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Emotional health after cancer: How are you doing really?
Cancer: Managing Symptoms | Last Active: Oct 31 4:04pm | Replies (272)Comment receiving replies
Agree and I love the Mayo breast cancer team but it seems as if once you are started in treatment and you meet up regularly with your team things turn to routine. But not for we the patients! The attention I got initially has become less and less.
Replies to "Agree and I love the Mayo breast cancer team but it seems as if once you..."
@schindler I can relate to that little deflated feeling after being the focus of so much attention initially during treatments. But in reality, I’ve learned over my cancer journey that I’m in their sights, just not the immediate focus of a critically ill patient. Look at it as sort of a graduation. You are doing so well or progressing in your treatments that it HAS become routine because you are no longer in immediate crisis. Does that make sense? If you have a problem I know the team would be reorienting around you.
@schindler, it is true that the medical attention turns to routine follow-up after active treatment is complete. This leaves some people with a feeling of relief and others feeling abandoned (and possibly many other emotions in between). Emotional health can get lost in the fray.
Should you be looking for continued support or have unaddressed needs, I have a few suggestions for you:
1. Ask for a referral to a Mayo Clinic social worker specializing in cancer. Read more here (including the comments:
- How an Oncology Social Worker Can Help https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/cancer-education-center/newsfeed-post/how-an-oncology-social-worker-can-help/
2. Follow the Breast Cancer group and connect with other members for continued peer support
- Breast Cancer https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/breast-cancer/
3. Join the monthly breast cancer support group on Zoom https://connect.mayoclinic.org/event/breast-cancer-support-group/
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@schindler- I empathize. It can seem like this because, at first, we have tons of lab tests, treatments, scans, and whatever. We learn new vocabulary and meet new people and make life-changing and challenging decisions. It established what I needed, and how I needed to change my life. It gave me time to get used to it, ask and think about earthly questions concerning life and death and thinking the worst. Life was anything but stable.
I can understand if you aren't getting the attention that you need, or get treatments or have questions asked, but do you really want to go back to all of that stress? With cancer, we never know what's ahead of us (unless we do) so this might be a good time to revel in it before things change again. Does this make sense? I don't want to go back to that.