When you're living with cancer your number one priority should be to focus your energy on getting well... not on keeping track of all the insurance paperwork, test results, and bills coming from your various doctor visits or hospital stays. That is why The Pink Cart takes pride in our partnership with an organization as outstanding as the American Cancer Society, because they offer so many valuable resources to cancer patients and their families.

As a new member of The Pink Cart team I’ve been working to familiarize myself with our partners at the American Cancer Society (ACS), and all of the wonderful information and resources they provide. I recently came across the “Personal Health Manager Kit” and was so impressed at the forethought of the ACS team to offer such an item to cancer patients and caregivers. The Kit is specifically designed to help patients organize and keep track of appointments, medication, test results, insurance, bills, and various other logistical and practical details associated with cancer. It is available in multiple languages and can even be personalized to provide information and resources which will help address the needs of a particular cancer patient or caregiver, making the logistics of cancer treatment more manageable. I personally thought the Kit showed the true understanding and care ACS has for individuals and families living with cancer.

I discussed the Personal Health Manager Kit with our ACS partners and they brought up a very important point – the Kit is a wonderful resource, but only if it makes it into the hands of the patients and caregivers of those with cancer. I couldn’t have said it better than our ACS team, “Bottom line, we help anyone who calls us, but we can only help those individuals we know about.” There’s an abundance of very helpful resources available for cancer patients, yet they are not always made easily accessible through hospitals and doctors.

So, I wanted to take a moment to share the Personal Health Manager resource with you, our Pink Cart community, in case you yourself are living with cancer, or a friend, family, or co-worker has recently been diagnosed. Help the cancer patients in your life focus their energy on getting well, and not fretting about the mountain of unorganized paperwork piling up on their corner table, by sharing the Personal Health Manager Kit. Remind patients and caregivers to take the Kit with them to their appointments and treatments so they have all their information at the flip of a tab.

Find more information about the Kit here: http://www.cancer.org/myacs/california/programsandservices/personal-health-manager-kit

Patients or caregivers can call the American Cancer Society at 1-800-227-2345 and talk to a Cancer Information Specialist about the Personal Health Manager.

If you're in Canada, our partners at the Canadian Cancer Society also offer a Cancer Information Service by phone at: toll-free 1 888 939-3333.