The Wilhelmina Ziekenhuis Assen (WZA) will be the first Drents hospital with an Adolescents & Young Adults Point (AYA)
The Wilhelmina Hospital Assen (WZA) is expanding cancer care, with a care and information point especially for young people with cancer. The WZA hopes this will provide better answers to the specific questions that the target group have, reports RTV Drenthe.
The WZA is the first hospital in Drenthe with a so-called AYA point (Adolescents & Young Adults). These are targeted at people between the ages of 18 and 35 who are first diagnosed with cancer.
Nationally, this concerns around 2,700 young adults per year, in Drenthe the number is around thirty. These are mainly patients with breast cancer, but also, for example, with colon cancer or non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. AYAs with lung cancer or testicular cancer go to the AYA knowledge center of the UMCG.
Other questions
AYAs are at a very different stage of life and have very different questions than older people who are diagnosed with cancer, and so care revolved around this. Themes that are discussed include study, relationships, desires to have children or buy a house; but also loneliness, fear and, gloom are also discussion points.
