"Patients are getting stuck, and they don't know where to go," says Dr. Rebecca Lansky, a rehabilitation specialist at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. She says the focus on cancer care is on treatment and that cancer patients suffering from major side effects often fall through the cracks. She recalls one patient who struggled with the side effects of tongue cancer treatment.
"He had radiation to the whole jaw and neck so he couldn't open up his mouth for six months," Lansky said. "He had a feeding tube, and he kept going to his oncologist saying, 'How can I get better? What I can do? He finally got referred to me and we are now opening up his jaw six months after he has been unable to move."
