Finishing treatment can be a time of mixed emotions. Often there is an assumption that the end of treatment is a time of moving on and feeling like you can leave your cancer experience behind you. However, a lot of patients find the end of treatment to feel much more complicated than that, finding its only after treatment has finished that you have time to reflect on everything you have been through and truly process what has happened and the impact this has had on your life. This can lead to all kinds of mixed emotions, sometimes patients can feel low in mood and feel overwhelmed by the gravity of their experience, other patients can experience a lot of worry and anxiety post treatment. All of this is entirely normal.

There are various ways you can support yourself post treatment, the most important thing you can do is talk to your health care professionals and people around you at home that you feel comfortable talking to, often bottling things up can make everything feel worse.

Other things you could do to help yourself are:

• Often the things we enjoy, hobbies and interests can get lost over the course of treatment, trying to spend even short periods of time on things you enjoy can be really helpful in feeling more connected to yourself prior to treatment
• Activity and fresh air can be hugely beneficial to your wellbeing, activity can be as small as doing some house work, or walking around your garden. Slowly increasing the amount of activity you do over time can help with both cancer related fatigue and mental health.
• Setting yourself small but achievable goals that will give you a sense of achievement can also be beneficial, often through treatment it can feel like life has stood still, thinking about what you would like to achieve and carrying that out will give you a sense of moving forward. It might be your goal is to spending 10 minutes on a hobby, tidy your room or make contact with someone you haven’t spoken to for a while.
• Finding others who feel the same.  There are a lot of events run each month by the Teenage Cancer Trust Youth Support Coordinators across the East Midlands, which can help connect you with other young people who have experienced similar things to you to help reduce any isolation that you may be experiencing. 

Noticing if the way you feel is deteriorating or the way your behaving is changing, maybe you are spending more time alone or spending a lot of time online searching symptoms you may have. Speaking to a health care professional or your survivorship CNS is important as sometimes a referral for counselling and psychological therapy can be useful to give you the strategies to manage thoughts and feelings. Or it may be that a discussion with your GP about medication to help your mental health is appropriate. You will be supported through all of these options.

Online Help & Support:

Shout: the UK's free, confidential and 24/7 mental health text service for crisis support | Shout 85258 (giveusashout.org) – A free text service if you are feeling anxious, low or suicidal, there are professionals offering guidance and support 24/7

Young Minds - help and advice for mental wellbeing in young people 

NHS Moodzone - tips and advice for boosting mental health and mental wellbeing 

Get.gg - Getselfhelp.co.uk – CBT, self help and therapy resources to support all mental health needs

Contact Us | Samaritans – Someone to talk to about anything your concerned about 24/7