Stories of life after cancer treatment
This report is a collection of stories from members of our online community who were surveyed about their experience of life after treatment.
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We’re campaigning to ensure people who have finished their cancer treatment have access to the right support to help them live well.
Right now, too many people in the UK are not getting the support they need when treatment ends, and this needs to change.
This report is a collection of stories from members of our online community who were surveyed about their experience of life after treatment.
Read now [PDF]‘Emotionally in the first year [after treatment], I think I was shell-shocked because you’re trying to catch up with everything that has happened to your body, and all your family and relationships.
You feel like you're a failure and you've failed to bounce back in the way you think you should have done.’
In reality, she found herself alone, in shock, and struggling.
Some days Frances couldn’t get out of bed because of the severe fatigue, nausea and intense physical pain she was living with months after treatment had ended.
She lived with anxiety and panic attacks, which turned into depression as time went on. She was forced to give up her job, and her relationships were put under intense pressure.
Sadly, Frances’s experience of life after treatment is a familiar story. And while cancer is no longer always life-ending, it’s almost always life-changing.
More and more people are living longer after a cancer diagnosis, but many people finish treatment and then struggle to cope with the ways cancer and its treatment has affected their lives.
Often, like Frances, people aren’t able to access the support they need to help them get back on their feet, come to terms with what has happened, and manage the ongoing impact cancer and its treatment has on their life.
We believe everyone should have access to the support they need after cancer treatment ends to live well.
In late 2017, over 2300 people invited their local MP to Macmillan’s World‘s Biggest Coffee Morning to learn more about life after cancer treatment.
99% of MPs in England were invited by campaigners to the Coffee Morning, and a record-breaking 126 MPs came along to meet people like Frances to hear more about the challenges they faced after cancer treatment ended.
Look out for more coming soon on the campaign to make sure people have access to the right support after cancer treatment.
In the meantime:
In 2015 the UK Government committed to making sure everyone with cancer in England receives personalised care and support after their treatment ends by 2020.
The clock is ticking. We now need to see progress so that the Government can deliver on this promise and make sure everyone has access to the support they need after cancer treatment.
This means that by 2020, people who have finished their cancer treatment should have access to a ‘Recovery Package’.
CloseThe new cancer plan in Scotland [PDF] commits to Macmillan’s call to ensure that every patient receives an Holistic Needs Assessment and care plan.
We will be working to ensure this pledge is met so that people have access to support after their cancer treatment finishes.
CloseMacmillan believes that to achieve the best outcomes following a cancer diagnosis, person centred care must be at the heart of service delivery. Only by focusing on the whole person, can the patient’s experience during their cancer pathway be as good as it can possibly be. This is true for those who survive cancer, are living with or beyond cancer or someone who is nearing the end of life.
Person centred care remains a key aspiration within the Cancer Delivery Plan and Macmillan will work with the Welsh Government and the NHS to deliver it across Wales.
Cred Macmillan, er mwyn cyflawni’r canlyniadau gorau yn dilyn diagnosis o ganser, bod yn rhaid i ofal sydd yn canolbwyntio ar y person fod wrth wraidd darparu gwasanaeth. Dim ond trwy ganolbwyntio ar y person cyfan y gall profiad y claf ar eu llwybr trwy ganser fod cystal ag y gall fod. Mae hyn yn wir am y rheiny sy’n goroesi canser, yn byw gyda chanser neu y tu hwnt iddo neu rywun sydd yn agosáu at ddiwedd eu hoes.
Mae gofal sy'n canolbwyntio ar y person yn dal yn uchelgais allweddol yn y Cynllun Cyflenwi Canser a bydd Macmillan yn gweithio gyda Llywodraeth Cymru a'r GIG i'w gyflenwi ledled Cymru.
CloseWe are calling on all political parties to commit to making sure the ‘Recovery Package’ is available to every patient progressing through and beyond treatment for cancer, so people get the support they need after treatment.
CloseOur policy team talk more about what needs to happen to improve life after treatment, across every nation.
Find out more1Figures quoted from expert consensus collated as part of Macmillan Cancer Support (2013) Throwing light on the consequences of cancer and its treatment.
Consensus was reached by consulting with a range of UK experts in the field, including members of the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative (NCSI) Board, the NCSI Pelvic Cancers Project Steering Group, the Consequences of Cancer and its Treatment Collaborative (CCaT) and other leading researchers and professional societies.
We’ve spoken out against prescription charges, welfare cuts and the lack of support for carers. And with your help we’ve really changed things for the better.
Thinking about how to get back to normal following treatment? Find advice, information and support about coping with and after cancer.
We've got lots of opportunities to make your time matter. Find out about available opportunities and apply today.
See what Macmillan Policy have to say about Life after treatment.
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