When cancer treatment ends, a new chapter begins. In this month’s Teal Talk, MOCA Community Support Program Manager Stefanie Gliniany shares some insight about dealing with challenges after treatment.
Some survivors will continue life with few or no health problems after cancer treatments. Others may have ongoing challenges. When it comes to long-term side effects, everyone is different.
It’s important to develop a survivorship care plan with your doctor and talk about what late effects you might expect. Some questions to ask your healthcare team are:
- Am I at risk for specific side-effects from treatment?
- What are the signs or symptoms of late effects that I should watch for?
- Is there anything I can do to prevent long-term side effects?
- Are there any screening tests (test for hearing loss, osteoporosis, heart problems, etc.) that they would recommend?
Many survivors find that talking with others who’ve been through a similar experience is helpful. Learning relaxation and stress management techniques such as meditating, deep breathing, or yoga are other ways to cope with side effects.
Here are a couple resources that share other ways to help manage late effects that may occur after treatment.
American Cancer Society: After Treatment of Ovarian Cancer
If you have additional questions or need support, please reach out to me at sgliniany@mnovarian.org.
