So you’re in remission and you can officially call yourself a cancer survivor. Congratulations for making it through the hardest part of the journey. Now you may be thinking “What comes next?”
Most people don’t think about survivorship until they finish treatment. And it’s only much later, when there hasn’t been a recurrence and they’re not thinking about the cancer so much, that they really contemplate long-term survival. At that point, there can be many questions: What can I do to make sure it doesn’t come back? What if it does? Will I have issues or late or long-term effects from treatment?
The post-cancer recovery period is all about finding a new normal, said Patricia Ganz, M.D., professor of medicine and associate director of the Cancer Center at University of California at Los Angeles: “What will life be like? Who can I count on? Who don’t I want to spend time with? Who brings positivity into my life? Who brings negativity?”
What we’ve learned is it’s not over when it’s over, Ganz said. Survivors may face ongoing symptoms or problems resulting from their initial treatments — pain, fatigue, late effects such as second cancers or organ dysfunction, as well as other chronic diseases. There needs to be a focus on prevention, symptom management, emotional support, and healthy living – and it’s best that the oncologist share the care with a primary care physician.