Cathy Nobil-Dutton
Jan 15, 20213 min
The “process” of having cancer and dealing with the
treatment, side effects and outcomes of it has many
distinct phases and each one poses its own set of
challenges for the person who has cancer and for the
caregivers and support people around them. There is
the diagnosis, which involves tests and choosing
doctors, the actual treatment itself, and the post
treatment or what many people think of as the point
when a person becomes a survivor. In actuality though,
a person becomes a “survivor” the day they are actually
diagnosed with cancer. You are “surviving” cancer the
minute after you are diagnosed, although many people
don’t view themselves as survivors until after the
treatment is over.
It seems to me that there is a distinct shift in a person’s
view of themselves during treatment and after
treatment. Often times, my first contact with a client is
at the time when they are completing active treatment
and moving into the post treatment phase. At this point
in time, the challenges seem to shift more from the
physical to the emotional.
THE WARRIOR PHASE
This phase of treatment conjures up all sorts of terms
that describe wars and battles. Information is being
given about what treatments are recommended and
how they are going to affect the body. We are required
to gear up for the battle that is taking place with surgery
to remove tumors and place ports. Then the
chemotherapy and radiation is administered and the
body has to deal with the side effects of all of the
treatment. Our bodies are presented daily with the
physical challenges created as a result of the efforts to
rid our bodies of cancer. The issues can be minor or
monumental, but every day we are faced with being in
the trenches of the battle and we have to be warriors.
We have to gear up for the next battle of the assault on
the body. During this phase, we are operating more in a
moment to moment mind set. What is going to happen
today? What will I have to encounter? Blood work?
Scans? Needles? My Hair? There simply isn’t a whole lot
of time to think about things like “what does all of this
mean to me?” Your mind stays vigilant on the task at
hand, it can’t afford to shift energy to anything else.
Soldiers in combat are required to stay focused!
THE SURVIVOR PHASE
After treatment is finished and the doctor tells you to go
home and start to resume your life again, you are no
longer required to be in battle mode. Often, this can be
the time when all of the gravity and reality of what has
occurred comes rushing at us and it seems like too
much to bear. It is a very emotional time for people.
There is an opportunity to evaluate and feel the
magnitude of everything that has happened and it can
actually feel similar to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD) in people who have been in war. This is often
the time for tears, for fears and many will say they feel
depressed. Depression is confusing for people because
they think, “ my treatment is over, I should be happy so
why am I crying NOW?” I think that the early phase of
post treatment survivorship is a critical one for people.
We have an opportunity for tremendous growth if we
allow ourselves the time to evaluate all that has
happened and how it has affected us. We need time to
mourn the losses, appreciate the battle and what it has
taken AND given to us and to look within and honor our
experiences and how amazing we are as human beings.
It is important to understand that for many survivors,
this time of intense emotion is normal and critical in
order to move forward. It may even be helpful to let
patients know that they may experience these feelings
when treatment is ending. If it is normalized, perhaps it
would be easier for people to cope.
#CancerTreatment #CancerRecovery #Warrior #Survivor #PTSD #Progress #Growth