Cancer Health Center

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Active cancer treatments

During the active treatment phase of the illness, a patient's adjustment is focused primarily on coping with the many and varied stressors of treatment. These may include apprehension and fears about:

• Painful procedures.
• Unwanted side effects (hair loss, nausea/vomiting, fatigue, and pain).
• Disruptions to daily life. (Disruptions that include changes in life roles-for example, the breadwinner who can no longer work-are difficult for many patients.)

Patients who adjust well are able to tolerate these short-term stressors via a cost-benefit approach in which they weigh the discomforts of short-term loss against the benefits of long-term gains (e.g., increased survival) and conclude, "It is worth it."[25] Questions that often occur during active treatment include the following:

• Will I survive this?
• Will they get all of the cancer?
• What side effects will I experience?

As these and related questions arise, patients utilize coping styles and strategies to adapt. Although many different coping strategies are useful during this phase, problem-focused coping-strategies designed to manage specific problem situations (e.g., fatigue, transportation to treatments, altered work schedules, and role changes)-are often utilized.

Posttreatment

Before active treatments are completed, most patients look forward to the conclusion of treatment with positive anticipation and hopes of returning to normal. However, the completion of active treatment can be a time of great ambivalence for cancer patients and their families. The completion of treatments suggests a time of celebration and relief, yet it can also be a time of heightened distress, with a renewed sense of vulnerability that comes with the cessation of active medical efforts to fight the disease.[27]

Those who adjust well are able to balance their positive expectations with the realities of ongoing fears and apprehensions. Many patients report enhanced anxiety and worry related to fears of recurrence and decreasing frequency of medical surveillance via less frequent physician contacts. Other adjustment issues include living with uncertainty, returning to previous life roles, and hypervigilance to health concerns.[6]

During remission, patients begin a sequence of regular follow-up appointments with their oncologist. Normal anxiety and worry often intensify as the dates of follow-up appointments approach. Normal anxiety comes from concerns about recurrence and the related emotional consequences (e.g., re-entry into the patient role and renewed feelings of loss of control).[28] Many patients find waiting for test results to be a particularly distressing experience.

In one of the few empirical studies of posttreatment adjustment, 94 women with stage 0, I, II, or III breast cancer who were completing radiation therapy were assessed on measures of depression, anxiety, and quality of life on the last day of treatment and at 2 weeks, 4 to 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months posttreatment. Results found elevated symptoms of depression, low-level anxiety, and diminished quality of life on the last day of treatment; however, by 2 weeks later, symptoms of depression decreased significantly, and quality of life improved significantly. No other significant changes were found at any of the later posttreatment time periods, suggesting improvements in depression and quality of life occur quickly in most patients.[29]