Congratulations! You have completed cancer treatment and have a new outlook on life. At MD Anderson, we know that being a cancer survivor brings its own set of challenges that affect every aspect of your life. It's our goal to make life after cancer the best it can be, and we have the resources to help get you there.
Follow-up care after cancer treatment
Follow-up care plays a vital role in your life after cancer. It includes regular check-ups, monitoring for recurrence and managing any lasting effects of treatment. Our team can help you build a survivorship plan to make the most out of life.
Long-term physical effects
Some side effects of cancer and its treatments can last for months or even years after treatment ends. Understanding these possible long-term effects can help you recognize symptoms early and take steps to manage them with your health care team¡¯s support. Find out what to expect and how to manage your symptoms.
Social & emotional impacts of cancer
Psychological and emotional challenges are common after cancer, and they can sometimes surface long after treatment has ended. The good news is that help is available. Whether it¡¯s through therapy, support groups, online communities, or local resources, you can find tools and people to help you cope and heal.
Legal & financial impacts of cancer
Cancer can bring unexpected legal and financial challenges. It¡¯s important to know your rights at work, understand care costs, explore financial support and prepare legal documents to make your wishes known about medical treatment.
Resources
Cancerversaries: How and why cancer survivors celebrate
If you¡¯re a cancer survivor, you may have heard the term ¡®cancerversary.¡¯ A combination of the words ¡®cancer¡¯ and ¡®anniversary,¡¯ a cancerversary is a day of celebration for someone who has experienced cancer.
¡°Celebration dates are personal to every individual and what they feel was the most meaningful event for them,¡± says senior social work counselor Tabeen Urbach. ¡°Celebrations can occur on the day they were first diagnosed, the day they completed surgery to remove cancer, the day they completed treatment?or any other milestone that is important to them.¡±
Celebrate as often as you like
Several dates may be important to you. Perhaps you want to celebrate the day of your diagnosis. Maybe you want to celebrate the day you learned there was no evidence of disease ¨C sometimes called a NEDaversary. Maybe you want to celebrate both days. However often you¡¯d like to celebrate, do it.
¡°There is no rule for how often someone can celebrate,¡± says Urbach. ¡°People may choose to celebrate and make the most of every day, since every day is a gift.¡±
Celebrate however and with whomever you like
A cancer diagnosis is life-changing. You may have side effects from treatment or be physically unable to do things you used to do. Some survivors choose humor as a more light-hearted approach to their cancerversaries because going through cancer itself was so heavy.
Stage IV breast cancer survivor Olivia Franz was told she had no evidence of disease on March 30, 2021.
¡°My family celebrates this day every year with a nice dinner and a cake that says, ¡®Good job not dying,¡¯¡± says Olivia. ¡°We¡¯re planning something big for five years ¨C possibly a cruise or an international trip.¡±
While celebrating with loved ones can be nice, some survivors may want to spend the day alone. ¡°It¡¯s important that survivors be provided a safe space to spend the day in the manner that feels right for them,¡± says Urbach.
She shares some other ways survivors can choose to celebrate, with as few or as many people as they want:
- Enjoy an intimate dinner with loved ones.
- Throw a big party, and invite everyone you know.
- Plan a big trip or vacation to somewhere on your bucket list.
- Create a celebratory post on social media.
- Get involved with a local cancer organization by fundraising, sponsorship or attending a community event.
- Visit the hospital where you were treated to give back through acts of kindness. Bring snacks, blankets, books or other items that were comforting to you to other patients going through treatment.
¡°Sometimes, the best way to support your loved ones on their cancerversary can be as simple as just showing up to ask how they are doing and being there to listen,¡± she says.
It¡¯s OK not to celebrate
For some survivors, a cancerversary is not a happy occasion. Instead, it¡¯s a stark reminder of one of the most difficult times in their lives.
¡°The truth is that you may still feel sad about your cancer journey, no matter how many days or years have passed since your initial diagnosis,¡± says Urbach. ¡°It¡¯s important to acknowledge that a cancer diagnosis can be traumatic, and not everyone will want to celebrate or acknowledge the day they started this journey.¡±
And that¡¯s OK. You don¡¯t have to celebrate if you¡¯re not feeling up to it.
Lean into why you¡¯re celebrating
It¡¯s normal to feel a range of emotions leading up to, or during, a cancerversary.
¡°Cancerversaries can be emotionally challenging. You may be grieving the life you had before cancer while also feeling gratitude for the present and the life that you have,¡± says Urbach. ¡°Since the cancer diagnosis may have disrupted your life and your future plans, you may feel like you missed out on celebrations and milestones that your family and friends experienced while you were going through treatment, such as college graduations, career promotions, weddings and births. It¡¯s important to acknowledge that you deserve to celebrate your milestones, even if your new normal is different from what you were expecting.¡±
When Bart Wilson was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer at age 37, he was told he had a 15% chance of living five years.
¡°I¡¯m not into big celebrations, but if I reach the five-year mark of being cancer-free next year, my family plans to take a big trip to celebrate,¡± says Bart. ¡°They acknowledge the day I showed no evidence of disease each year, but I always wanted to reach that five-year mark before doing any celebrating.¡±
Cancerversaries have different meanings for everyone.
