When Back in the Swing began in 2000, no comprehensive, personalized, multi-discplinary, medical services for breast cancer survivors existed. Starting in January of 2015, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) will require that a survivorship care plan and survivorship support be among the standards of care for hospital cancer programs to receive accreditation. As survivorship care plans are given, Back in the Swing is dedicated to helping breast cancer survivors actualize those care plans, to help survivors protect and improve their health 365 days a year. Our call to action, “Plan to Live; Live Your Plan” says it best. More than a message for our organization, it is reinforcing the fact that it’s the evidence-based care in the plan that matters!
What do we mean by “Plan to Live”?
The past several decades of academic medical and clinical research has concluded that every cancer survivor needs a Survivorship Care Plan, a document that includes a summary of her treatment, ongoing healthcare and prevention of potential near-and-late-term side-effects, and directions on lifestyle choices, designed just for her. Talk to your medical providers to make sure all of your medical care is directed by your survivorship care plan.
But There’s One Catch…
“How To” Make That Plan Part of Your Life Every Day.
That’s what we mean by “Live Your Plan”. Now that every cancer survivor will have a set of directions to regain her health and stay healthy after cancer, every cancer survivor needs to know the basic “care”, the areas of follow-up medical care and lifestyle, that will keep her “back in the swing” of life every day. We began to share that everyday lifestyle in The Back in the Swing Cookbook: Recipes for Eating and Living Well Every Day After Breast Cancer by Barbara Unell and Judith Fertig, published by Andrews McMeel. Now our new website has been updated to reflect this new initiative. Get more information on our award-winning Back in the Swing Cookbook.
