Entry id
1_rot40bka
The Importance of Getting the First Cycle Right
As a physician I've learned that that first treatment is probably the most important treatment that you're going to give your patient, because if you can get it right, your patient's going to trust you enough to take them through that journey. Now if you're going to get it right, it's important to get the dose right, and if you're going to get the dose right, it's important that you see your patients more frequently. And what I've learned is in that first cycle of therapy, be it oral medications for chemotherapy, or IV medications for chemotherapy, see your patients frequently during that period of the first cycle. And if you have to stop treatment during that first cycle, it's fine because you haven't gotten it right yet. You're still individualizing therapeutic plan for your particular patient. So if you need to stop, you need to take a step back, allow the patient to recover, allow them to understand that it's okay to take a little bit of a break and then get back into it, that's fine as well. So each patient has that journey that you need to take with them.
01:13
But this is a short-term journey. The first cycle. I think that first cycle allows you to be able to establish your relationship for the subsequent cycles. But patients may also have questions about the fact that if they didn't have side effects or adverse events during that first cycle, could it potentially happen in subsequent cycles? And you need to have that conversation that it may potentially happen, but at the same time we're there for them, we can help them through that journey. And if there's a lot of communication back and forth that will help them in terms of being able to handle those side effects. The shared decision making process is vital. Allowing your patient to understand that they are part of the journey with you, and making sure that they have open lines of communication during that first cycle so that they can bring about effectively communicating with you the side effects, the potential fears that they have during that first cycle so you can help them through that cycle appropriately so that the rest of the journey is as smooth as possible.
As a physician I've learned that that first treatment is probably the most important treatment that you're going to give your patient, because if you can get it right, your patient's going to trust you enough to take them through that journey. Now if you're going to get it right, it's important to get the dose right, and if you're going to get the dose right, it's important that you see your patients more frequently. And what I've learned is in that first cycle of therapy, be it oral medications for chemotherapy, or IV medications for chemotherapy, see your patients frequently during that period of the first cycle. And if you have to stop treatment during that first cycle, it's fine because you haven't gotten it right yet. You're still individualizing therapeutic plan for your particular patient. So if you need to stop, you need to take a step back, allow the patient to recover, allow them to understand that it's okay to take a little bit of a break and then get back into it, that's fine as well. So each patient has that journey that you need to take with them.
01:13
But this is a short-term journey. The first cycle. I think that first cycle allows you to be able to establish your relationship for the subsequent cycles. But patients may also have questions about the fact that if they didn't have side effects or adverse events during that first cycle, could it potentially happen in subsequent cycles? And you need to have that conversation that it may potentially happen, but at the same time we're there for them, we can help them through that journey. And if there's a lot of communication back and forth that will help them in terms of being able to handle those side effects. The shared decision making process is vital. Allowing your patient to understand that they are part of the journey with you, and making sure that they have open lines of communication during that first cycle so that they can bring about effectively communicating with you the side effects, the potential fears that they have during that first cycle so you can help them through that cycle appropriately so that the rest of the journey is as smooth as possible.