I confess I have never been too keen on the term survivorship, in relation to cancer. Lots of people do survive, and in the main, because they have had treatment. One could easily apply the word just to life itself - we survive loss, heartache, disappointments and so forth. And sometimes those are experiences that scar and sometimes they are experiences that mould.
I finished treatment (mastectomy, chemo, herceptin and 10 years of hormonal therapy) with lymphoedema, peripheral neuropathy and an arrhythmia. Mostly these have caused little dificulty, until lately. Exacerbated by a leg injury, I have now got some mobility problems. I am also 14 years older!! And if my experience is anything to go by, one's body simply doesn't bounce back the way it did when I was younger - even when I was in my 60s!
Before breast cancer, I was accustomed - indeed never thought about it - to be healthy. I was accustomed to a body that did what I wanted. Comments on BCNA have reminded me how many people experience cancer as yet one more bodily malfunction to cope with. And whose remnants of that experience will be much worse than mine. So yes, treatment may come at a cost, but I'd be wary of putting anyone off treatment because of the potential longer term outcomes. At least some of mine are the result of living longer - and possibly one of the most rewarding and interesting periods of my life.
