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![]() ![]() A suggested schedule for follow-up exams and tests.Talk with your doctor about developing a survivorship care plan for you. Ask your doctor for a survivorship care plan Tell your cancer care team about any symptoms or side effects that bother you so they can help you manage them. Some might last for a few weeks or months, but others can be permanent. Almost any cancer treatment can have side effects. This is a good time for you to ask your health care team any questions and to discuss any concerns you might have. For higher risk cancers, such as squamous cell cancers that had reached the lymph nodes, the doctor might also order imaging tests such as CT scans.įollow-up is also needed to check for possible side effects of certain treatments. For people who've had squamous cell cancers, visits are usually more frequent, often every 3 to 6 months for the first few years, followed by longer times between visits.ĭuring your follow-up visits, your doctor will ask about symptoms and examine you for signs of skin cancer.For people who've had basal cell cancers, visits are often recommended about every 6 to 12 months. ![]() Different doctors may recommend different schedules. Your schedule for follow-up visits will depend on the type of skin cancer you had and on other factors. It’s also very important to protect yourself from getting too much sun, which can increase your risk of new skin cancers. You can also ask someone close to you to watch for new suspicious areas in places that are hard to see. This includes looking for any changes where the cancer was treated, as well as looking for any new areas of concern in other places. Your doctor will probably recommend that you examine your own skin at least once a month. Along with the risk of the cancer returning, people who have had skin cancer are also at high risk for developing other skin cancers in different locations, so close follow-up is important. ![]() If you have completed treatment, your doctors will still want to watch you closely. Learning to live with cancer that does not go away can be difficult and very stressful. These people may get regular treatment with radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or other treatments to help keep the cancer in check for as long as possible. (When cancer comes back after treatment, it is called recurrent cancer or a recurrence.) This is very common if you’ve had cancer.įor a small number of people with more advanced skin cancers, the cancer may never go away completely. You may be relieved to finish treatment, but find it hard not to worry about cancer growing or coming back. Completing treatment can be both stressful and exciting. For most people with basal or squamous cell skin cancers, treatment will remove or destroy the cancer. ![]()
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