February is National Cancer Prevention Month, & while we as PTs may not think of ourselves in a cancer prevention role, we have great opportunities to educate our patients & empower them to take control of their health. This episode is for every PT professional & student.

Just because a patient has one comorbidity, impairment or diagnosis doesn't exclude them from being at risk of developing cancer. Just because a patient has one cancer diagnosis doesn't exclude them from being at risk for another.

This past year, I sat for the LANA-Certified Lymphedema Therapist Exam. For me, I wanted to take the exam so I could advance my lymphedema knowledge & practice. As I was preparing for it, I was getting way too bogged down in the details of each section that I thought could possibly be pertinent for the exam. Frustrated, I turned to one of the lymphedema therapist Facebook group for some encouragement. Boy, am I glad I did that: Priscilla Santiago-Maldonado totally changed my exam preparation!

Ovarian cancer is the most deadly gynecological cancer for women in the Western Hemisphere. While relatively rare, we will still encounter these patients & need to be aware of the disease process, how treatment affects our patients, & how we can help these patients before, during, & after treatment, & even before diagnosis.

Last week, I covered my favorite must-haves for a general oncology clinic. Today's episode covers my favorite, essential items for an onco-lymphedema clinic. The idea with these two episodes is to pare down all the excess "toys" & "gadgets that tend to clutter our clinics - or to give those starting a clinic an idea of what they really need at the heart of all the "stuff."

It's a fact a clinic needs certain things to run. Sometimes we can get caught up in the flash of new equipment & feel like we need all kinds of things to make our clinic go. However, we really don't need all that stuff to have a successful OncoPT clinic that serves our patients effectively. If you or your clinic are newer to oncology & don't know if you have what it takes to be effective, this episode is just for you!

Happy New Year y'all! I'm back from the holidays, getting married, & our honeymoon, ready to get back in the swing of things! Thanks for your patience as I took a much needed break as we wrapped up 2019, & I can't wait to see what we accomplish in 2020. With the new year upon us, I wanted to share some of my aspirations & goals that I am working toward in 2020, professionally, personally, & for TheOncoPT Podcast.

TheOncoPT Podcast is officially one year old! To wrap up 1 year of this podcast & to help ring in the New Year, I'm recapping some things I've learned over the past year of my practice.

For many of our patients, the New Year means new insurance: whether that means a new plan or simply a rollover into fresh deductible & out-of-pocket costs, these changing financial obligations can be a major barrier to physical therapy services. Last year, my clinic had a MAJOR drop-off in patient volume from December to January, but this year I'm taking active steps to reduce this stark change, which I'm sharing in today's episode. Step one? Start now!

Today's episode concludes my 3-part series on hematological cancers, this time with an overview of lymphomas & a case study of a previous patient of mine. I hope you've enjoyed this series, & don't forget to check out the previous episodes on Multiple Myeloma & Leukemia!

P.S. Teddy makes an appearance at 4:48!

It's almost Thanksgiving, which means that Black Friday is right around the corner! I've found some great Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales to share with your patients - with the holidays rapidly approaching, it's important to consider cost of cancer & lymphedema care. Your patients shouldn't have to choose between purchasing needed products & presents for their family & friends, so these sales are perfectly timed!