Life after cancer treatment

Article author: Rachel Rawson, Lead Cancer Nurse Specialist, Perci Health

For many people, life after cancer brings new challenges. These can include adjusting to less frequent contact with the cancer team, recognising and responding to challenging thoughts and feelings, managing treatment side-effects, lifestyle and wellbeing changes.

This article looks at some of these challenges in detail, and highlights the support available.

Making the transition to follow-up care

Adjusting to a new routine
You’ll have been seen by your treatment team on a regular basis, attending appointments, and having treatment and tests. Many people with cancer find this routine to be reassuring, and it can be difficult when it ends, as you may not be offered any regular follow-up. It will also be a time when you are navigating your recovery, dealing with side effects and maybe thinking about going back to work.

Perci Health’s meditation and mindfulness practitioner Laura Ashurst explains that, ‘Many people who have been on that treadmill of coping often experience burnout.’ If this sounds like your experience, creating a new routine can help. This could involve setting daily tasks, starting slowly with exercise or a healthy eating programme, or structuring your days so things feel a little more in your control.

Experiencing anxiety and uncertainty

It’s very normal to feel uncertainty about the future, and anxiety about follow-up appointments and scans. For those living beyond cancer and experiencing these feelings, knowing what support is available and how to access it is important. Mindfulness, psychotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) can all help someone to process their feelings and experiences after cancer.

Managing fear of cancer recurrence (FCR)

FCR is among the most commonly reported problems and one of the most common areas of unmet need for people living beyond cancer, but there is support out there. Cancer coach Claire Taylor explains: ‘I guide those experiencing FCR to explore their relationship between thoughts, feelings and behaviours, looking at unhelpful thought patterns and what events may have triggered them. Our ultimate aim would be to help you recognise more constructive thoughts and behaviours, to reduce feelings of fear and enhance feelings of control.’ If you’re experiencing a higher level of fear, working with a psychologist can help.

How to support long-term health and reduce the risk of cancer recurrence

After cancer treatment, it’s common to experience lifestyle and wellbeing challenges, as you work out what being physically active and eating healthily means for you. Since your cancer treatment, you may have lost trust in your body or lost confidence in your ability to make healthy choices. Aside from not smoking, diet and physical exercise are two of the most important ways to help prevent recurrence.

How can a healthy diet help prevent cancer recurrence?

When it comes to diet after cancer, many of the same guidelines apply as with preventing cancer. However, after treatment, returning to eating a healthy, balanced diet can be challenging. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, so instead of making changes all in one go, try to focus on one or two smaller goals at a time. A useful guide is to eat a diet rich in wholegrains, vegetables, fruit, and legumes and pulses (such as beans and lentils) as part of your daily routine.

How can physical exercise help prevent cancer recurrence?

There is increasing evidence that people who are active after a cancer diagnosis reduce the risk of the cancer coming back. However, even if you maintained your fitness during treatment it’s important to take things slowly.

Perci’s Clinical Exercise Coach Nick Michell says, ‘I always advise people to find things they really enjoy. Before or during treatment, we’re usually in the gym because that’s what’s needed, but afterwards, it’s perfectly okay to find other activities that have the same benefits. Gardening, walking, dancing – as long as you’re physically moving your body and maintaining a healthy body weight, you’re on the right track. The key to success is consistency.’

Living with and beyond cancer

For many, the end of hospital-based treatment does not mean the end of treatment entirely. Many cancers require ongoing treatments, such as hormone therapies and targeted therapies, and may go on for many months or years. The side-effects of cancer treatment can also last well beyond treatment. What’s important is knowing how, where and when to access support when regular hospital care has ended.

You can still access your treatment team if you’re worried about a new symptom or side-effect, even when you don’t have regular follow up. A nurse specialist can be a good point of contact, as well as your GP. Remember – it’s important to check in with a healthcare professional if you are worried about a side-effect or something that is different or new for you.