[ Music ]
>> Hello, I'm Dr. Tanya Echols-Cole,
and I'm an oncologist.
Today I'm talking to Mari Brick a breast cancer survivor.
Once cancer treatment is completed,
patients may experience a range of feelings from a sense
of relief to anxiety and worry about life after treatment.
Mari is here to talk about what it was like for her to adjust
to life after cancer treatment.
Mari, how did you feel emotionally and physically
after completing cancer treatment, and what was it
like for you to adjust to what some patients call your
new normal?
>> Well, it took a little bit of adjustment in the beginning.
Because looking in the mirror I saw somebody completely
different from the person I'd seen for 48 years prior
to being diagnosed with cancer.
The other thing is that I felt
that my new normal was a lot different
from what was normal for me before cancer.
I every time I heard the word cancer
or saw the word cancer I thought about what I had gone through.
I thought about my diagnosis, I also thought that I needed
to prepare myself for the possibility
of reoccurrence somewhere in the future.
And so some of the things that I did were to collect research
and look online for the newest treatment and the newest studies
that came out so that I could share them
with my oncologist whenever I saw her and so
that I could just keep them by my side
in case I needed them ever again.
Some of the other things that were sort of like the new normal
for me were although my family was really supportive during my
treatment, it seems like after treatment everything sort
of went back to the way it was before.
And it wasn't like that for me.
Because I was always thinking
about cancer I was always thinking about what I needed
to do to prevent cancer.
And I don't know if my family was really thinking
about you know what I had gone through.
We don't really talk much about it so I'm not quite sure
if they think about it as much as I do.
But that's something that you know I often wonder.
Some of the other differences are that as part
of my experience, I'm different physically, mentally,
emotionally, and spiritually.
I've come to really appreciate some of the smaller things
in life and then just have a simple gratitude
for being present in the everyday moment.
>> Wow. Your new normal has really changed.
>> Dr. Cole, I have a question for you.
How have you seen post-treatment challenges affect your patience
and what can we do to make sure that we get the support we need
when treatment is over?
>> Well first of all, it's important
for survivors both before during and after treatment
to let your physicians
or healthcare providers know what emotional concerns
or needs that you have.
That way you are plugged into the system from the beginning
and you can have that support throughout your entire
treatment course.
It's common for cancer survivors to have fear
to experience fear especially during treatment.
You always have that fear of you know am I going
to have some side effects from treatment?
Am I going to die of my cancer?
And then after treatment is common for patients to feel
like you know is my cancer going to come back?
And you always want to make sure that you address those concerns
for a patient but we don't know unless you tell us.
So things that you can do, you can always optimize your health
by you know improving your diet, a healthy diet, exercise,
doing the appropriate follow-up care with all
of your physician team, because many survivors have more
than one physician that they are following with
and it's important for you to follow up with each physician.
In the last thing that I see patients struggle
with our side effects from treatment.
If you have got say lymphedema or you are having chronic pain
as a result of scarring or a side effect from your treatment,
you have to really talk with your physician about ways
that you can continue your normal routine but adapt
to the changes you need to make for those side effects
and get the appropriate treatments that are available
to help you manage the side effects more effectively.
>> That's really good to know.
And so what can providers do?
>> Well, providers can provide mental health screenings
and refer for appropriate to clinical or community settings
for counseling and support.
They can also make sure or teach survivors about nutrition,
proper exercise, getting enough sleep reducing high risk
behaviors such as smoking and excess drinking.
They can also make sure
that they are getting the appropriate screens
for say Pap smears or colonoscopies.
>> It's really good information for me to hear, thank you.
Doctors and nurses have a real opportunity to reduce the impact
of problems like these and help cancer survivors
like me live happy, healthier lives.
>> Doctors and nurses need to work with patients
to address the possible long-term
and late psychosocial effects of cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Provide coordinate care and promote healthy behaviors.
Conducting recommended distress screening
and urging cancer survivors to receive treatment
for psychosocial and neurocognitive concerns
when indicated is an important part of their care.
For access to healthcare provider training and resources
and information about the topics discussed,
please visit cdc.gov/cancer and cronicdisease dot org.