Everyone in the path of an imminent natural disaster, such as a hurricane, needs to take the normal steps of preparing for it: food, water, gas, first aid, evacuation plan, etc.
The point of the article below is that if one has cancer as well, and especially if one is in the treatment phase of it, this may necessitate certain additional planning steps. These are contingency plans, for situations that the hurricane (fire, earthquake, etc.) may bring about
, and suddenly have to be dealt with. Steps that have to be considered because having the cancer requires us to.
These are of course sitations that we ordinarily do not think about
, and it's probably the case that most of us will never have to face such situations, but it's useful to consider that they are possible, and planning for them now makes it that much easier to deal with them then, if they ever do occur.
Things, considered in the article, like:
"... contacting your hospital or physician to determine if you are considered to be in a special needs category due to your current treatments, or if you are early in your post-surgery procedures."
"... determine special evacuation centers you may be accepted to, where you can ride out the storm. If there are special needs shelters in your area, it is important to register as soon as possible."
"(The effects of) many extra challenges (such as) maneuvering in the heat and going without electricity for what can be extended periods of time."and
"... when addressing your medical care, YOU are a priority. Just realize that it takes time to get things back in place after a storm, so be flexible and stay as positive as possible."The author did not go into some other important considerations, such as: what to do if our hospital, clinic, doctor's office has been damaged, and we need to relocate treatment; our pharmacy has temporarily closed; the power will be out for days (possibly affecting medication storage), and such.
But thinking about
these issues now and having a plan in place is worthwhile.
/www.curetoday.com/community/tamera-anderson-hanna/2017/09/cancer-and-hurricane-preparedness-a-survivors-perspective(Also, here's another good article on this, from the American Cancer Society, in the form of FAQs):
/www.cancer.org/treatment/finding-and-paying-for-treatment/coping-with-cancer-after-a-natural-disaster.html