Clearly, a physical cure does not mark the end of the healing process. And only by examining the impact that a cancer illness has on a person's life can strategies be devised to ease the difficult transition from a state of illness to one of well-being.
Survivors often liken their cancer experience and their efforts to resume a normal life to that of returning war veterans. Their sense of balance is lost. The immediate crisis of fighting for life itself is over. Then comes the time to lick their wounds and assess the damage. The post-treatment period brings with it myriad emotions. It is not unusual to feel a strange mixture of elation and anxiety. The disease has been eradicated, but there is still a "second war" to be fought, a struggle with less tangible but still threatening physical, psychological and social ramifications.
