Scans are used at every step of the cancer care process – to diagnose, to track effectiveness of treatment, and to determine if cancer remains in remission. But living from scan to scan can be filled with anxiety. As one HUP patient noted, “A scan looks good and then you let down your guard. But what happens when the next scan shows a different result?” This fear is so common among cancer patients that a term was coined for it: scanxiety.
Normally, we can avoid fears in our lives, for example, stay away from planes if you have a fear of flying. But, in cancer care, “the thing that causes the distress is the only thing that will alleviate the distress,” said Joshua Bauml, MD, of Hematology/Oncology, whose study, published in Lung Cancer, found that scanxiety “can be severe and is associated with a significant decrement in quality of life.”
Now, a new program at HUP (appropriately named “Scanxiety”) is helping both patients and caregivers – whose anxiety can be worse than the patient’s – cope with this ongoing stress. The sessions are led by Sandy Blackburn, MSW, patient navigator in the Abramson Cancer Center, Laura Kotler-Klein, MSS, DSW, social work coordinator, and Eleanor Miller, MSN, RN, OCN, oncology nurse navigator. “Social workers can help people manage anxiety,” Blackburn explained, “but a nurse can answer general medical questions, for example, why one person needed a CAT scan and another didn’t. It’s exponentially better with a nursing component.”
Held the fourth Wednesday of every month, the workshops teach strategies for coping with ongoing stress, including guided meditation, and provide connections to other resources at the Abramson Cancer Center. “We want people to know all that’s available to them,” said Kotler-Klein.
To learn more about Scanxiety and other complementary programs at the ACC, contact Blackburn at 215-662-6969 or sandy.blackburn@uphs.upenn.edu.