Imagine going to your gastroenterologist for a routine
colonoscopy. You’ve reached that age and your family doctor has been pestering
you to get it done, so you finally go. A suspicious mass is found and
the pathology report confirms that you have a malignant tumor and stage
3 colon cancer.
All of a sudden, you receive a massive influx of care and start to hear
terms and treatments you don’t understand. At SJGI, we recognize
that receiving a cancer diagnosis is like entering an alien world—it’s
scary, confusing, and overwhelming. You’re in a completely new situation,
which could be life or death. You have to see many different doctors and
might feel frustrated that these doctors didn’t put together a coordinated
plan for you.
The Cancer Care Coordination program is just that – a one stop shop,
in which we hope to improve care coordination to benefit our patients.
We work with a variety of cancers, including colon, rectal, esophageal,
gastric, liver, and pancreatic cancer. Once diagnosed, the treatment plan
will be laid out by physicians, and then the patient will be enrolled
in the program.
At
SJGI, we go the extra mile to make sure our patients are seen by the top treating
specialists in the area. For advanced care, SJGI works with UCSF and Stanford
Health Care.
We provide quarterly summary reports (labs, imaging studies, treatment,
future appointments) to the patient, PCP, and all involved providers until
treatment is complete. With this program, we hope to provide comprehensive,
efficient and expedited care for our patients, while supporting their
overall wellbeing.
If you have any questions about the program, please do not hesitate to
contact us at (408) 347-9001.
MEET OUR CANCER CARE COORDINATOR
/Emily-Nguyen.jpg "Emily Nguyen")
Emily Nguyen
emily.nguyen@sjgi.com
Recently graduated from UC Davis, Emily has a B.S. in Biological Sciences
with a major in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior. She will be starting
medical school in Fall 2018 and we wish her the very best.
Piloted in September, the role of the cancer care coordinator is to serve
as a one-on-one point of contact for cancer patients at SJGI. Once diagnosed
with cancer, Emily will work closely with our cancer patients and guide
them throughout their cancer journey, listening to their hopes and fears,
while providing emotional and social support.
As the coordinator, she will meet with the patient to go over the treatment
plan in simple terms, while coordinating and communicating with all the
specialists, including oncologists, surgeons, and interventional radiologists.
Fluent in Vietnamese and English, Emily will help the patient make appointments
and ensure records are available for the providers before the appointment.
It is our hope that through playing a more proactive role in these patients’
care, we can streamline the process and improve patient care management.
Emily also wears many hats, including organizing the monthly liver tumor
board meetings and participating in liver research studies with Stanford.
In her free time, Emily enjoys visiting museums, watching musicals, and
reading at coffee shops.
