Recognizing When You Need Help
If you have any of the following signs for more than two weeks, talk to a member of your TCI care team about treatment. Some symptoms could be due to physical problems, so it’s important to be willing to talk about them with your healthcare team.
Emotional signs:
- Feelings of worry, anxiety, or sadness that don’t go away
- Feeling emotionally numb
- Feeling overwhelmed, out of control, or shaky
- Having a sense of guilt or feeling unworthy
- Feeling helpless or hopeless
- Feeling short-tempered or moody
- Having a hard time concentrating, or feeling scatterbrained
- Crying for long periods of time or many times each day
- Focusing on worries or problems
- Having a hard time getting certain thoughts out of your mind
- Finding it hard to enjoy everyday things, such as food or being with friends
- Finding yourself avoiding situations or things that you know are really harmless
- Thinking about hurting or killing yourself
Body changes:
- Unintended weight gain or loss not due to illness or treatment
- Sleep problems, such as not being able to sleep, having nightmares, or sleeping too much
- Racing heart, dry mouth, increased perspiration, upset stomach, diarrhea
- Physically slowing down
- Fatigue that doesn’t go away, headaches, or other aches and pains
Finding comfort and meaning:
- Read uplifting stories about the human spirit
- Pray or meditate to help you gain perspective
- Take part in community or social gatherings for your own support and to support others
- Talk with others who have had similar experiences
- Find resources at a place of worship for people dealing with chronic illnesses like cancer
- Grieve for your losses. Recognize that you have been through a lot, and it’s normal to be sad over the way life was before cancer