I finished my official cancer treatments on October 6th, the day after I did the Run for the Cure. I am still taking hormone treatment for the next 10 years (yes, 10 years!!) but the official, go to the hospital, major side effects treatments are done! It was a weird mix of emotions, happy, excited, yet nervous and unsure what to do next. My life for the past 10 months was focussed on doctors appointments and waiting for the next treatment or appointment, others telling me where I had to be and when and everything else revolved around that, but now I have to figure out how to get back to my “regular life”. Other women who have had cancer and finished their treatments told me they had the same feelings, some just a general unsettled feeling, others became very depressed. So far I’m still just feeling unsettled, many days I feel like I’m forgetting something like I should still be going to the Tom Baker and am missing something. Hopefully that will go away but after going there every single day for a month I guess it is a natural feeling.
Fortunately the wonderful resources at the Tom Baker (and I’m assuming other cancer centres across the country) do extend to helping with the transition back to regular life. Throughout this blog I will mention the amazing resources and assistance available in Canada for those dealing with cancer. So far I have only attended the transition post-treatment session but there are also other education sessions both at Tom Baker and other organizations like Wellspring, books at the library at the hospital and access to therapists if needed.
The side effects from cancer treatments can also last for a long time after treatment is done. I still have a number of them, some still from chemotherapy which I finished in May, some from surgery and radiation. I won’t get into them on this post, but I mention it here as it is not just the emotional effects that occur at the end of treatment but the physical ones are still lingering.
Anyways, I guess time will tell how I will feel about everything going forward. As one friend told me, it is just now that I have the time to really deal with and understand what I’ve gone through because I have been focussed on making it through treatment, and that I need to cut myself some slack and take the time to absorb what has happened. Most people call it a journey, which it is, and it is one I’m not done with yet, even though I am technically done with treatments. So the journey continues, wonder where it will lead?
My Cancer Survival Guide 