Celebrating the day you were diagnosed can help you take back some control over a difficult day, notes Urbach, adding that cancerversaries can help you reframe your mindset from a sad day to a day of gratitude over how far you¡¯ve come to get to this anniversary.
¡°Celebrating a cancerversary is really about celebrating yourself and the determination, resilience and strength it took to get you to where you are today,¡± she says. ¡°Honoring the anniversary of your cancer journey can be emotionally healing. It allows you to reflect on your cancer experience and identify, acknowledge and process your emotions and celebrate everything you¡¯ve accomplished in reaching this milestone.¡±
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Top four questions I receive about cancer survivorship care
I can normally tell within the first 2-3 minutes of meeting someone if they¡¯ve received the proper orientation about what to expect from me and/or survivorship care.??
When they haven¡¯t, their questions tend to run along the lines of, ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Why am I seeing you instead of the doctor who's been treating me for the past four years?¡± and ¡°How are you associated with the Endocrine Center?¡±??
But when they have been prepared, their questions are more focused on themselves as individuals.?
Here, I¡¯ll address the questions I hear most often, as well as the basics of survivorship care, how it differs from active cancer treatment and why it¡¯s important.?
What happens during a survivorship care visit?
During survivorship visits, we¡¯ll do a physical exam, check your?blood work and monitor your?imaging, just as your oncologists did when you were still in active cancer treatment. But we¡¯re also going to screen you for possible late effects, and talk about cancer prevention, ways you can reduce your risk of a recurrence, and other important aspects of your health.??
I¡¯ll ask you when your last mammogram or prostate exam was, for instance, or if you¡¯ve had a colonoscopy yet. We¡¯ll also talk about your psychological health, other cancer screenings you¡¯re eligible for, as well as any chronic health conditions you might have, such as hypertension, diabetes or high cholesterol.??
This can be a really eye-opening experience for some patients, because they¡¯ve spent the last 5 or 10 years worrying only about cancer. They never stopped to think about their heart health or their blood pressure. And nobody ever asked them about these things because they had no primary care physician (PCP).?
Questions to ask your doctor when transitioning to cancer survivorship care
At MD Anderson, you¡¯re considered a survivor from the day of your cancer diagnosis. And after you¡¯ve completed primary cancer treatment, you transition to survivorship. Essentially, this is your life after cancer. And it includes specialized survivorship care.
Survivorship care is focused on maximizing your health and well-being after cancer. This includes assessing for any late cancer recurrence as well as managing and reducing late or long-term side effects.
Whether you get that care at one of our survivorship clinics or with your primary care physician (PCP) back home, we are here to support you through that transition and beyond. Here, I¡¯ll share questions to ask your oncologist and the clinician who will be taking on your survivorship care.?
Questions to ask your oncologist
Here are some questions that would be helpful to ask your oncologist before starting survivorship care.
When will I transition to survivorship care?
Generally speaking, you will move to survivorship care once you¡¯ve completed primary cancer treatment. This treatment may include surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy.
The actual timing of transitioning to survivorship care differs based on your risk for cancer recurrence and risk for later side effects of treatment. So, patients with a lower risk of their cancer coming back may transition to survivorship care sooner than patients who have a primary disease that¡¯s more difficult to treat.
We use evidence-based cancer survivorship algorithms to help us determine who is eligible for transition to survivorship. So, we¡¯ll only recommend you move to survivorship care once you¡¯re absolutely ready.
Should I get my survivorship care here at MD Anderson or somewhere else?
This is often a personal decision and depends on access to recommended survivorship care.
Many survivors will choose to continue getting their care at MD Anderson through one of our survivorship clinics. But if you can receive the recommended survivorship care closer to home, you may opt to see a local PCP for survivorship. Wherever you decide to get your survivorship care, you¡¯ll need a PCP to assess and manage general health conditions.?
Our goal is to make sure all of our patients receive survivorship care. To do that, we provide all survivors with a:
- Treatment summary: This highlights the types of treatment you received, such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy or surgery.
- Care plan: Your care plan provides recommendations for screening and follow-up care based on the treatments you received. For example, some patients who receive chemotherapy face an increased risk of heart problems, so they may need an echocardiogram every few years. And some patients who receive radiation therapy have an increased risk of developing other cancers, so they may need screenings for breast cancer or colorectal cancer more frequently than what is recommended for the general population.
I strongly believe that many patients can receive outstanding survivorship care with their PCP. They¡¯re equipped to care for patients with complicated medical histories and many chronic health conditions.
However, they may not be as knowledgeable about cancer-specific treatment risks. That¡¯s why the treatment summary and care plan are so important.
We also lead several continuing education programs for PCPs on how to best care for cancer survivors. And we¡¯ve just launched a Survivorship Education Certificate for clinicians who want to learn how to provide the best care to cancer survivors.??
Will I still be able to communicate with my care team at MD Anderson if I¡¯m getting survivorship care somewhere else?
At MD Anderson, we care deeply about all of our patients. Survivorship is no different. You can still send your care team messages through , and they can answer your questions.?
Your PCP can also reach out to our survivorship team for specific questions related to your care. And if your cancer ever comes back or you develop a new health issue that requires the attention of an oncologist, our survivorship team can connect you with a doctor at MD Anderson.