Healing After Cancer
- The Office star Jenna Fischer, 50, is taking time to reflect after her year-long journey with breast cancer as she begins to get her hair and her strength back, on the path to rejuvenation.
- In a post on Instagram, the wife and mom of two shared that she has been home in Missouri for the holidays with family, and enjoyed some much-needed relaxation at a local luxury hotel during her time back to the Midwest.
- During and after cancer, staying active can boost your spirits and experts say good emotional health can also affect physical healing. Just because treatment may affect your overall health, know that many side effects are temporarty — it doesn’t mean you can’t still work out doing the things you love. Of course, it’s important to listen to your body while working on building endurance again, but go easy on yourself. You can, and often will, get there again.
- Certain triggers like stress, traumatic events, or changes in your physical health can affect your mental health. It’s really important to keep tabs on your mental health and, if necessary, seek treatment from a mental health professional.
In a post on Instagram, the wife and mom of two shared that she has been home in Missouri for the holidays with family, and enjoyed a night at the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis during her time back to the Midwest.
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Just yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of Fischer’s breast cancer surgery, a big milestone. The Office Ladies podcast host also noted that she is working out with Amy Kiser Schemper, known by her handle @bodyfitbyamy, “to keep my body strong for the long haul.”
Hope in the New Year
“I spent the day in St. Louis surrounded by family doing a belated Christmas with grandparents and cousins after luxuriating at my FAVORITE hotel of all time the @fsstlouis. I mean…cozy robe, coffee, book, and that view!” she said, referencing the famed 630-foot Gateway Arch, the tallest monument in the United States, that could be seen through the window in her photo.
Lounging in a white robe while curled up with a Stephen King hardcover, appearing to be sipping something warm, Fischer showcased the self-care a cancer survivor deserves, especially after such a challenging year. And the start of 2025 is looking to be hopeful. “Sending you love and blessings for the New Year!” Fischer concluded the share.
Fischer initially disclosed her diagnosis on October 8, 2024. She said she decided to finally make the announcement “for two reasons.”
“One, I’m ready to ditch the wigs,” she said. “Two, to implore you to get your annual mammograms.”
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“I’m also sharing in hopes that it will be a source of support to any woman who is going through this right now,” Fischer continued. “As anyone who has had a cancer diagnosis knows, your life changes immediately. It becomes all about doctor’s appointments, test results, treatments and recovering from treatments. Suddenly everything in your life is geared around one thing: fighting cancer.”
In the three months since disclosing news of her disease, what she referred to as her “patchy pixie” hair is growing in rather quickly, which can be comforting for other survivors to see, as hair loss is often reported as one of the most stressful side effects that women (and men) will go through.
Coping With Hair Loss
Hair loss, a side effect of chemotherapy treatment, usually begins about three to four weeks after chemotherapy and continues throughout treatment. It happens because this treatment targets quickly dividing cells throughout the body.
“For cancer patients, losing one’s hair can be unbelievably stressful. To start with, the dread of losing one’s hair can lead to some sleepless nights and feelings of anxiety,” Dr. Samantha Boardman, a New York-based psychiatrist and author, told SurvivorNet.
Most patients can expect regrowth four to six weeks after treatment. However, it is possible when your hair grows back, you may notice some changes in its color and texture (sometimes for the better!).
A Routine Mammogram Saved Her Life
Noting in October that her tumor was “very small” and “too small to feel,” Fischer said that it truly was her routine mammogram that saved her from it being much worse.
“A self-exam would not have [caught the cancer]. It really was the routine mammogram that started all of this. And I’m so grateful I went to that appointment.”
Because of that checkup, Fischer thankfully caught the disease early with no lymph node involvement, and underwent a lumpectomy, which means surgery to only remove the cancer tumor and remnants of disease. She had 12 weekly rounds of chemotherapy infusions and radiation.
Should I disclose my cancer diagnosis?
“If I had waited six more months, it could have been much worse. It could have spread. It was a very aggressive form of cancer.”
Fischer explained that she had to take the estrogen-blocker Tamoxifen (which prevents estrogen from helping cancer cells grow) and Herceptin for the next year.
This targeted therapy she mentioned in her most recent post, which is matching treatment to disease based on very specific characteristics such as genetic mutations, has changed the way many cancers are treated.
