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By Andrea Kalas-Nagel

GOING THROUGH CANCER TREATMENT IS NEVER EASY .

There are so many appointments to remember, medications

to take and people to see and talk to—all while dealing with

a serious illness. But thanks to a new trend in medical treat-

ment, a lot of that is becoming much easier to deal with.

The Thoracic oncology Working Group at Kootenai Health is a multi-disciplinary group of physicians and nurses that meets every other week to discuss lung and esophageal cancer pa-tients. Together, they talk about possible treatment options and come up with a plan for each patient.

“We’re coming together to expedite pa-tient care, face to face,” said Jodi Schmidt, nurse navigator. “I’m here to walk the patient step-by-step through the treat-ment process and make sure things are happening according to plan.” The role of the nurse navigator within the group is to be with the patients from

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