I’m well beyond the conversation of being hopeful or not. Hope was more important in the beginning—it got me through the fear; it got me functioning, listening and learning. But, now, five years into living with recurrence, I’m more focused on asking “What’s the next thing?” and researching therapies put before me to figure out if they are likely to help me. My friends and family have hope that the next thing will cure me. I don’t think it will cure me, but maybe it will give me more time. I’m a realist. I’m still a vibrant person.
Lindsay McDonell, Author of Your Dance with Cancer
Navigating advanced cancer
Take care of difficult emotions and physical distress first
Learning that your cancer is advancing can bring up many different feelings. It’s not uncommon to feel shock, fear, anger, disappointment, sadness, and/or guilt. Feeling this way hurts. But going into and through the difficult emotions and improving your physical comfort is important for being able to plan and spend your time in the most meaningful way possible.
Some sections of CancerChoices will guide you in taking care of difficult emotions and physical distress common during this time.
Get clear on what matters now
Learn about your choices
Living with advanced cancer
Advances in cancer therapies, including new drugs and personalized treatments, mean that more and more people are living with advanced cancer for longer periods. While this is a testament to progress in oncology, it also brings unique challenges. Some may find a miraculous treatment that leads to no evidence of disease. For many, life-extending treatments often follow a pattern: a treatment works well for a time, but eventually, the cancer progresses, often accompanied by distressing or disabling symptoms. Then, another treatment is tried, and the cycle begins again.
Living with advanced cancer can feel like an emotional and physical rollercoaster. The periods of stability, when treatments are working, may bring hope and relief, but they’re often followed by the anxiety and uncertainty that come with disease progression. Adjusting to new treatments, managing side effects, and coping with symptoms can feel overwhelming.
Focusing on your quality of life can make a profound difference. Here are some strategies to help:
Manage symptoms and side effects: Work closely with your care team to address physical discomfort, such as pain, fatigue, or nausea. Supportive and palliative care can greatly enhance day-to-day comfort.
Maintain physical and emotional well-being: Engage in activities that bring joy and meaning, whether it’s spending time with loved ones, pursuing hobbies, or practicing mindfulness or yoga. Regular physical activity when possible, and a nourishing diet, can improve energy levels and mood.
Explore integrative therapies: Work with an integrativein cancer care, a patient-centered approach combining the best of conventional care, self care, and evidence-informed complementary care in an integrated plan practitioner to find complementary therapies that can enhance your treatment outcomes, reduce side effects, and support your well-being.
Manage fear of progression by focusing on what you can control, finding emotional support through a support group or counselor, and exploring mindfulness practices such as meditation, yoga, or qigong.
While the journey may involve ups and downs, many find strength in the love and support of their communities, spiritual practices, or reflecting on what brings purpose to their lives. Embracing a focus on living fully, even in the face of uncertainty, can bring peace and fulfillment.
When treatments no longer work
Sometimes, when treatments are no longer working and cancer is progressing, doctors may say something like: “I’m sorry, there’s nothing more that we can do…” Once they get that far in the sentence, people usually don’t hear the rest: “… to treat your cancer.” The statement might end there, or it may include the following most important part of the message: “but we can manage your symptoms and improve the quality of your life. We will continue to be involved in your care.”
Even if you didn’t hear this last bit from your doctor, rest assured that options are available to help you make the most of this time of your life, and as comfortably as possible. Your team may bring in new members who are experts in comfort care.
Some people decide they don’t want to take any more treatments to try to stop the cancer. When they stop conventional treatmentthe cancer care offered by conventionally trained physicians and most hospitals; examples are chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy, they might actually feel better because treatment side effects are no longer a burden.
Other people may want to “fight until the end” with whatever conventional treatments the doctor will give them, even if the likelihood of good results is not high. Some may also want to “leave no stone unturned” and pursue treatments beyond conventional therapies, including experimental therapies.
Make and integrate your choices
You may choose to explore one or more of several options.
Even when cancer is not curable or controllable, healing is still possible.
