Cure magazine had a insert in their latest edition called “Surviving Well: When Treatment Ends, Surviving Begins”. They describe the Seasons of Survivorship as being.
- Transitional Survivorship – the first year or two after cancer treatment ends will be a period of adjustment. Transition is that time when what has happened to you becomes reality.
- Extended Survivorship - the New Survivors includes those who are living with cancer as a chronic disease as well as those in remission because of ongoing treatment. It is a time of watchful waiting with celebration and uncertainity.
- Permanent Survivorship is roughly equated with “the cure” but the person who has come through a cancer experience is indelibly affected by it. Although Mantel Cell Lymphoma is still noncurative it is a treatable disease that may be controlled for many years.
At this stage of my journey I am in Transitional Survivorship. The characteristics of this stage include:
Being cancer free but not free of cancer’s effects
*Anxiety about less medical follow-up (This really does not apply to me but I do feel at home when I return to Jewish Hospital, whether it be the clinic or PetScan office)
*Fear of recurrence (Yep, that is me at times)
*Sleep issues (then again I have always had sleep issues)
*Fatigue (Yep, I hit my recliner in the evening and the family has to pry me out)
*Chronic pain (My left hip is causing me pain and in some ways I think it is linked to my treatment. For five months I was unable to exercise as much as I had before. I think the muscles around this hip, which was replaced in 2004 have weakened. It only bothers me when I try to sleep).
*Difficulties with reintegration with family, friends and normal activities. (Somewhat ~ I find that many people do not know how to talk with me about my experience. Some people are overly concerned, others stare and walk away and some cover their discomfort with inappropriate jokes).
The article on Transitional Survivorship: Finding the New Normal, states that while transition has no standard timeframe researchers generally agree that the Transitional timeframe will occur in the first year or two after cancer treatment ends.
