your complete health history. For this reason, it is important to keep up-to-date records of all the medical care you receive for lymphoma and other conditions because future decisions about your care may depend on what treatment you received in the past.
