Physician Referral Online

A free and confidential service
of Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Physician Referral Online
Using your own criteria, you can request information from a database of more than 1,000 area physicians who have registered to participate.

Request an appointment
We would be happy to assist you in scheduling an appointment with a member of the hospital’s medical staff. Use the link above or call:

203-688-2000
or toll free
1-888-700-6543
to talk with a referral coordinator.

Offering hope and healing

Cancer death rates have been dropping since 2003. That’s great news, but it suggests another issue: cancer survivorship.

There are more than 10 million cancer survivors in this country, a number so significant that cancer survivorship programs are opening. There are 12 programs around the country, one of which is here at Yale Cancer Center.

Multidisciplinary support and follow-up care programs are needed because as the prognosis improves, the number of people cured or living with the disease will reach critical mass.

While most cancer survivors have a special appreciation for life, they may fail to talk about residual issues.

Special needs of cancer survivors
Each cancer survivor experiences unique health concerns. It is estimated that 10-15 percent of survivors experience side effects such as pain, chronic fatigue, cognition changes or depression. Cancer survivorship programs help survivors deal with these issues. They address three common areas: the medical side effects of treatment, psycho-social concerns and body image.

Many of the medical issues affecting cancer survivors are the after-effects of chemotherapy and radiation. What is called late toxicity can affect the brain, bone and soft tissue, and it can cause nausea, vomiting, hair loss and low blood counts.

Chronic pain can also result, especially after a mastectomy for breast cancer. Chemotherapy can also cause neuropathy, which is nerve damage.

Typically, pain problems develop soon after treatment. In some cases, pain will resolve, but in others it lingers.

Side effects can be controlled
Many times, patients don’t tell their doctors about pain and live with it. They say they keep it from their doctors because:

• they feel a sense of profound joy just to be alive.
• they fear that pain means the cancer is back.
• they fear their doctor will give up on them.
• they think that pain is expected after cancer treatment.
• they fear that they’ll get hooked on narcotics and have medication side effects.
• they think that there’s nothing the doctor can do.

And some doctors may not ask cancer patients if they have pain. As a cancer pain specialist, I find that taking a good pain history means using the acronym WILMA. Words, Intensity, Location, Medication, Aggravate.

I ask patients to first describe the type of pain they have in their own words, its intensity on a numerical scale, and the location of the pain. Then I ask them what medications help and what tends to aggravate or relieve the pain.

Survivors should realize that pain can be treated, so it’s important for them to tell their doctor what they’re feeling.

How Yale Cancer Center’s program can help
At the Connecticut Challenge Survivorship Clinic at Yale Cancer Center, we encourage patients to share everything with their doctor. We also counsel them on diet and exercise, and how complementary medicine responses like Reiki, meditation, yoga and massage can help.

We have a social worker and nurse on staff who understand the long-term side effects of cancer and who can help guide patients through the recovery journey. Patients come to the program for just one visit or for ongoing transitional management of symptoms, especially for those with pain.

At the Survivorship Clinic, we tell cancer survivors that hope is free and has no side effects. We let them know that they are not their cancer diagnosis, and that the experience of cancer and its related issues are different for all patients.

If you are a cancer patient, I recommend talking to your doctor, sharing your feelings with friends, and understanding that most symptoms can be treated effectively.

Kenneth D. Miller, MD, is assistant professor of medicine, medical oncology for Yale School of Medicine, and medical director of the Connecticut Challenge Survivorship Clinic at Yale Cancer Center.