Advance care planning
Contemplating the end of life can be challenging, yet participants in the Cancer Help Program Retreats › often find their evening discussions about death and dying to be some of the most meaningful experiences of the retreat. Similarly, reflecting on the practical aspects of dying well can free up mental space to focus on living fully.
Lifestyle Practices and complementary therapies you can do now
7 Lifestyle Practices
Lifestyle Practices can be vitally important now. They may not only help with the difficult emotions and physical distress you might be experiencing, but also help you identify and work on healing what remains to be healed in your life.
You may not be able to do some of these practices to the extent you once could, yet they may still be very helpful. For instance, you may no longer be able to do aerobic exercise, but you may be able to do gentle yoga or qigong. If you begin with Exploring What Matters Now, the other healing practices that will serve you best will become apparent.
Complementary therapies
Either alone or in addition to Lifestyle Practices, complementaryin cancer care, complementary care involves the use of therapies intended to enhance or add to standard conventional treatments; examples include supplements, mind-body approaches such as yoga or psychosocialtherapy, and acupuncture therapies such as supplements, mind-body approaches, and more might help you now. Many of these therapies help ease difficult emotions or help manage symptoms such as pain.
You may already have a team of complementary therapists lined up from when you were originally diagnosed. This might be a good time to get in touch with them and see if they have something to offer you now. More and more hospice and palliative care programs are offering complementary therapies—consider asking about this if you are interviewing potential programs.
If you are considering complementary therapies for the first time, you may be wondering how you can choose which are likely to be helpful for you. Ideally, an integrative oncology doctor, nurse, navigator, or advocate would be able to guide you in choosing therapies that are right for you at this time.
For instance, if you would like to know which therapies might help control pain, use the filters on the left side of the page. Look for the “Symptoms” filter and select “Pain.” A list of therapies helpful for managing pain will be displayed. These will include only the therapies that we’ve reviewed so far, and only those that have published evidence of benefit for relieving pain. Similarly, if you want to know which therapies are useful for someone with advanced cancer, use the “Cancer types” filter, selecting “Advanced cancer.”
Get more help
You may be saying to yourself, “This is great that there’s all this information here, but I’d like some help navigating this site.” or “Well all this written information and guidance is helpful, but I also need more individualized one-on-one help.” The good news is that living and breathing guides can lead you through this website, or the bigger unfamiliar territory of cancer.
We’re with you
You are not alone. We’re here to help and connect you with resources that will benefit you and those you love. Our partners at Healing Circles are also available to invite you into a small group for support.
Healing stories
Guidance at each phase of cancer
Reviewer
Miki Scheidel is Co-founder and creative director of CancerChoices. Miki and her family were deeply affected by her father’s transformative experience with integrative approaches to metastatic kidney cancer. That experience inspires her work as president of the Scheidel Foundation, which includes the integrative cancer care portfolio, and as volunteer staff at CancerChoices. She previously worked with the US Agency for International Development and Family Health International among other roles. She received her graduate degree in international development from Georgetown University and a graduate certificate in nonprofit management from George Mason University.
Last update: May 24, 2024
Last full resource review: May 2022
CancerChoices provides information about integrative in cancer care, a patient-centered approach combining the best of conventional care, self care and evidence-informed complementary care in an integrated plan cancer care. We review complementaryin cancer care, complementary care involves the use of therapies intended to enhance or add to standard conventional treatments; examples include supplements, mind-body approaches such as yoga or psychosocial therapy, and acupuncture therapies and self-care lifestyle actions and behaviors that may impact cancer outcomes; examples include eating health-promoting foods, limiting alcohol, increasing physical activity, and managing stress practices to help patients and professionals explore and integrate the best combination of conventionalthe cancer care offered by conventionally trained physicians and most hospitals; examples are chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy and complementary therapies and practices for each person.
Our staff have no financial conflicts of interest to declare. We receive no funds from any manufacturers or retailers gaining financial profit by promoting or discouraging therapies mentioned on this site.
