Designated Cancer Centres and cancer support centres
Cancer treatment works best when the treatment team deals with large numbers of cases. This is why cancer care is mainly delivered in eight hospitals around Ireland. These hospitals can provide very specialised care for your type of cancer.
On the next pages you will see contact details for these Designated Cancer Centres; and for cancer support centres around the country.
Physical problems of lung cancer
Lung cancer and its treatments are likely to cause physical changes in your body. These might affect the way you feel about yourself.
You may have symptoms such as a cough or breathlessness. This can make you anxious.
Changes such as weight loss and hair loss can affect your self esteem and the way you relate to other people. Your dietitian can help you maintain your weight and your nurse can help you look at ways to cope with hair loss.
Tiredness and feeling lethargic a lot of the time is common during treatment and for some months afterwards. Resting but also doing some gentle physical activity can help.
Surgery can cause scarring or you might have pain after your operation. Talk to your doctor or nurse if pain is a problem. There are lots of things they can do to help. These include changing your pain medicines or supporting you with relaxation techniques.
Relationships and sex
The physical changes you have might affect your relationships and sex life. There are things that you can do to manage this.
Coping practically
Practical things you and your family might need to cope with include:
- money matters
- financial support, such as benefits, sick pay and grants
- work issues
- childcare
Talk to your doctor or specialist nurse to find out who can help. Getting early help with these things can mean that they don’t become a big issue later.