[Narrator]

The same factors that make cancer treatments so good at destroying cancer cells can be not-so-good, and sometimes quite damaging, to normal, healthy cells. You may have experienced some of the consequences of this kind of damage. For example, it's not uncommon for chemotherapy or radiation therapy to damage normal cells lining the throat, stomach, and bowels. This damage can result in side effects, like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or constipation. Hair follicles damaged by cancer treatment may stop producing hair, resulting in hair loss and baldness, and possibly the loss of your eyelashes and eyebrows. Parts of your body that normally make different kinds of blood cells may be harmed by cancer or cancer treatment. If this happens, your body makes fewer blood cells, and you may become pale and weak with a condition called anemia, or you may bruise easily, or catch infections. These kinds of side effects occur most often, and are most noticeable, while you are still receiving treatment. 

But now that you're done with your treatment, you probably have a lot of questions. As your hair grows back, will everything else start returning to normal, too? Or, does it take time to recover from the physical consequences of cancer and its treatment? How soon can you put this all behind you and start feeling like "your old self" again? And, does this recovery process ever end?

This first section of our program will focus on what happens to your body after you finish your initial course of treatment, how you recover physically, and what you may need to know about keeping track of your health in the months and years after cancer. We'll begin with the first months after the completion of treatment. This period of time is sometimes called the "extended stage of survival." Then, we'll talk about the years that will hopefully follow, which is sometimes called the "permanent stage of survival."

[Linda]

The extended stage of survival starts when you complete your first course of treatment and lasts for approximately 1 to 3 years. This is an intermediate or transitional time, when survivors walk a fine line between the land of the "sick" and that of the "well." In this stage, you may not feel quite like a "patient" anymore because you are no longer being treated for cancer. But, you may not feel safe enough or confident enough to call yourself a "survivor." The medical world calls this time "remission," when the cancer appears to be totally gone. Some survivors who have a high risk for the disease coming back may continue to take some form of medicine, called maintenance therapy, during remission.

Many survivors describe their feelings during remission in a number of ways, such as: feeling untethered or not being anchored; being in limbo; living in a constant state of "watchful waiting"; or feeling anxious and fearful about the cancer coming back—will it happen again?

Some healthcare professionals and cancer survivors call this "neutral time," that is, a period of remission when you may feel uncertain and may worry a lot about your health. That's completely understandable. In the first place, you can't be sure that the cancer really is gone. And then you may not feel sure about how to look for hints or signs that the cancer may be returning. This uncertainty can be very stressful, especially since it comes at a time when many survivors expect, or at least hope, to feel only relief and joy once their treatments are finally over.

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