Treatment and Side Effects Diary
When your cancer is diagnosed, your healthcare team will talk with you about a treatment plan. This may involve surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, biological therapy, or a combination of treatments. All these treatments destroy cancer cells but some healthy cells may also get damaged. This damage to healthy cells causes side effects.
Many treatments for cancer can have side effects but it's hard to know if and when they might happen to you. Side effects may vary from person to person and are not a sign of whether the treatment is working or not.
This site features a CANO/ACIO-endorsed health-management tool called My Health Diary, an online guide where you can record side effects and follow the evolution of your treatment. My Health Diary meets CANO/ACIO's content guidelines and was developed to help you better plan and monitor your medical visits. It helps you provide comprehensive reporting of treatments and side effects, thereby ensuring appropriate professional care.
Today, we know much more about how and why certain treatments cause side effects such as nausea and vomiting, for example. If you notice any side effects or symptoms are not subsiding, talk to your nurse or healthcare team. They will suggest ways to deal with them. It may be possible to safely change your treatment schedule or alter your medications to manage your side-effects.
