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For many people, the end of cancer treatment comes with complicated emotions. This chapter in your life can bring hope and happiness but also worry and fear. You might have questions about how to manage your health care, stay healthy, and adjust to changes in your routines.

No two people are alike, and everyone has their own way of coping. Adjusting to life after cancer takes time and practice.

Note: Here we discuss life after cancer when no ongoing or maintenance treatment is planned. If your treatment is ongoing, you can read more in Managing Cancer as a Chronic Illness.

Your social and emotional health after cancer treatment

Finishing cancer treatment can be both exciting and stressful. As a cancer survivor, you might find yourself facing many new concerns, including a fear of recurrence, changing relationships, and overwhelming feelings of sadness and anger.

Taking care of your social and emotional health is an important part of cancer survivorship.

Fear of recurrence

You might worry that your cancer could come back (cancer recurrence). You might also find yourself thinking more often about death and dying. Fear of recurrence is common among cancer survivors and can sometimes be quite intense.

Changes to your relationships, career, and family

Now that you’ve finished treatment, you might be more aware of the effect your cancer had on your family, friends, and career. You may take a new look at your relationships.

You may also find that going back to your role in the family isn’t as easy as you thought it would be. Things that you did before your cancer are now being done by others. Maybe they’re not willing to give those tasks back to you. Or maybe you disagree with how others have done things but are afraid to speak up.

Unexpected concerns

Unexpected issues might also come up. For example, you might be facing financial stress from missing work or paying medical bills. You might also see your cancer care team less often and have more time on your hands. Any of these things could make you anxious.

Returning to daily life

You’ve been seeing your cancer care team quite often. And now, suddenly you don’t have to visit for many months at a time. This can make worries set in.

After spending so much time actively fighting your cancer, it’s easy to feel like you are no longer doing enough. You might feel alone and lost without the support of your cancer care team. They may have become an important part of your life. Not seeing them as often could make you anxious and sad.

Staying positive

Recently, there has been more focus on the value of a positive attitude. Some people believe that having a positive attitude can stop cancer from growing or keep it from coming back. Right now, there is no research to fully support this. You can learn more in Do Feelings and Attitudes Have an Effect on Cancer?.

Managing strong emotions

For some people, emotions that were put aside during cancer treatment come flooding back all at once. You may feel overwhelmed with sadness, anger, or fear. Some of it may be the lingering side effects of treatment, but it may feel as if your body and spirit are tired and need a long rest. It’s been a long time since you could just relax.

All of these feelings make sense and are normal.

You’ve just been through a difficult time. You’ve had to make major life decisions. Your body has been through a lot because of cancer and treatment. Your outlook and your whole way of life have changed, at least for some time.

Facing these feelings and learning how to deal with them is important. Don’t expect everything to go back to the way it was before you were diagnosed. Give yourself, your family, and those around you time.

No matter what you are feeling right now, know that you’ll get through this. Just like it took time to adjust to life with cancer, you can learn to adjust to life after cancer.

Family concerns

After treatment, your family may expect you to jump back into the same roles you had before you were diagnosed. Your children may expect you to be able to do things you can’t yet do.

But you may still need time to recover.

Recovery from cancer treatment takes time. You might not bounce back as quickly as you planned, and that is okay. It’s important to take the time you need to heal.

Talk with your children and family about what’s happening and work on helping each other with these changes. If you aren’t comfortable bringing this up, or if you and your family need help figuring out how to move forward, talk with your cancer care team. They may refer you to a social worker or counselor who focuses on family issues.

Body image

Cancer treatment can change the way you look and feel.

You might have physical changes like hair loss, skin changes or new scars, ostomies, weight changes, or loss of limbs. Cancer and treatment might also cause changes to your sex organs, sexual health, fertility, or mental health. Some of the changes may be temporary, while others are permanent.

Any of this can impact the way you feel about yourself. It is common and normal to have these feelings.

The best thing you can do is talk to your cancer care team about your concerns. They can help you work on coping with these changes. They may recommend support services or refer you to specialists who can help.

Learning to live with uncertainty

For many people, adjusting to life after cancer means learning to live with uncertainty and the fear of recurrence.

You may notice that you’re paying a lot of attention to the aches and pains in your body. Even if your doctor says you have no signs of cancer now, you might find yourself wondering:

• Will my cancer come back?
• If so, when?
• What are the chances?
• How will I know if it has come back?
• What will I do if it does?

Fear can take over. You may have trouble sleeping, being close with your partner, or making simple decisions.

You are not alone.

Many people say that their fear of cancer returning decreases and they think less often about their cancer as time goes by. But even years after treatment, certain events may stir up this worry.

For example, you might worry more during events like:

• Follow-up visits or certain medical tests
• Anniversaries like the date you were diagnosed, had surgery, or ended treatment
• Birthdays
• The illness of a family member
• Learning that someone you know has cancer or has had a recurrence
• The death of someone who had cancer
• Having symptoms like the ones you had when you were first diagnosed
• New symptoms you don’t understand

Here are some ideas that have helped others deal with uncertainty and fear and feel more hopeful: