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CancerResource: When Your Cancer Treatment is Over
- Rediscovering the Joy of Eating
- Maintaining a Healthful Lifestyle
- Job-Related Issues
- The Emotional Impact of Cancer Survival
Rediscovering the Joy of Eating
As cancer treatment ends, your appetite and interest in food should start to come back. At first, you may wish to eat five small meals per day, rather than three larger ones. For example, whole grain cereal, lowfat milk and a sliced banana may be all you can manage first thing in the morning. A snack of toast, peanut butter and chilled orange juice may be appealing midmorning.
Add favorite foods that you enjoyed prior to treatment to your meals and snacks. For instance, enjoy a slice of apple pie as an evening snack. Buy ruby red strawberries and slice them over a bowl of cereal or yogurt. Enjoy fresh salmon? Look for sales and bake the salmon with a bit of olive oil or poach with chopped fresh herbs.
Remember, nutritious foods can be tasty foods. Be creative in your food choices, or ask a friend or relative for some appealing suggestions.
If you drink nutritional supplements for the extra calories and nutrients, try to prepare them in a creative way. For instance, serve the drink chilled in a favorite glass or mug. Blend it with fresh or canned fruit and add a scoop of lowfat frozen yogurt. To a vanilla-flavored supplement, blend a ripe peach and some peach flavored reduced-fat ice cream, or add pineapple juice and a few drops of coconut extract for a piña colada-flavored treat.
If you are concerned that you will eat too much and gain undesired weight, then monitor your weight weekly. If you are taking an ongoing medication that can lead to weight gain, be careful to select nutritious, low-calorie foods. Discuss any weight gain or weight loss concerns with your physician and registered dietitian, both during and after treatment.
What about vitamin and mineral supplements? First, try to eat a variety of foods to get the nutrients your body needs. There is no scientific evidence that dietary supplements or herbal products can cure cancer or prevent it from coming back. Speak with your doctor before taking any supplements on your own. In general, if you add a supplement, choose one that contains no more than 100 percent of the Daily Value of vitamins and minerals in a daily dose.
If you have questions about how to proceed to satisfy your nutritional requirements, contact a registered dietitian through your hospital or your physician.
You may also want to call or email the AICR Nutrition Hotline to have your questions on diet, nutrition and cancer answered by registered dietitians. Keep in mind that the dietitians cannot give medical advice. You can reach AICR, toll-free, at 1-800-843-8114, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. EST, Monday-Friday.
Maintaining a Healthful Lifestyle
Sometimes a diagnosis of cancer leads to a reexamination of lifestyle habits, including diet and exercise, in order to improve the quality of life. Healthier lifestyle practices, along with the assistance of family, friends and outside support groups, can make the coping process easier. It can also increase your feeling of well-being.
During cancer treatment, it is important to make your body stronger. Inadequate nutrition, excessive drinking, smoking, and not getting enough rest make it more difficult for your body's immune system to fight the disease. This makes it harder for your body to handle cancer treatment and to recover after treatment.
Once your treatment is over, it would seem prudent to try the following action steps developed by the American Institute for Cancer Research. AICR recommends these six guidelines to decrease the risk of cancer. They will also help decrease risk of recurrence.
- Be as lean as possible without becoming underweight.
- Be physically active for at least 30 minutes every day.
- Avoid sugary drinks. Limit consumption of energy-dense foods (particularly processed foods high in added sugar, or low in fiber, or high in fat).
- Eat more of a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes such as beans.
- Limit consumption of red meats (such as beef, pork and lamb) and avoid processed meats.
- If consumed at all, limit alcoholic drinks to 2 for men and 1 for women a day.
- Limit consumption of salty foods and foods processed with salt (sodium).
- Don't use supplements to protect against cancer.
- It is best for mothers to breastfeed exclusively for up to 6 months and then add other liquids and foods.
- After treatment, cancer survivors should follow the recommendations for cancer prevention.
And always remember – do not smoke or chew tobacco.
Eating nutritiously and following the AICR diet and health guidelines above will not only help you return to good health after cancer treatment, but will also help reduce your risk of other diseases, like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
"How will I be treated by my coworkers?"
Having cancer can affect your job situation in various ways. You may need to take some time off or change jobs, or limit your work hours during treatment. Most employers want to retain good workers and will rearrange your work schedule to fit your needs. If you feel well enough to work during treatment, then you should go ahead and work.
If you’ve been away from your job for awhile, going back to work can be an important, but stressful, milestone. Coworkers may be uncomfortable about how they should act around you; some may be overly solicitous, while others may avoid you. Some may even think, mistakenly, that cancer is contagious.
Plan to deal openly about your cancer in a way that feels most comfortable to you. If your coworkers' attitudes are making it hard for you to work, try to resolve the situation informally with the people involved. If that doesn’t work, your manager or employee relations department may be able to help.
If you feel that your employer has unfairly discharged you or changed your work assignments, hours, salary, or benefits, or has limited your opportunities or responsibilities because of the cancer, you may be protected by law. Laws in many states, as well as the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, can be invoked to prevent discrimination.
For information and assistance, call the Department of Justice's American with Disabilities Act Information Line at 1-800-514-0301or the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission at (800) 669-EEOC.
The Emotional Impact of Cancer Survival
Cancer has a tremendous impact on a person’s life. Psychological and emotional challenges face cancer patients, as well as cancer survivors.
You may experience various emotions as you return to life after treatment. For example, you may feel upset or anxious when treatment is over, especially if you have been treated regularly for a lengthy period of time. Fear of recurrence is common, and the anniversary of the diagnosis can be emotional. You may wish to have family or friends close by at that time.
Keep in mind that millions of Americans have been successfully treated for cancer and have gone on to enjoy full and rewarding lives. Yet, for many, there is not just the physical recovery from cancer treatment to contend with, but the emotional recovery that having cancer can place on a person. Today, there are numerous support groups available that work not only with cancer patients, but with cancer survivors, to help them return to a normal, fulfilling life.
See General Cancer Resources, and Support Groups for organizations that provide emotional support for cancer survivors.
