For some, the term refers to anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer, while others consider a cancer survivor to be anyone who has completed active treatment and is free of any signs of disease.
At the end of active treatment, many survivors often have mixed emotions, including relief that their treatment is over, as well as anxiety about the future. After treatment, the ‘safety net’ of regular, frequent contact with the health care team ends.
Some survivors may miss this source of support, especially because anxieties may surface at this time. Others may have physical problems, psychological problems, sexual problems or fertility concerns.
Many survivors feel guilty about surviving, having lost friends or loved ones to the disease. Some survivors are uncertain about their future, while others experience discrimination at work or find that their social network feels inadequate.
Up to five in 10 people who have treatment for cancer experience some pain. When cancer has come back or spread, about seven in 10 people have pain. If you have pain, it’s important to tell your doctors and nurses so they can treat it.
Some people may not want to talk about their pain as they feel they are complaining. But the earlier treatment is given for pain, the more effective it is.
The way people feel and experience pain varies. Even people with the same type of cancer can have very different experiences.
Side effects:
Depression is a disorder characterised by feeling down, depressed, or sad, having little interest or receiving little pleasure in doing things, and feeling hopeless. These feelings often persist for two or more weeks and negatively affect a person’s daily activities or relationships. The symptoms of depression may appear shortly after diagnosis or anytime during or after treatment.
People are more likely to experience depression during or after cancer if they have been diagnosed with depression in the past, have close family members with depression, have significant anxiety and worry, are facing cancer alone or without the support of friends or family, or have financial burdens.
Although depression is more common among people with cancer, it should not be considered a normal part of living with cancer.
Depression lowers a person’s quality of life, undermining the emotional and physical strength often required to undergo cancer treatment. It may also interfere with a person’s ability to make choices about cancer treatments. Identifying and then managing depression are important parts of coping with cancer.
Once your cancer treatment is complete or nearing completion and you’ve been cleared to return to work, at least part-time, more challenges may await. After using up medical leave, gear up for the next challenge: making a re-entry to working life as comfortable as possible.
