Healthy Living After Childhood Cancer
Healthy Living After Childhood Cancer
Survivors often wonder what steps they can take to live healthier after cancer. There is not a certain supplement or food you can eat to guarantee good health. There are things you can do to live healthier, prevent other diseases, and find other cancers early.
- Diet and Nutrition: Eat a healthy diet, rich in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Try to limit red and processed meats.
- Drink water to stay hydrated. Talk with a dietitian for food recommendations after cancer treatment. Physical activity: Aim for 30 minutes of moderate exercise/activity most days of the week with a goal of 150 minutes a week. Talk with your healthcare team about how to get started with (or back to) an exercise program.
- Avoid tobacco use: Tobacco is addictive and linked to many cancers (not just lung cancer). All types of tobacco should be avoided to prevent cancer.
- Limit alcohol use to 2 or fewer drinks per day for men; 1 or fewer drinks per day for women.
- Talk with your primary care provider about routine cancer screenings.
- Have your recommended vaccinations like the annual flu, COVID-19, shingles, and pneumovax. Talk with your provider about which vaccines you need and when.
- It is important to have health insurance so that you can get your follow-up care as recommended. If you are having insurance issues, ask your team about talking with a social worker who can help with this.
Ask for a Survivorship Care Plan
A survivorship care plan (SCP) can be a great tool to learn about life after cancer. A SCP should include information about health issues (like long-term and late effects) that can be caused by the cancer treatment you had. A SCP can give you information about:
- Ways you can lessen the risk of long-term and late side effects.
- Any tests (blood work, scans) you should have and when you should have them.
- Things to tell your healthcare team.
- Practical concerns including fear of recurrence, financial issues, sexual changes, and more.
You can also make your own survivorship care plan through Smart ALACC, Oncolink's SCP tool for childhood cancer survivors.
Managing Your Healthcare
It’s important to know who is going to manage your health after cancer treatment. This may be a team of providers including an oncologist, a survivorship specialist, and a primary care provider. If you would like to find a survivorship provider, you can contact cancer centers in your area to see if they have a survivorship clinic or search for a clinic on OncoLink's survivorship clinic list.
A primary care provider can manage other health concerns (for example blood pressure, diabetes, etc.) and provide preventive care and screening (for example: checking cholesterol levels, getting a flu shot, ordering a mammogram).
Are cancer survivors at increased risk of cancer?
Some studies show that cancer survivors are more likely to develop another cancer compared to someone who has never had cancer. This could be from a treatment (certain types of chemotherapy or radiation therapy) you had. These are called secondary cancers because they develop from a therapy.
You could also develop a second cancer unrelated to your first diagnosis. This may be due to exposure to risk factors (smoking, for example), or a genetic predisposition in certain people, but in many cases the reason for the increased risk is unclear. While this may sound scary, it is a reminder of the importance of cancer screening and keeping a healthy lifestyle in your post-cancer life.
Healthy living after cancer is an important part of your life. Ask your provider if you have any questions about living a healthy lifestyle.