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With better diagnoses, improved surgical techniques and targeted drug therapy, more and more people are surviving cancer. But what happens when the treatment ends, asks Sharon Ní Chonchúir.
Every three minutes, a person is diagnosed with cancer in Ireland.
By 2020, one in two people will develop cancer during their lifetime.
Although cancer is still our second leading cause of death, survival rates are steadily improving. As a result, there are more than 165,000 people in Ireland today who live with or have recovered from
disease.
"So much progress has been made," says Dr. Derek Power, a medical consultant in oncology at Cork University Hospital and Mercy University Hospital.
"The diagnoses are better. Drug treatment is more targeted. The surgery has improved. The progress made is such that a large percentage of people with localized or even advanced cancer can expect to live even longer or be completely cured. "
The Irish Cancer Society is holding its annual conference for cancer survivors and their families in Galway on September 15th and in Cork on September 22nd. This is rehabilitation to life after cancer.
Diarmuid Duggan, head dietician at Cork's Bon Secours Hospital, will talk about why people with cancer and survivors have good eating habits.
"There is so much confusion about how nutrition can be used to cure cancer," he says.
"It has to be balanced with evidence so that people have the best chance of making an informed decision. I will discuss the latest guidelines issued by the Global Fund for Cancer Research and urge people to do what they can to take small steps towards a healthier lifestyle.
He recognizes that many cancer patients experience difficulties after treatment. "They're told to come back for an exam in six months and getting back to normal can be difficult," he says. "Their anxiety about their health and the return of cancer can hinder their recovery. They still need help and that's what we want to provide at this conference. "
Tanya Dobbyn, 26, from Waterford knows just how true it is. At the beginning of last year, she was watching television at home when her hand brushed against her chest and she felt a little ball. Three months later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
In a way, she was not surprised. "My mother and aunt both had breast cancer, and in the months that I was waiting for my tests, the size was getting soft," says Tanya.
"He was also taller and the skin around him was red and sore to the touch."
But the possible diagnosis is always a shock. "I was hysterical when they told me," she said. "Even when I returned to discuss my treatment plan a week or two later, I still felt it was not happening.
Tanya's treatment consisted of one year of chemotherapy followed by five weeks of radiation therapy. During this time, due to a history of breast cancer in her family, she and her mother were also tested for the BRCA1 gene, making carriers much more likely to develop breast cancer.
"We were asked to build our family tree and when we did that, I realized how many of our parents had had breast cancer," she says. "I was not surprised when our results were positive."
Last November, Tanya underwent a double mastectomy to further reduce her risk of developing breast cancer. "It was an important decision but it was easy once I realized that cancer would inevitably come back to me if I did not do anything about it."
Since she finished her treatment in May, Tanya has been trying to get back to normal. She returned to her part-time job at TK Maxx. "I had to stop working because the risk of infection was too high there," she says.
His relationship with his boyfriend also suffered. "The stress has hindered things in the past few months, so we take a break but I hope we'll be back together," she says.
Free to go to the hospital, she plans her future again. "I would like to volunteer and I will do it in the coming weeks," she says. "It's also my dream to go to Machu Picchu in Peru and I know that the Irish Cancer Society is organizing a sponsored march. I could do it one day.
Tanya has the form when it comes to raising funds for charity. In June, she participated in a sponsored skin bath. "It seemed like a good way to mark the end of a difficult chapter of my life."
She has tips for people who are where she was a little over a year ago. "Try not to think about your cancer all the time," she says.
"Attend your appointments and remember that the doctors are there to help you. The treatment has changed so much. When I compare my treatment with that of my mother, there has been so much progress. There are so many reasons to hope.
A very stressful moment
Gerard Ingoldsby of Ballincollig, Cork, was diagnosed with cancer in January 2005. He is now a volunteer for the Irish Cancer Society Survivors Support Program and will speak at his conference.
"The discovery of a large stage three polyp in my gut marked the beginning of a very stressful time in my life," Gerard explains.
"I took a four-week intensive chemotherapy and radiation therapy course to reduce the polyp before it was removed and, after that, I had 26 weekly chemotherapy sessions.
A comment from his surgeon prevented him from following his treatment. "He said that treating my cancer would not be easy, but that it could be done," says Gerard. "I have set these words because they have given me hope."
When his treatment ended in 2006, Gerard did not feel the sense of relief expected. "I should have felt ecstatic but instead, I fell. I did not have any appointments, consultants or blood to concentrate and so I disappeared into a dark and strange place.
Everyone was worried about him, so much so that his general practitioner diagnosed a depression. "To be honest, it was more like post-traumatic stress," says Gerard.
He has found help at ARC Cancer Support, which provides support services to people who are recovering from cancer.
"I received advice, which allowed me to leave everything I felt.
"They also suggested tai chi and meditation, which helped me a lot. The six to eight months following the end of my cancer treatment was a bad time for me, but it was they who put me out of the question. "
Despite his complete recovery, Gerard's life was not the same as the one that preceded the cancer. An electronics engineer, he found it hard to go back to work.
"I had terrible problems with fatigue and concentration," he says. "You do not realize that these effects can be the long-term side effects of cancer treatment." He had to completely give up his job in 2008.
"My energy bank has never regained the level it once was," he says. "I now have to manage this carefully, plan my week and save energy for important things."
Nevertheless, he is optimistic. "My life is different, but life is always beautiful," he says. "I am grateful to be alive and opportunities that have come up since and sometimes even because of my cancer."
One of these opportunities is his involvement in the Survivors Support Group of the Irish Cancer Society. "I'm a 13-year-old survivor," says Gerard.
"Talking to someone like me helped me when I got my first cancer diagnosis, so I like talking to people and letting them know that they too have them." a chance to fight.
As Dr. Power says, "Cancer outcomes are much better than they were 10 years ago and there are more survivors than ever before. There is every reason to believe that people with cancer have hope for the future. "
National Conference for Cancer Survivors
The Irish Cancer Society is organizing its annual national conference for cancer survivors. Entitled "Living Well with Cancer", it will take place at the Clayton Hotel Galway on Saturday, September 15 and at the Clayton Hotel Cork on September 22.
The conference is aimed at cancer survivors, caregivers, health professionals, and community cancer support staff or volunteers.
A range of stakeholders will share their experiences, stories and specialist knowledge. Dr. Derek Power, for example, will discuss advances in drug treatment of cancer and the evolution of chemotherapy treatments to targeted therapy and immunotherapy. It will also discuss the best way to manage the side effects of treatment.
Diarmuid Duggan, a senior dietitian, will talk about why eating well is important for cancer patients and survivors. There will also be hands-on sessions on managing fatigue, sexuality and intimacy after diagnosis, return-to-work management and more.
Throughout the day, the focus will be on the emotional and psychological effects of cancer, with the goal of supporting people who are living with the disease.
n Participation in the conference is free but prior registration is required. For more information, contact [email protected] or call 01-2310533. You can also register online at www.cancer.ie/support.
The Irish Cancer Society is organizing its annual national conference for cancer survivors. Entitled "Living Well with Cancer", it will take place at the Clayton Hotel Galway on Saturday, September 15 and at the Clayton Hotel Cork on September 22.
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