Coping with fear and anxiety

'I do think about cancer coming back. I almost wish it would happen, sooner rather than later, so I can deal with it. But I have to take things one step at a time.'
Toral

Nearly everyone who has been treated for cancer has doubts about whether the disease might come back. At first every ache or pain can frighten you. But, as time passes, you may come to accept minor symptoms for what they are in most cases – warning signs of a cold or flu or the result of over-exerting yourself.

Knowing how to continue to be breast aware after treatment and what symptoms need to be reported can help manage your feelings of unease.

Some events may prove particularly stressful – the days or weeks leading up to your check-ups, the discovery that a friend or relative has been diagnosed with cancer, or the news that someone you met while having treatment is ill again or has died.

We all cope with such anxieties in our own way, and there are no easy answers. But keeping quiet about them and not wanting to bother anyone, is probably not the best approach.

Just as talking about your diagnosis and treatment may have helped you through the early days, talking about your fears relating to recurrence may help you later on.