cancer survivors feel pressured to ‘put on a happy face and get on with life’

samantha redsky was diagnosed with a rare type of non-hodgkin lymphoma at the age of 23. her blood cancer is considered so rare, it is actually a statistics case. the rare medicinal subset of the blood cancer affected her heart, and at the time of diagnosis, it had not spread anywhere else in the body. to treat her cancer, she received six sessions of chemo and 21 sessions of radiation – treatment that lasted about eight months. because chemo made her so sick, she began to question if the fight was worth it and whether she had enough strength to get through treatment.redsky says she became very emotional after the chemo experience. the doctors gave her the option to treat remaining cancer with radiation or a stem cell transplant, which would have taken away her ability to have children.redsky didn’t feel angry until about three years after remission. “i couldn’t live my life, i couldn’t do what i wanted,” she says. “i had to plan my life around my medical appointments – i felt frustrated and often asked myself – when am i going to get to live my young adult life? for 10 years, i was in limbo about whether i could have a baby. now that i have my daughter, it’s an experience i’m so grateful for.”through her blood cancer experience, redsky learned that it’s ok to ask people for help and that not everybody can cope with a diagnosis of a loved one. she wants others to understand that a cancer diagnosis changes people – for the better. she says that she has a positive outlook now that she has officially been discharged as a patient. “i feel stronger than ever and for that, i am deeply grateful.” redsky is a part of an advisory committee that was integral to the development of a survivorship program that was recently launched by the leukemia & lymphoma society of canada.the leukemia & lymphoma society of canada learned from their market research study that following treatment, people often struggle between two worlds – trying to move forward while continuing to deal with the physical, the mental and emotional impact of the blood cancer experience.following treatment, people often feel pressured to put on a happy face and get on with life. whether someone is returning to work after treatment, struggling with brain fog and fatigue, or trying to adjust to a new normal after cancer, the leukemia & lymphoma society of canada’s your life after cancer program offers information, tools and resources to help people thrive in this new chapter.