Doctors say to go to a major medical center for cancer issues. what do people usually do when they live hundreds of miles away with follow up visits?

Depends: If someone has a major medical issue, they may have to temporarily live near a medical center. If needed, patients may need to make arrangements to live near the care facility. Occasionally, medical centers can make arrangements with local physicians to provide some of the care and minimize the number of long trips patients need to make. Hope this helps.

Initial consult: If there is no oncologist in your community and a complex tumor problem exists whether requiring surgical oncology, chemotherapy or radiation , a consult at the nearest Cancer Center should be made. If the Center believes they should initiate treatment they will but as to further management, they will refer you to an individual closer to your home for long term follow up and treatment.