We are honored to share today’s "Survivor Voices" feature with a snippet taken from an interview with Lindsay Conrad, a young Hodgkin lymphoma survivor.
At 23, her diagnosis came as a total surprise. For Lindsay, and so many other survivors, reflecting back on treatment can bring up the things patients wish they’d had access to both during and after treatment. We’re so grateful to hear Lindsay’s take on survivorship and how she wishes her experience had been different.
“When it comes to survivorship, I wish someone would have prepared me for how difficult things would be after (cancer treatment). I was so eager to get back to my ‘normal life’ as if nothing had happened. However, I found myself dealing with crippling anxiety that my cancer would return. I began having panic attacks and couldn’t focus on anything else but recurrence. I eventually found a therapist to help me work through these feelings. Looking back, I wish that someone had connected me to a licensed therapist or psychiatrist to work with during and after treatment. I also think having a support group with other young adult patients would have been so beneficial. Having cancer at 23, it was so difficult because I had just started building a life after college and I had to start all over.”
“I think many people don’t understand my experiences or how I feel because they’ve never gone through this. I am so thankful for the amazing love and support of my family and friends over the last few years, but I think having access to young adult cancer survivors would have changed a lot for me. Many people don’t realize how much cancer still affects you, even after you’re finished with active treatment. I still have anxiety and fear about recurrence and think about it every day.”
“It took me a while to piece my life back together after treatment. During treatment, I had to move back in with my parents and quit my teaching job. Living with my parents and being unemployed at 23 was not what I had envisioned for my young adulthood, but I am lucky to have found a job and new apartment after treatment."
"I’m happy with my life now, but I still find it surprising how much cancer still affects my everyday life now. From reminders on my body, taking off my wig, or anxiety, I think about it a lot and it can be hard.”
