Facing Cancer Recurrence, PTSD & Acknowledging Mental Health

Posted by Merry, Volunteer Mentor @merpreb, Dec 6, 2018

It's extremely difficult to face the fact of recurring cancers. After treatments we try and get away from it all and live our life. Then along comes another CT scan or PET scan and POW, you have to face another cancer. My reaction was developing PTSD.

You can read what I wrote in my blog: https://my20yearscancer.com/blog/
How do we cope? How do we react? What do we do?
How have you all reacted to another cancer? Or the possibility of another one? Has your "already compromised" mental health been able to deal with it? How? Or not?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Cancer: Managing Symptoms Support Group.

@margaret2

I am sure there are groups around but I don't know how to find them.
I will need to be more proactive. Thank you for responding.

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Margaret, can you ask your oncologist if they have a cancer coordinator and if not if they know of any support groups? Ours had information for our hospital group, but also provided information from other medical centers that had support groups and classes. Also, when I went for radiation that office also had information for support groups, yoga, etc.

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@colleenyoung

@julie1976, wow. Not sure how else to respond. I simply cannot imagine dealing with what you are managing so incredibly well. To think that radiation to treat childhood NHL can cause so many very serious multiple cancers and other conditions. But yours is not an isolated case. I will look for others who had mantle field radiation for non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Luckily this type of radiation treatment is rarely, if ever, used today.

I applaud your ability to remain a positive person and to be such a strong self-advocate. You know your body. We have a group of artists here on Connect who share about art and healing. I think you might like to also join this discussion:
> Just Want to Talk group > Art for Healing > https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/art-for-healing/

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@colleenyoung thank you so much! I doubt it matters but mine was hodgkins not non-hodgkins. I think mantle radiation in that time frame had the same affect on everyone. When I read this "How do we cope? How do we react? What do we do?
How have you all reacted to another cancer? Or the possibility of another one? Has your “already compromised” mental health been able to deal with it? How? Or not?" I just had to respond. It is scary...holding your breath at every test result...letting your mind wander into the "what if" area. Quite honestly I know that it will happen. If this much has happened already I don't see how it will be over for the rest of my life. Remember the show Doctor? I am that patient! lol But I am happy 🙂 Happy I'm here. Any one of those things could have killed me.
Now I am in recovery and my art has helped me. I'll check that out .Thank you for the link

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Hi all,
Today's member spotlight features @merpreb who most of you have met in this discussion group. Read Merry's interview with fellow member John Bishop to find out what surprised her about Connect and how she finds balance in life. Puppies or kittens?

– A Survivor: Meet @merpreb https://connect.mayoclinic.org/page/about-connect/newsfeed/a-survivor-meet-merpreb/

Check out all the Member Spotlights here https://connect.mayoclinic.org/page/about-connect/tab/newsfeed/

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@cherlea

I was diagnosed 21 years ago at age 41 with DCIS non-invasive had a lumpectomy and radiation of my right breast last month I started experiencing breast discharge and a biopsy was done of my left breast duct and it was positive for DCIS non-invasive. I've made the decision to have a double mastectomy. I'm feeling very depressed about the fact that my cancer came back, I'm grateful that I had 21 years before reoccurrence, and its a early cancer, but it's still hard to cope with. I was tested for the 25 genetic mutations back in 2014 and didn't test positive for any I heard there's 47 now out there and I'm going to be retested.

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@cherlea Hi 🙂 Am I understanding this correctly.....you had a double mastectomy and have had cancer come back?

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@margaret2

I am sure there are groups around but I don't know how to find them.
I will need to be more proactive. Thank you for responding.

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To find groups on Connect, go the Groups Directory https://connect.mayoclinic.org/groups/
I've uploaded 2 images to show how to find the Groups Directory in the menu on a computer or mobile device. You can search for groups using the search or sort them alphabetically etc.

