Survivorship

 

Survivorship has become a hot topic in the cancer world.  So what exactly is it all about?  Survivorship is different for each individual cancer survivor.  For some, it is adjusting to the “new normal” once treatments are completed.  For others, it can mean getting back to life as it was before cancer. One important part of survivorship is coping with the diagnosis of cancer and all the changes that have occurred physically, emotionally, and/or spiritually.

I had a wonderful support system during my cancer journey.  There was always someone there with me.  I never had to face any of it alone.  My mother was my biggest support.  I know that I was fortunate and not everyone has this kind of support.  However, even though I had such great support, I still found difficulties in my transition from cancer patient to cancer survivor.  My journey changed my life completely. It affected every aspect of my life.  I was different physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  I had to find my “new normal”.  Since then, I have found journaling to be helpful.  I wish I had written down my thoughts and feelings and things that happened when they actually happened.  I recently attended a workshop at The Writer’s Colony at Dairy Hollow in Eureka Springs, AR.  The workshop was titled “Survivors Getting Stronger”.  I had the privilege of spending the day with other survivors and sharing our stories with each other.  We laughed, we cried, and we wrote.  Below is a piece of what I wrote that day…

Bad Hair Day

I got up out of bed and headed for the shower. I had another full day of treatments. I was in the shower washing my hair, when I realized that my hair was starting to come out in my hands.  My heart sank and I felt the tears begin to stream down my cheeks.  There was so much hair falling out.  I couldn't stop myself from running my hands through my hair over and over again. I thought to myself, I'm going to be bald if I don't stop.  I knew this day was coming, so I was surprised at my emotional reaction.  To my surprise, when I got out of the shower and looked in the mirror, I wasn't bald. I couldn't even tell that my hair was coming out by looking, but I could sure feel it. My scalp hurt.  It felt like I had my hair up in a super tight ponytail all day and had just let it down, only a hundred times worse. I finished up in the bathroom and headed to the bedroom to get dressed. I was sitting on the bed trying to muster up the energy to get my clothes on, taking a shower had sucked up what little energy I had started the day with.  My mom got there to pick me up. She came in to my bedroom and began helping me dress. I reached up and touch my hair.  As I pulled my hand away from my head, the hair came with it.  My mom just looked at me and assured me that it would be ok.  She was so positive and encouraging. A few days later, we were once again heading to treatment.  I had a radiation treatment at 9 in the morning. It was late summer, so the mornings were humid but mild. We had the windows rolled down enjoying the morning breeze.  I caught a glimpse of something from the corner of my eye in the window.  I turned to see what it was.  I started yelling for my mom to stop the car as I frantically tried to get the window rolled up.  The car came to a stop and my mom was repeating “What's wrong? Are you ok?”  I calmed myself long enough to say, “My hair is blowing out the window!”  We just looked at each other for a moment and then we started to laugh.  We laughed and laughed until we were crying.  

Christy Scarrow, LSW

 

National Cancer Survivors Day® is coming up on June 2nd.  Christy Scarrow is a Licensed Social Worker and the Manager of Patient Services at Hope Cancer Resources and is a Cancer Survivor.

After Treatment: What does it mean to be a Survivor?

According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the number of cancer survivors in the United States increased to 11.7 million in 2007. To put that in perspective - consider the fact that there were 3 million cancer survivors in 1971 and 9.8 million in 2001. Since 1999, the rate of cancer in the U.S. has dropped .5 percent each year. The death rate of adult cancer patients has also annually dropped by about 1.5 percent since that year, according to the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status on Cancer, 1975-2008.

More good news that accompanies those numbers... Study findings indicate:

• Breast cancer survivors are the largest group of cancer survivors (22 percent), followed by prostate cancer survivors (19 percent) and colorectal cancer survivors (10 percent).
• Among all survivors, 4.7 million received their diagnosis 10 or more years earlier.

All three of those of those cancers in the first bullet point are able to be found with a cancer screening. What this information tells us is that those screenings we keep encouraging you to have are working. And not only are people surviving - they're surviving longer, which can be attributed to increasingly effective treatments. Those treatments are discovered through research trials - valuable, but under-utilized tools in the fight to rid our world of cancer.


Of course, more survivors mean an increasing need for support after the battle. Survivors often deal with long-lasting effects of their treatments that can be uncomfortable, annoying, or even physically debilitating. When a patient and their family is in the middle of their treatment, it's hard to think past what they are doing right then, so the work that comes after - staying healthy, recovering and maintaining pre-cancer activity levels, and learning to accept the limitations that they may have to live with - is often nothing they want to discuss or even consider.

Support groups and information focused on survivorship are in demand more and more by patients and their families. We work to meet that demand in the support groups we facilitate and also with our licensed Social Workers on staff. They work with individuals to determine specific emotional needs, and find sources of information and support to make sure that transitioning into the new life post-cancer treatment is as smooth as possible. If you or someone you know needs some assistance and information about being a cancer survivor please contact us at 479-361-5847.

More information about cancer survivorship can be found on these websites:

• National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has information, podcasts, and even the ability to send an e-card here.
• The National Cancer Institute lots of information grouped by survivorship topic here and a long list of publications and resources here. 
• American Cancer Society covers a lot of information about being healthy survivors here.

Some of the information in this posting was found in this press release on the National Cancer Institute website.