Department of Otolaryngology

About Survivorship

What is Survivorship?

While there is no one single definition of "survivorship, we view survivorship as the period after treatment has ended, and when a person is seen as free of disease.  No matter how survivorship is defined, we understand that this experience is unique for each patient.  Survivorship care focuses on a patient's individual physical, psychosocial, and economic issues that can arise after cancer treatment has ended.

Our survivorship clinic takes a multidisciplinary approach to addressing your individual survivorship needs.  Our multidisciplinary team consists of a head and neck surgeon, speech language pathologist, dentist, audiologist, physical therapist, and nurse who all of have specialized training in the needs of head and neck cancer patients.

During your clinic visit you will meet with our team who will review your recent medical history and assess for cancer recurrence.   We will also identify and manage the effects of your cancer and its treatment, and make referrals when necessary for additional services, such as nutritional support and physical therapy.  Our multidisciplinary team will provide you with information on healthy living along with developing an individual treatment summary and survivorship care plan so you can live well, beyond cancer.