Learn more about how to follow and unfollow groups and more in the Get Started on Connect guide: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/get-started-on-connect/

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Good morning to @merpreb and the rest of us who have experienced recurrence of our cancer diagnosis.

This morning I read this Mayo article on Managing Your Emotions After Cancer Treatment and felt that many of the ideas were worth sharing. Here is the link to the article,
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/in-depth/cancer-survivor/art-20047129

For me, the paragraph titled, "Fear of recurrence is common in cancer survivors." was most helpful and I thought about others on Connect. The suggestions included being honest about your fears, talking about them, healthy lifestyle habits of nutrition and exercise. As I thought about myself, after three cancer surgeries, I realized that the following have helped me deal with my fears. Here are some examples: I attend support groups with other cancer survivors, I've also joined exercise programs intended to be gentle (not vigorously aerobic), I've worked to plan nutritious eating.

I look forward to hearing from you. What do you do to keep your fear at bay? How do you deal with the normal fears of another recurrence happening?

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@hopeful33250

Good morning to @merpreb and the rest of us who have experienced recurrence of our cancer diagnosis.

This morning I read this Mayo article on Managing Your Emotions After Cancer Treatment and felt that many of the ideas were worth sharing. Here is the link to the article,
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/in-depth/cancer-survivor/art-20047129

For me, the paragraph titled, "Fear of recurrence is common in cancer survivors." was most helpful and I thought about others on Connect. The suggestions included being honest about your fears, talking about them, healthy lifestyle habits of nutrition and exercise. As I thought about myself, after three cancer surgeries, I realized that the following have helped me deal with my fears. Here are some examples: I attend support groups with other cancer survivors, I've also joined exercise programs intended to be gentle (not vigorously aerobic), I've worked to plan nutritious eating.

I look forward to hearing from you. What do you do to keep your fear at bay? How do you deal with the normal fears of another recurrence happening?

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Good morning @hopeful33250. Good morning everyone! What a wonderful article about cancer recurrences. Thank you so much.
My most feared fear is that I would die from my next cancer, that there would be no treatments anymore for me. My feelings are that I wouldn't know what to do. I would be lost. I mean how do you die? How does anyone? What do I do to prepare from this eventuality. I'll be lost. My parents never taught me a thing about dying. The way I handle this - with no guarantee of a solution - is that I let these fears repeat themselves enough that they literally wear themselves out over time. I think dying is a major fear because we haven't a clue what it's all about after we actually die. Is there another type of existence after we die? Will a higher power greet me? Or is death the same thing as before we are born and therefore we will only have existed in people's memories? As you can see, I haven't resolved this yet. I hope that I do but I might not.

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I appreciate your sharing your fear with us, @merpreb. Probably many of us have that fear of death as well.

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@merpreb

Good morning @hopeful33250. Good morning everyone! What a wonderful article about cancer recurrences. Thank you so much.
My most feared fear is that I would die from my next cancer, that there would be no treatments anymore for me. My feelings are that I wouldn't know what to do. I would be lost. I mean how do you die? How does anyone? What do I do to prepare from this eventuality. I'll be lost. My parents never taught me a thing about dying. The way I handle this - with no guarantee of a solution - is that I let these fears repeat themselves enough that they literally wear themselves out over time. I think dying is a major fear because we haven't a clue what it's all about after we actually die. Is there another type of existence after we die? Will a higher power greet me? Or is death the same thing as before we are born and therefore we will only have existed in people's memories? As you can see, I haven't resolved this yet. I hope that I do but I might not.

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I think as we get older we all think about dying whether we are sick or healthy. I think about it now but it’s not being afraid it’s about missing my family will they be ok. But then these are human emotions because we on earth know what it’s like to miss someone. As for after death that all comes down to faith and what we believe. I had a religious upbringing and I believe with all my heart. That I will see my family someday and be with the Lord even tho it can’t be proven to me. It’s all in the heart and what we believe. We will all find out someday but I am
Not afraid. Stay safe and keep the faith.

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