Late Effects team features on BBC Look North

Our award-winning Late Effects team have featured on BBC Look North - with cancer patient Olwen Kramer praising the team for the support she received to manage the long term side effects of her treatment, saying it had allowed her to "dream of leading a normal life".

The piece turned a spotlight on the 'life-changing' work of the specialist team, who help cancer patients deal with a range of physical and emotional long-term effects of treatment, including nerve damage, infertility, heart problems and post-traumatic stress difficulties.

Cancer team 'allowed me to dream I had a future'

Olwen Kramer underwent six different types of treatment in seven years, including a stem cell transplant, after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma - a type of blood cancer - 24-years ago.

The 69-year-old was eventually cured, but the numerous treatments left her with a long list of problems, including a weakened immune system and kidney disease.

She said the help she received from the Late Effects Screening Service had given her the "strength and positivity to live my life as fully and normally as possible".

Following broadcast of the piece Olwen again thanked the team, saying: "I wouldn't be here without all the different departments at Weston Park."

A groundbreaking service

Professor Diana Greenfield, who leads the service, explained that the most common late effects of cancer treatment - which can develop months or years after treatment - are cancer-related pain and cancer-related fatigue. These can be debilitating and prevent people living a normal life.

The Sheffield service has directly supported thousands of patients, recently winning the Ingrid Fuchs Cancer Nursing Award at the Nursing Times Awards and expanding the service to stem cell transplant patients, immunotherapy patients and those who have had pelvic radiation disease and myeloma.

The new immunotherapy Late Effects Clinic, run by Dr Joanne Bird, is one of the first of its kind in the country. 

The Sheffield Late Effects team is led by a senior nurse and supported by a multi-disciplinary team of staff which includes an MDT coordinator, a clinical psychologist, clinical nurse specialists and doctors from numerous medical specialities including haematology, paediatric oncology, endocrinology, and gynaecology. 

Click on the image below to read Olwen's story in full:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More information about the Late Effects service can be found here.


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