Treatment Effects on Aging
Chemotherapy, radiation and surgery can cause DNA damage. If a cell’s DNA is harmed, the DNA in your body will be triggered to work to repair it, but if there has been too much damage, this reparation can be interrupted or can fail, which then can lead to acceleration with aging.
Furthermore, a build-up of chemicals from these treatments can build up and damage other healthy cells, resulting in inflammation, a big contributor in aging, both in a physical sense and cognitive, meaning related to brain function.
Before beginning any treatment plan, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons with your doctor — and of course, always get multiple opinions. If chemotherapy is going to help keep someone alive, then obviously the benefits of treatment outweigh the side effects and risks of accelerated aging.
Staying Active Physically
Staying active physically and emotionally often go hand in hand.
During and after cancer, staying active can boost your spirits and experts say good emotional health can also affect physical healing. Just because treatment may affect or diminish your overall health in time, as with the natural aging process, doesn’t mean you can’t still work out doing the things you love.
Of course, it’s important to listen to your body while working on building endurance again, but go easy on yourself. You can, and often will, get there again.
Lisa Csencsits, a resilient mother of two who went through breast cancer found hope and inner strength through the sport of cycling. While she had been cycling for years before cancer, the sport gained a greater sense of purpose throughout her journey. But after Csencsits’ surgeries, she found herself in intense pain.
“I couldn’t raise my arms fully above my head, I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t embrace my babies, I couldn’t do anything without experiencing pain,” she explained in a previous interview with SurvivorNet.
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“I loved challenging myself during my breast cancer journey and throughout all of my breast reconstruction surgeries, I felt like I hit rock bottom and I don’t think I would have ever felt so comfortable admitting that before I went through that process,” she said.
“I really hope other people who are going through this can just really bounce back and feel this amount of pride and know you can come out of the other side better than you ever could before,” Csencsits said.
The Importance of Overall Self-Care
As you continue treating your cancer diagnosis, and healing from those treatments, it’s important to include self-care in your overall care plan. As mentioned in the previous section, emotional health is just as important as your physical health, and that is where self-care plays a key role. Make time for things that make you feel good about yourself and ease daily stress.
In a recent conversation with SurvivorNet, licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Marianna Strongin talked about what it means to be a “cancer patient” and how self-care can help people step outside of that label. Being a cancer patient is “a difficult identity to have with you at all times,” she said. Cancer can be all-encompassing, meaning it can hijack your mental energy and fill your schedule. Dr. Strongin says that practicing self-care can help you take back control.
‘Self Care Is A Way To Treat Yourself,’ says Dr. Marianna Strongin
Dr. Strongin recommends thinking of self-care in the context of the things in life that bring you the most joy. It doesn’t necessarily mean pampering yourself. It’s more important to find opportunities to be playful and joyful to embrace the child within yourself.
According to Dr. Strongin, “Self-care allows (people with cancer) to take on a different role where they are proactively giving back to their body, giving back to their mind, whatever that might be.”
Self-care Is Closely Linked to Good Emotional Health
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) offers additional guidance for ways to practice self-care.
Regularly ask yourself, “How am I feeling?” and work through why you feel that way regardless of whether those feelings are negative or positive. For example, if you are feeling hopeful and optimistic, you may ask yourself why. One possible reason is that you have to have lunch with a close family member or a close friend. The same can be said if you’re feeling sad or angry; ask yourself why that is.
“Checking in with yourself is being mindful of what your body is telling you. The more you check in with yourself, the more aware you’ll be that you need a break. Sometimes, rest and quiet time is all you need to feel rejuvenated,” the NCI says.
Examples of self-care may include:
- Exercising
- Sleeping
- Maintaining a healthy diet
- Meditation
- Engage in activities that bring you happiness (hobbies, spending time with loved ones, a night at a luxury hotel like Fischer, etc)
- Practicing gratitude
- Staying positive
A note on mental health as you recover from cancer:
Mental health refers to both your emotional and psychological well-being.
Our mental health can affect how we think, feel, and behave. Certain triggers like stress, traumatic events, or changes in your physical health can affect your mental health. It’s really important to keep tabs on your mental health and, if necessary, seek treatment from a mental health professional.
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