Coping With Cancer Remission

Entering the remission state after extensive treatments and surgeries is the best news that a cancer patient could receive. However, the cancer patient might worry about any recurrence that may or may not occur. No matter what his/her thoughts are about remission, it's important that the cancer patient remains positive even after treatment because fearing that the cancer might return will just stress him/her.

I know it's difficult not asking yourself, "What if the cancer comes back?" Sometimes, I would ask myself that question too, but then I realized that I did not want to live the rest of my life wondering or being afraid that the cancer might return. I told myself that the cancer was gone and that it would never come back; I told myself that I had won the battle. I wanted to move on with my life, and leave behind the past...and I did.

After six months of being in remission, my oncologist told me that all of my blood counts were finally back to normal, and he suggested that I find something to do instead of staying at home all day. He said that I should find a job, something that it's not too stressful. He was right. I could not stay at home watching television all day.

Soon after, I found a job at a bakery near my house. It was not stressful at all; I worked a couple of hours per day (not every day), taking care of the customers and keeping the counters clean. It was an easy job for me and it slowly helped me to gain "most" of my strength back. The reason I said "most" is because after treatments, a cancer patient is not the same. He/she will eventually get his/her strength back, but not all of it. To this day, I am not as strong as I used to be before I was diagnosed with cancer. Also, I get tired easily, but that does not stop me from pursuing my goals.

Two months after I started working, I applied to a community college and I became a part-time student. I was not ready to start school full-time yet. There were still a couple of surgeries that my oncologist wanted me to get and I felt that being a full-time student would interfere with the upcoming procedures. By the end of that year, however, I was taking 12 credits. 

Although it took me a while to get back on track, I was able to succeed. I took each day step by step, and now I am exactly where I want to be...still cancer free. If I were able to do it, anybody else can do it too. All a cancer patient or cancer survivor needs is determination, positive thoughts, and belief.

For more tips read How to Cope During Cancer Remission by eHow.