Healthy Living After Cancer: Staying Well in Body and Mind

Everyone’s experience of cancer is different, but for everyone who has had it, taking care of both physical and emotional health during and after treatment matters. Cancer survivors who shared their stories with CDC describe the life after treatment as a “new normal” — something to accept for what it is, while still looking ahead.

Mark, Xenia, Wenora and Ana Maria share advice for other cancer survivors. CDC.

Lowering the chance of cancer returning

People who have had cancer are more likely to get cancer again than people who have not. Two things help:

• Follow-up care. After treatment, your doctor may recommend future checkups or tests. Follow those instructions — they can catch early signs of a new cancer or the same one returning.
• Healthy choices. Among the best things you can do are avoiding tobacco, protecting your skin from too much sun, and keeping a healthy weight.

Physical health

Regaining strength takes time. One survivor, diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma at 26, recalled struggling months after remission to lift an empty bar at the gym or walk on a treadmill for two minutes — and learning to take small steps to get better. Three areas matter for everyone who has or has had cancer:

• Eating well. It may not be easy after cancer, but a healthy diet can help you feel better, regain strength and energy, and lower your risk of serious health problems.
• Staying active. Keeping a healthy weight and staying physically active may lower the chance of cancer coming back. Start small and work up to 30 minutes of movement a day.
• Sleeping well. Many people with cancer have trouble sleeping, and healthy sleep habits can help.

Emotional health

After treatment you may need time to recover, restore your mental health and work through your emotions. It is normal to feel relief, gratitude and excitement alongside worry or sadness. A survivor who had a radical hysterectomy for uterine cancer at 34 described feeling more alone and lost than ever before — and finding a new normal through counseling and young-adult support organizations.

• There is no “right” way to feel. Anger, tension and sadness after treatment are normal.
• Every feeling is real and valid, even if it is uncomfortable to talk about. It is okay to reach out for help.
• Talk with the people you love. It can be hard, but sharing how you feel and accepting help matter.

CDC also offers an interactive “Talk to Someone” simulation in which a survivor gives advice on alcohol, tobacco, physical activity, nutrition, anxiety and distress.

Sources

Based on "Healthy Living After Cancer," Cancer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain, with survivors’ remarks rewritten in hubnx’s own words.

• The film is the agency's own low-resolution copy, recovered from the Internet Archive's record of cdc.gov.