Connections

The Blog That Builds Hope.

“My Cancer is in Remission, Now What?”

“Your cancer is in remission.”  Those words from the doctor can be quite exciting for all involved in the treatment of cancer, not only for the patient and family, but also the medical treatment team. More patients every year are hearing those words than heard them the year before. Yet, that phrase can be bittersweet.

The treatment of malignant disease is actually a relatively new profession. Physicians were mainly concerned on finding treatments through surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy that increased one’s survival or offered a chance at cure. With more and more patients surviving through, the medical profession is also becoming aware of some of the long lasting or late side effects that persist or occur after the treatment completes. These side effects, some of which have significant health implications themselves, are now strongly considered during the treatment planning phases. The fact of surviving the cancer is not the only goal of treatment. There is not much point in adding years to one’s life unless we are adding meaning or quality to those years.

I would like to begin a discussion regarding some of the most common long term effects of treatment and will divide into psychological and physiologic effects. The psychological effects of treatment are probably the least studied and documented, mainly because patients are less likely to discuss them and many physicians do not ask.

One of the more common psychological effects has to do with a form of separation anxiety that can occur as treatment completes. A cancer diagnosis is forever molded into one’s life. The initial fear of that diagnosis is converted or focused into determination to destroy the unwelcome intruder. All of one’s energy is focused on that goal, paying little attention initially to the “life after treatment.”  In addition, a cancer patient turns many serious decisions over to the physician, taking a more dependent role. There may be daily or weekly treatments, visits, lab work, and x-rays that essentially take over one’s life. Then, all of a sudden, the treatment stops, the visits are less frequent, and the patient is told to resume his/her life. In some ways, as the doctor reduces the visits, the patient can experience feelings of abandonment. Certain questions come to mind frequently such as, “Have I had enough treatment?”  “How can they be sure my cancer is gone?”  “How will I know if it comes back?”  Cancer patients find resuming a normal life can be very difficult. The Humpty Dumpty syndrome occurs, which basically means that when someone tries to put the pieces of their life back together, that all of the pieces do not necessarily fit. That is not necessarily bad, but it does mean life is different, irreversibly, after being diagnosed and treated for cancer, than before. Compensating for, and adjusting to those differences take time, patience, and understanding from family and physicians.

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