Coping With Life After Childhood Cancer
Severe or persistent symptoms are a reason to seek medical help.
The diagnosis and treatment period for childhood cancer is a stressful time for children and their families... and even after cancer has been successfully treated, many patients and families struggle with emotional issues. Although these feelings are normal, a mental health professional should be consulted if they are severe or persist.
Patients or family members who experience any of the following symptoms for more than two weeks should call their healthcare provider:
- Overeating or weight gain
- Poor appetite or weight loss
- Crying easily or inability to cry
- Chronic fatigue and lack of energy
- Constant sleeping or not sleeping well
- Difficulty making decisions
- Difficulty concentrating
- Increased irritability
- Physical reactions (like nausea) when thinking about illness
- Refusal to talk about illness
- Refusal to make medical visits
Seeking medical help for emotional issues is not a sign of weakness – it’s an important step to regaining one’s health
Children’s Cancer Research Fund drew from information provided by the Children’s Oncology Group Childhood Cancer Survivor Long-Term Follow-Up Guidelines – developed as a collaborative effort of the Nursing Discipline and the Late Effects Committee – as a resource for the above health information to assist childhood cancer survivors, their families and their clinicians.
