• Reference Number: HEY1614/2026
• Departments: Psychology Services
• Last Updated: 10 July 2026

Introduction

Cancer treatment is tough. More often than not, it can actually make you feel worse, so whilst you are undergoing treatment, you may look forward to the time when the treatment will end and feel a great sense of relief when it does. Other people may expect you to celebrate this marker. However, this can be a time of mixed emotions.

Whilst treatment was ongoing, you may have found yourself able to focus on the next appointment or recovering from the last treatment. You will often have frequent appointments that take up your time and energy and you will also have health professionals who are regularly monitoring you.

When treatment ends, you can actually feel quite lost. Some people describe it like ‘falling off a cliff’. You will have less frequent appointments and may feel like you are on your own. This is often the time that people have chance to reflect on the enormity of what they have been through. This may trigger some strong emotions such as sadness, anger, loss, guilt. If this happening to you, then know that it is a really normal reaction.

Once treatment has ended, you need time to rebuild yourself. This means taking time to recover physically and emotionally from treatment. Having patience and taking time to return to activities or work will help you to recover properly. Having cancer will inevitably have changed you and you need to spend some time reviewing who you are and what you want from your life now.

Fear of Recurrence

It is really common to worry about the cancer coming back. Being diagnosed with cancer can leave you feeling more vulnerable as a person. It can help to have a conversation with your Oncologist about your risk of recurrence and what they would advise in terms of monitoring or lifestyle changes. Try to focus on the aspects that you can control not those that are beyond your control. One way to manage fear of recurrence is to find ways of living in the here and now. If you find that fear of recurrence is taking over and impacting on your quality of life, then you may benefit from seeking help. Contact your clinical nurse specialist to find out sources of support available to you.

Long term Effects

Often the side effects of cancer treatment begin to improve when the treatment has ended, however for some people, the side effects don’t completely go away. See the link below to an information sheet from Macmillan that explains more about managing long term effects. https://www.macmillan.org.uk/documents/aboutus/newsroom/consequences_of_treatme nt_june2013.pdf

Managing other People’s Reactions

This can be difficult. You may have some really good support around you, or you may be quite isolated. You may also find that people’s expectations and level of support changes when treatment ends. Once treatment has finished, some people will think that it’s over and you can get on with your life, not realising that you may still have ongoing scans or appointments that can create anxiety and that you may still be struggling to adjust to everything you have gone through. Talking to people who have had similar experiences may help at this stage. There are many support groups around where you can contact others at a similar stage to you. Look on the website https://www.cancercaremap.org/ to find support near you.

Managing ‘wobbles’

This refers to a range of mood changes including sadness, fear, anger etc, that can occur after a cancer diagnosis, as you go through the treatment and after this ends. There may be a range of triggers, for example, when a letter arrives for a scan, waiting for bloods or results. It might happen, when you hear about the death of someone or hearing about a celebrity with the same diagnosis, or at particular times of the year that are anniversaries of diagnosis or treatment.

Tips for Coping

Tips for coping

• Think about the basics:

O Nutrition – are you eating well, a colourful diet with lots of plant food.

O Hydration – are you drinking enough water during the day.

O Rest – are you listening to your body and resting during the day if needed.

O Sleep – are you getting enough sleep, could you go to bed earlier and perhaps listen to a meditation or podcast.

O Exercise – are you able to get out of the house and go for a walk, even 5-10 minutes a day can help and slowly build this up. Explore strength exercises, this could be via exercise on prescription from your GP, or check out podcasts from ‘Move Charity’, or ‘Bounce back Exercise’ but importantly find out what you enjoy.

• Think about what your values are. What is important to you? What gives you a sense of purpose and what would you like to work towards in your life now?
• Acknowledge your frustrations, there might be things you can no longer do, but celebrate the things you can. Cancer is a life-changing diagnosis, be proud of the things you are doing differently now.
• Explore meditation – there are many apps around that you can try including Calm, Headspace, Unmind.
• Listen to music or a podcast, this can be powerful in changing your mood.
• Spend time in the garden or in nature. Being more mindful, noticing what you can see and hear around you.
• Breathe – think about your breathing, look up simple breathing exercises such as ‘soothing rhythm breathing’.
• Apps – Action for Happiness: this app provides daily powerful words that can be helpful for example – ‘no plans day, be kind to yourself’, take time every day to enjoy and appreciate life.
• Journal – writing down your thoughts can be helpful. You could do this in a structured way such as writing a gratitude list or in a more freehand way to capture your thoughts and feelings.
• Creativity can be helpful in engaging in the present moment. This could be art, writing poetry, creative writing, knitting, sewing, woodwork, upcycling or decorating.
• Dress up, wear your nice clothes. Do not save your clothes for that special event, get out your best clothes and go for a coffee, or out for lunch or spending time with your spouse or family/friends, or dress up for treatment or going for bloods.
• Manage the stress in your life, what are the things you can do to remove stress from your life, again this could be time to journal and explore what is causing you stress and then look at what you could do to reduce this.
• Say No to things and or people that no longer bring you joy.
• Take one day at a time, after a diagnosis, it’s tough, thinking ahead, sometimes you might need to take the difficult days moment by moment. Focus on the present.
• Prepare for ‘The Wobbles’ if you can, this is simply acknowledging the times when you think they might happen, explore what works for you. This might be planning many of the things above to keep your mind and body active.
• Setting goals, these don’t have to be big life changing goals, just small things, but setting goals is a powerful way to look at the things you want to do. (Spend 5 minutes in the garden with a cuppa, meet a friend for lunch, time for creativity, go for a walk for 10 minutes.)
• And most importantly, don’t be hard on yourself, you are the most important person now, it’s time to put yourself first, be extra kind to yourself and do the things that matter most to you

This leaflet was produced by the Cancer Psychological Service in collaboration with Allyson Kent, patient perspective and with credit to the women from Next steps programme from Target Ovarian Cancer; Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and will be reviewed in 3 years from publication.