If I Have a Recurrence, Does That Mean That I Was Never Really Hid of My Cancer?
Yes. If you have a recurrence, the assumption is that some cancer cells were not killed by your original treatment and have been hiding for months or years, undetected by all your checkup tests until they multiplied enough to cause you to have detectable cancer.
If I Can Have Undetectable Cancer Cells That Become a Problem Years Later, How Can I Ever Know That I Am Really Free of Cancer?
A big fear of cancer survivors after successful treatment is the fear of recurrence from cancer cells that are not detectable during the period of clinical remission.
It is impossible to guarantee that every last cancer cell is gone. From a realistic, practical point of view, it is only important to know whether you have any cancer cells in your body if
•these cells can cause a problem to you in the future, and
• there is something you can do now to treat these cells or prevent them from developing into significant cancer
Even if you do harbor silent cancer cells, for-all practical poses you are now cancer-free and can remain so for the rest of your life. Our bodies are believed to have an immune surveillance, system that can help prevent the development of detectable recurrent cancer by destroying cancer cells that appear in s numbers.
Cancer cells that current technology cannot detect are affecting your life in any way as long as they remain undetectable. The only danger in this situation is letting your own thought worries about undetected cancer cells affect you in a negative way. It does not help you to worry about the possibility of something you cannot know or do anything about. Survivorship includes accepting the uncertainty of whether any cancer cells are left. See your remission as meaning that you are completely cancer-f unless there is concrete evidence to the contrary.
If you are in remission, and you and your doctors have do everything reasonable to kill any remaining silent cancer cells, you should assume that you are cancer-free and focus on ways to keep yourself healthy.
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