Stop One: Routine prevention

Knowing your family history and getting recommended screenings is your best protection. Chapter 10 has details on how often and which ones.

Other smart steps are keeping active, staying lean, eating well, not smoking, and wearing sunscreen. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends that people of all skin tones use broad-spectrum (meaning both UVA and UVB) waterproof sunscreen rated SPF 30 or higher.

Stop Two: Eating well

For specific advice on healthy eating, check out these tips, or talk to a Limeade at 844-977-1011 to develop a plan that works for you.

Other things you can do: Make a food diary, read about principles for healthy eating, and find out how small changes can add up into big differences.

Stop Three: Physical activity

Check out these tips on becoming more active. Here’s how to calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI).

Stop Four: Quitting smoking

Additionally for enrolled team members, spouses and dependents enrolled in the Core, Standard, High Cost Coverage, DFW ConnectedCare, PPO 80 or PPO 90, American provides assistance with over-the-counter nicotine replacements like gum or patches, or can help you fill prescriptions to make it easier to quit.

For the really big wellness picture, work through the Whole Health Tracker created by the Optum EAP. It guides you through setting your own goals for sleep, stress, good eating, physical activity and emotional support. The tracker helps you decide how you’ll achieve those goals—and track your progress.

Optional stopover:

Look for a clinical trial that’s right for you with the SU2C Clinical Trial Finder—search online, request a call, or call 1-877-769-4829. Read more about clinical trials in Chapter 12.

Stop one: Find your team

Team members (and covered family members) enrolled in the Core, Standard, High Cost Coverage, PPO 80 and PPO 90 can access centers of excellence that specialize in cancer treatment, as well as doctors and hospitals delivering the most effective care. Contact Accolade at 833-346-3929 (833-FIND-WAY) or login into your Accolade portal for a list of elite treatment centers or to find a network physician, such as the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Other centers of excellence: the Mayo Clinic Phoenix; the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles; the Robert H Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University in Chicago; and the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

Optional stopover: A second opinion?

Team members enrolled in an American medical plan, including Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO) can access Advance Medical’s Expert Opinion service. Advance Medical will collect your medical information, then have your case reviewed by a team of experts in your condition, for no charge. You can also call 855-212-1074 to begin the process.

Stop two: Cope with Cancer

Cancer can be overwhelming. Accolade offers experienced nurses who can help you find the right doctor and consider treatment options; learn more about your cancer and your treatment to make better decisions; understand your medicines, and manage your symptoms and side effects. This service is confidential and free for team members (and covered family members) enrolled in the Core, Standard, High Cost Coverage, PPO 80 and PPO 90. For assistance call Accolade at 833-346-3929 (833-FIND-WAY).

Emotional well-being: If you need someone to talk to about what you’re going through, Optum’s Employee Assistance Program (800-363-7190), www.liveandworkwell.com, code: American) can help. You can talk to a counselor on the phone for free, or arrange up to four in-person visits.

Final Destination: Survivorship

Around 18.1 million people in the United States are now living with cancer (3). You’re not alone.

But it’s not always easy. For some people, cancer becomes a chronic disease that needs ongoing management and treatment. Even people with no evidence of disease may have lingering health effects from treatment, and may need frequent follow-up tests.

Journey Forward is a collaboration between insurers, cancer nonprofits and professional groups to provide cancer survivors with resources. At the online library, find factsheets on coping with memory loss, pain, neuropathy and other problems, as well as cancer-specific information on what to expect in the future.

Journey Forward also has tools to create a survivorship care plan—a summary of the treatment you’ve had and a coordinated vision of care for your future, including schedules for follow-up and suggestions for treatment-related side effects. Your health team can create this for you with the online Cancer Care Plan Builder, and there’s also an app for you to manage this information.

For children’s cancers, check out the Children’s Oncology Group website, which includes guidelines for long-term care.

With information from your medical records and your care team, you can also build your own survivorship care plan. The Livestrong Foundation, in collaboration with Penn Medicine, created an interactive online tool that you can use to organize your information and get suggestions about follow-up care, including what to watch for, and some things to think about in your new life as a survivor.