Our Services

About Survivorship Clinic

Being a survivor of cancer as a child or young adult is exciting, but along with it comes a time of transition. Survivors of pediatric cancer have special health care needs that require follow-up and intervention to maintain a high quality of life.

When you are five years out from the end of your cancer treatment, you will transition to the Survivorship Clinic at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, staffed by a different doctor and team. We ask that you think of this as a graduation, in which you are moving on from the cancer and treatment experience to the rest of your life as a survivor. We remain in close contact with the oncologist who treated you for your cancer.

With a history of cancer and its treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation, you are at risk for developing “late” side effects from the treatment. In Survivorship Clinic, our goal is to educate you and your family about your treatment, potential late effects of your treatment, and special screening studies you will need in your lifetime.

We will no longer screen, or perform scans, to look for the return of the cancer, but will change our focus to teaching you about your past medical history and treatment. We will focus on health promotion — helping you live life to the fullest extent while meeting your unique medical needs as a survivor.

What is SurvivorConnect?

SurvivorConnect is a new program, enabled by a generous grant from the Hyundai Hope on Wheels®, an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Hope On Wheels is the united effort of Hyundai Motor America and its more than 800 dealers across the U.S. to raise awareness about childhood cancer and to celebrate the lives of the children battling the disease.

SurvivorConnect enables us to "connect" survivors with the Survivorship Clinic team. In its development stages, SurvivorConnect will be using web technology, email, social media, and written communication to improve and make more accessible critical resource material and follow up information to young adult survivors of pedicatric cancer. Look for further updates as we roll out this exciting project!

Last Update
September 11, 2012

top