Childhood Cancer
Follow-up Care
Because of the age at which the diagnosis was made, childhood cancer survivors require follow-up care for life. Your doctor will talk with you about a recommended follow-up schedule. Your child will likely be followed by the treatment team for many years, then transitioned to a survivorship clinic managed by nurse practitioners. These visits, over time, eventually become annual visits, but they usually continue for the rest of your child’s life. This is because the treatments that were needed to get your child cancer-free can cause late effects, which need to be diagnosed early so they can be appropriately managed. So, even if you and your family move away from where your child’s treatment originally was given, either plan to return to the original treatment team for these visits or get referral information about where to continue these types of survivorship visits after your move. In addition, it is important to keep a copy of your child’s medical records so you can share them with any new doctors in the future.
