When you have finished your cancer treatment plan what do you do? Treatment plans vary person to person but there are things that are the same for everyone, there is always a start and a stop to the treatment. When you are done with the treatments the effects of the treatments and the cancer diagnosis just don’t stop.
You will have decreased energy for quite a while. You will slowly start feeling back to normal but it does take a while. Do not think that you will wake up after the treatments are done and all of a sudden be 100 % of how you were before your diagnosis. Ask your oncologist about vitamins and other things you can do to help get your energy level up. They may recommend you meet with a dietician and learn how and what to eat post-diagnosis.
You will be followed for quite a while very closely by your oncologist. For breast cancer you see your oncologist every 3 months for the first 3 years. At year 4 you will move to every 6 months and at 5 years you switch to once a year. When you go to the oncologist for your check up you will have blood drawn to check your white blood counts and do a complete blood draw, they will also check your tumor markers. You will then be asked to fill out a survey to see if you have any other changes in your health since your last visit. You will go through a physical exam with your oncologist as well. If there is nothing seen on your blood test or your physical exam then you will just be set for a future appointment. If they do some find something they would like to check out a little more than they will send you for a CT, MRI, or X-rays depending on what they have found.
My cancer center allows me to go in the day before my appointment and get my labs drawn so when I go to the appointment my doctor will know if there is anything that I need to be concerned about. I start getting worried before every appointment; it is something that just does not go away because you are done treatment. It is so helpful to cut down the waiting and anxiety by having my labs done like this it is one less day to be worried. I also try not to set my appointments on Monday’s, my reason for this is I don’t want to think about it all weekend and ruin my weekend.