Life After Cancer
Congratulations, you're finished treatment! ....Now what?
Of course you're happy to be finished, but you've gone from seeing your healthcare team regularly, even daily, to not at all.
It's normal to feel alone and anxious as you wait for your follow up appointment, and it may not be for another few months. The best thing to do is to focus on healing from treatment and regaining control of your life.
Everyone has their own way of doing this, but a good start would be to talk to someone who has been in your shoes.
There are plenty of support groups and online chat forums that can help you with everything from managing your treatment side effects to helping you cope with anxiety and cancer-related fears.
You can also start to think about making healthy diet and lifestyle changes that will optimize your chances of fighting cancer or staying in remission.
What does it mean to be in remission?
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Remission is when the signs and symptoms of cancer have disappeared, although cancer cells may still remain in your body.​
There are two types of remission:
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Partial Remission
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Treatments have killed off most of your cancer cells, but tests show you still have some in your body. Your tumor has shrunk from its original size or hasn’t grown bigger. Your doctor may also say that your cancer is 'stable'.
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Complete Remission
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All signs of your cancer and its symptoms are gone. Another common term used is 'cancer free'. Some doctors will only consider you to be in complete remission after being symptom-free for 5 years.
The best thing to do at this stage is to think of ways to improve your overall health and well- being.​ How you can improve your diet and exercise regime that cancer may have thrown out of whack? What are things you can do to improve your mental health​?
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Cancer may have kept you from doing things you enjoy like hiking, seeing friends, or travelling. Even though you may not feel up to doing all of those again, think of ways you can slowly ease yourself back into them.
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Once you start to feel better after treatment you may feel motivated to live a healthier lifestyle than you did before your diagnosis.
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If you'd like some help in making these healthy changes, our 60-Day Reset Program will teach you which diet and lifestyle changes you can start making to increase your chances of fighting cancer or staying in remission by 30-50%!
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