Fear that cancer will return is a near-universal fear of patients whose cancer is in remission. This fear can interfere with getting good care and/or living fully. For Healthy Survivors striving to calm this fear, a 6-minute video may help.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Amy Grose, an experienced social worker, offers realistic, comforting insights and advice. She clarifies
- What is fear of recurrence?
- What are common triggers?
- When do I need to pay attention to it?
- Other than the patient, who does this fear affect?
- What is the so-called "tyranny of silence"?
- Why discuss this fear openly?
- What is the role of counseling?
- How does this fear change over time?
- What can I do to help calm this fear?
To give you a taste of this healing conversation, I'll paraphrase a metaphor one of Amy Grose's patients used to describe how the fear of recurrence changed over time. The patient described her life as a house where, in the beginning, her fear of recurrence took over every single room. Over time, the fear took less and less space, so she now feels her fear of recurrence lives in a small back room. It comes out under specific circumstances, such as right before check-ups or if a worrisome symptom develops. "It's never gone, but it doesn't have to intrude as much in her life."
nice!
Posted by: Ana | November 29, 2011 at 04:17 AM
Having read through your article please can you further exlpian the truth about the recurrencies of cancer after treatment. do we still have hope after the treatment?
Posted by: skin care treatmenet | January 10, 2012 at 07:27 PM
Recurrence is not a death sentence; it is an illness. There is always hope.
The prognosis (i.e., chance for another remission, survival statistics, and so on) depends on the particular type of cancer and the patient's overall health. For some types of cancer, the patient still has an excellent chance of cure (such as testicular cancer and Hodgkins lymphoma).
For other types, the chance of cure with current therapies disappears, but the patient can still do well for a while, if not for a long time. I've been living in and out of treatment since 1990 -- and it's been a good life.
As a Healthy Survivor, you can have hope to make wise treatment decisions with your doctors and to do all you can between treatments to take care of yourself. You can hope that new treatments will become available when you need them. And you can hope to accept the uncertainty and embrace each day.
With hope,
Wendy
Posted by: Wendy S. Harpham, MD | January 11, 2012 at 12:57 PM