A psychological distress can occur in any of these phases of cancer life cycle:
• Finding a suspicious symptom
• Being informed about the diagnosis
• Awaiting treatment
• Change or end of treatment
• Discharge from hospital
• Surviving cancer
• Failure of treatment
• Recurrence or progression of disease
• Advanced phase of illness
• Approaching the end of life
Ref: National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN): Distress management.Version 2.2017. NCCN,2017.
Important Link to Read:
https://www.nccn.org/patients/guidelines/content/PDF/distress-patient.pdf
Triggers for Distress:
A new symptom prompts testing
Being tested for cancer
Learning the diagnosis
Learning the cancer is advanced
Learning you have a genetic risk for cancer
Waiting for treatment to start
Symptoms get worse
Having a treatment-related complication
Being admitted to or discharged from a hospital
Staring another type of treatment
Learning that treatment didn’t work
Finishing treatment
Receiving follow-up care and cancer tests
Learning the cancer returned or worsened
Starting end-of-life care
ROJ@20oct12