After cancer do i have to be told i am

AFTER CANCER: DO I HAVE TO BE TOLD I AM "CURED" OF MY CANCER IN ORDER TO HOPE TO FEEL NORMAL AGAIN?

 

 Absolutely not. Normal life after any crisis or change means learning how to adjust to all the changes. You will probably not feel the same after surviving cancer as you did before your diagnosis, but you probably will not feel normal again.
Change, loss, and fear are not unique to cancer survivors. Many chronic diseases other than cancer require ongoing medical care and demand changes in the day-to-day details of diet, activities, and relationships. Survivors of other chronic diseases work, lead stable family lives, and feel normal. People with diabetes, arthritis, or emphysema learn to adjust and compensate for their physical problems with the help of medications, physical therapy, walking aids, and dietary restrictions. Each of these diseases is potentially life threatening, yet people learn to live well and feel normal again, despite the risks and limitations imposed by their illness. These people do not feel the same as they did before their illness began, but they feel normal. People living with cancer can learn to lead normal, fulfilled lives, too, despite the need for ongoing follow-up and therapy.
Feeling normal is a state of mind in which you are adjusted to your circumstances. Maintaining your sense of normal throughout life involves accepting and adjusting to an unending series of changes, whether related to aging, illness, or injury. You would have had to adjust to some physical changes even if you had not developed cancer.
Unwanted change is an issue for everyone. Healthy fifty-year-olds are very different physically, emotionally, and spiritually from their earlier, adolescent selves. Yet a healthy fifty-year-old person usually feels "normal" despite the changes in vision, hair and body fat distribution, and muscle mass. Many of the changes accompanying cancer resemble those of healthy aging. There is much to be learned from people who grow old gracefully and continue to live full lives throughout their days.
You may resent or resist having to make adjustments after completing your cancer therapy. Understandably, it is easier to adjust to age-related than to cancer-related changes, because they are gradual, expected, and shared by others in your age group. With time, you can adjust to the unexpected, relatively sudden changes brought on by your cancer and its treatment. Normal life, with or without cancer, involves change.
Another reality needs to be mentioned: being in remission long enough to be considered "cured" does not magically eliminate the fears, anxieties, and potential medical problems. Too many people who are cured of their cancer continue to have medical or emotional problems related to their earlier treatment. Being cured does not necessarily make you feel normal.
Whether or not you feel normal or happy depends on how you adjust to the changes related to your cancer. Many survivors in temporary remission from incurable cancers or with stable, persistent cancer, as well as those who are cured, experience fulfilling, happy, normal lives without significant physical or emotional problems.
Take steps both to maximize the meaning and enjoyment of each day and to maximize your chance for cure or durable remission. Working toward the goal of personal peace and fulfillment is life enriching, and possibly life lengthening, no matter what your circumstances.

Cure is not a magical state where all problems end. Aim for personal peace no matter what the specifics of your cancer situation.

          *9/32/5*