Follow-up after treatment for pituitary gland cancer
Follow-up care lets your healthcare team keep track of your health for a period of time after treatment for pituitary gland cancer ends. This important part of cancer care is often shared among the cancer specialists and your family doctor. They will help you recover from treatment side effects and monitor you for any signs that the cancer has come back (recurred).
Follow-up care may not seem that important to you, especially if your treatment was long or very hard. You may find the idea of follow-up care stressful because it reminds you of your cancer experience or because you are worried about what a test might reveal. Talk to your healthcare team about how you feel and about why follow-up matters. Your healthcare team is there to help.
Schedule for follow-up visits
Don’t wait until your next scheduled appointment to report any new symptoms or symptoms that don’t go away. Tell your healthcare team if you have:
- vision problems
- headaches
- dizziness
- fatigue
Follow-up visits for pituitary gland cancer are usually scheduled every 3 to 6 months for the first few years.
During follow-up visits
During a follow-up visit, your healthcare team will usually ask questions about the side effects of treatment and how you’re coping. They may also ask about certain symptoms that could mean your hormone levels are abnormal.
Your doctor may do a physical exam to check:
- your eyes and vision
- your reflexes
- your blood pressure
- for signs of abnormal hormone levels
Tests are often part of follow-up care. You may have:
- blood tests to check hormone levels every few months
- an MRI or CT scan to look at the pituitary gland, the tumour or both, or to check if the cancer has come back
If the cancer has come back or continues to grow after treatment, you and your healthcare team will discuss a plan for your treatment and care.
Find out more about follow-up
The following are questions that you can ask the healthcare team about follow-up after treatment for cancer. Choose the questions that fit your situation and add questions of your own. You may find it helpful to take the list to the next appointment and to write down the answers.
- What is the schedule for follow-up visits?
- How often is follow-up scheduled with the cancer specialist?
- Who is responsible for follow-up visits?
- What will happen at a follow-up visit?
- Which tests are done on a regular basis? How often are they done?
- Are there any symptoms that should be reported right away? Who do I call?
- Who can help me cope with long-term side effects of treatment?
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