I am looking for any kind of guidance.
A friend of mine had a routine checkup two months ago, and they discovered a large polyp in her colon. Things moved fast—she underwent surgery about a month ago to remove part of her colon, and she now has a stoma. A nurse handed her the discharge papers, but honestly, nobody explained a single thing about what comes next. She even saw her surgeon recently, and he practically snapped at her for not scheduling an appointment with an oncologist yet. I should mention—nobody ever told her she needed to! How is she supposed to know when to see them? Now, she’s just completely overwhelmed. Her husband travels a lot for work, so she’s mostly alone most days—no kids, just sitting in front of the TV. It feels like she’s slipping into a deep depression. I want to help her, but I'm feeling a bit lost on how to actually do that.
Are there any support groups, nonprofits, psychologists, or psychiatrists specifically for patients dealing with this? Somewhere they can turn for guidance on navigating the medical system, how to handle the doctors, and how to cope with the illness itself?
Thanks in advance
A friend of mine had a routine checkup two months ago, and they discovered a large polyp in her colon. Things moved fast—she underwent surgery about a month ago to remove part of her colon, and she now has a stoma. A nurse handed her the discharge papers, but honestly, nobody explained a single thing about what comes next. She even saw her surgeon recently, and he practically snapped at her for not scheduling an appointment with an oncologist yet. I should mention—nobody ever told her she needed to! How is she supposed to know when to see them? Now, she’s just completely overwhelmed. Her husband travels a lot for work, so she’s mostly alone most days—no kids, just sitting in front of the TV. It feels like she’s slipping into a deep depression. I want to help her, but I'm feeling a bit lost on how to actually do that.
Are there any support groups, nonprofits, psychologists, or psychiatrists specifically for patients dealing with this? Somewhere they can turn for guidance on navigating the medical system, how to handle the doctors, and how to cope with the illness itself?
Thanks in advance