🎯Three Content Types · One Force Field
Every square belongs to one of three content types — not three levels you climb. Track progress in your Course and Skills Lab.
📘 Learn It Content type
Concepts to absorb.
🛠 Live It Content type
Daily skills and habits.
📣 Share It Content type
Teach, advocate, carry forward.
🛡️Your Force Field — 16 Squares
Deeper detail lives in the Prepared Patient Colorectal Cancer Survivor course.
What Colorectal Cancer Was
Cancer of colon or rectum. Stage matters. Each different.
Learn ItMaintenance + Surveillance
Sometimes maintenance chemo. Always surveillance imaging.
Learn ItRecurrence + Obstruction
Obstruction (severe pain + no stool) = 911. Bleeding red flags too.
Learn ItLate Effects
Bowel changes, neuropathy, fatigue, sexual function, mental health.
Learn ItSurveillance Plan
Colonoscopy, CT, CEA. Different schedules per stage.
Learn ItLong-term Effects
Oxaliplatin neuropathy can persist. Manage actively.
Live ItStoma Care (if applicable)
Stoma nurse, supplies, skin care.
Live ItDiet + Bowel Function
Fiber, hydration, avoid triggers. Highly individual.
Live ItExercise + Recovery
Reduces recurrence. Walk daily.
Live ItMake Every Visit Count
Bring symptom log, bowel pattern, CEA trends.
Live ItYour Care Team
Oncologist, surgeon, GI, stoma nurse, dietitian.
Live ItApps + Tracking
Bowel diary, hydration, symptom tracking.
Live ItInsurance + Coverage
Most survivorship covered. Stoma supplies sometimes a fight.
Live ItTeach & Mentor
Newly diagnosed especially need stoma reassurance.
Share ItAdvocate
Push for screening (age 45 now), equitable access, research.
Share ItResearch & Trials
Immunotherapy for MSI-high, ctDNA-guided surveillance, novel agents.
Share ItThree things to learn before you actually need them.
Workflow lives in the Prepared Visit Tool. Trackers in your Course.
Which door do I use?
Colorectal survivorship has specific surveillance and obstruction risks.
Handle at home
- No new symptoms
- Bowel pattern at baseline
- Following surveillance schedule
Log it. Colonoscopy schedule is critical.
Call the office / message the portal
- Mild new bowel pattern change
- Mild fatigue
- Side effects of chemo lingering
- Running low on meds
Same day. Catching recurrence early matters.
Urgent / Acute care
- Persistent abdominal pain
- Blood in stool
- Unintentional weight loss
- Stoma issues (if applicable)
- Persistent nausea or vomiting
Urgent care or oncology. Imaging may be needed.
ER NOW / call 911
- Severe abdominal pain with vomiting and no stool (obstruction)
- Heavy GI bleeding
- Severe abdominal pain with fever (perforation)
- Sepsis signs
- Severe stoma complication
Call 911. Bowel obstruction in survivors is common and dangerous.
How to describe a new symptom in 30 seconds
What is it?
Plain words.
How bad?
0-10.
When did it start?
Time + what you were doing.
What made it worse?
Movement · food · meds.
What helped?
Even a little.
What else was new?
Fever · med · supplement · stress. The forgotten detail often shifts the diagnosis.
“Abdominal cramping and constipation for 4 days, a 6, started after a long flight, worse after eating, lying down doesn’t help, and I haven’t passed gas in 2 days.”
Questions worth asking
Four for every patient, every condition, every visit:
- “Could this be a side effect of one of my medications, a supplement, or something else I’m doing — and should we change that?”
- “Would any non-drug therapy help — physical therapy, meditation, rest, ice or heat?”
- “If I can’t afford this medication or this test, can we talk about samples, alternatives, or a social worker who can help?”
- “What should I be watching for between now and my next visit — and when do I handle it myself, when do I call your office, when do I go to urgent care, and when do I go to the ER?”
Questions specifically for Colorectal Cancer Survivor:
- “What’s my surveillance schedule — colonoscopy, CT, CEA tumor marker?”
- “Late effects — bowel function, peripheral neuropathy, sexual function, fatigue?”
- “Lynch syndrome or familial risk — have I been tested, what about family?”
- “Lifestyle factors (diet, exercise, alcohol) — what reduces recurrence?”
- “Stoma care, if applicable — what resources are available?”