We want to start by saying that there is no right or wrong way to speak to a person with cancer and it is OK if you don't know what to say. This is your colleague / friend / loved one / family member who is ill, they may be scared or worried or they may be taking their diagnosis in their stride. The most important thing at this stage is to listen. However, carefully choosing what you say and how you react can also help you show your support. 'How to support someone who has ca

Life after cancer treatment can be an isolating time and one where you might expect friends to continue to offer support. But what happens if they don’t? How can we navigate this process to move forward? We all expect friendships to naturally drift apart throughout our lives, as busy schedules take over and we discover we have less in common. We usually aren’t hurt by this gradual filtering process, but losing friends because of a cancer diagnosis just hits different. Friends

If you talk about life post-treatment with the cancer community, the fear of cancer returning will be high up on the list of concerns. If you're experiencing an overwhelming sense of fear and anxiety around cancer recurrence, you are not alone. Cancer charity Maggie's reports that between a third and two-thirds of people who have experienced cancer will have anxious thoughts about their cancer returning. Fear of Cancer Recurrence (FCR) is one of the most common worries we he

You are not alone if you find that your pre-diagnosis goals and visions no longer align with who you are after treatment ends. Once you have had a cancer diagnosis it can be difficult to visualise a future for yourself that doesn’t involve cancer. It is important to give yourself permission to be hopeful about the possibilities your future holds and take some time to consider what your new story might be. One way of doing this is practising visualisation. Using the power of y

It can be difficult reassessing our goals after cancer treatment has finished. Often goals that were important to us pre-diagnosis may now seem unattainable or no longer align with who we are after treatment. When you finish cancer treatment you are left to navigate life with all the ‘baggage’ that cancer and its treatment may have left you with. A member of our community summed it up perfectly when she referred to feeling 'rudderless' after treatment came to an end. When you

It is important after cancer treatment to take time for yourself to focus on where you want to be and setting achievable, meaningful goals will help you to get there. Breaking down bigger goals into flexible weekly and monthly activities is a great way to work towards a bigger plan. At the start of each month, the Life after Cancer community meets up for a goal-setting workshop where we clarify our focus and goals for the month. If you are unable to attend our goal-setting w

Isn’t it about time we challenged and moved away from the tyranny of speed when it comes to healing and recovery? I’ve long asked myself this question, both in relation to working psychologically with individuals going through cancer, and also during my own recovery from treatment for breast cancer. I find myself frequently pondering on the somewhat unhelpful phrases such as ‘ get well soon ’ and, ‘ wishing you a speedy recovery ’, which are so dominant in our culture. Surely

Try these things 5 steps to improve mental health and wellbeing after cancer

Are you kept awake at night with worries about cancer? We look at insomnia and how to encourage restful sleep after cancer.

Navigating the highs and lows of life after cancer treatment can feel overwhelming, but you do not need to navigate this journey alone.