Canopy Cancer Care Talk About Living Beyond Cancer Treatment

Many people find finishing cancer treatment one of the more stressful times of their cancer journey, and this is something not commonly talked about, as there is expectation that life should be just as it was before the diagnosis. The end of treatment can catch people by surprise because they don’t necessarily think they’re going to feel that way. They feel like they should be excited, like their family and workmates and friends are excited, and want to celebrate with them that treatment is finished.

They don’t realise that it’s actually a very stressful time when they are feeling vulnerable and scared and unsure of where they’re going. Also treatment support drops off a little bit, and you lose the help of the medical nursing team that you were regularly seeing week by week, and family and friends can also move on faster than you can, and maybe expect you to be feeling better than you are.

Often patients’ family and friends put pressure on them in a way. They expect them to bounce back to how they used to be, being back to the person they knew before the treatment, and it’s not often how it is for people. They are also often left with side effects that can take time to recover from and it’s a new normal what you go through than possibly what you were before you started this whole process.

As a patient reports, “I think my main concern about finishing treatment was my family and close friends, because I think they worried about everything more than I did”. Recurrence is one of the biggest fears that patients experience when they finish treatment, but it can also be your family and your friends’ fear as well. This can obviously put a lot of fear and stress on you. If it comes to the point where you are thinking about recurrence on a daily basis or it’s overwhelming your thoughts, then you need to seek help.

Whether that’s going to see your GP or calling your nurse specialist, Canopy can help you to see one of their psychologists who can give you coping strategies to support and help you manage those feelings. They will advise you to live in the moment rather than worrying too far ahead.

Canopy Cancer Care’s aim is to provide information to cancer patients and their families, increase people’s understanding of cancer and showcase clinical developments in cancer treatment, so for more information on cancer treatment and cancer treatment NZ please go to http://www.canopycancercare.co.nz .