Preparing for Cancer Treatment and Recovery
Cancer and its treatments can significantly impact your ability to do normal daily activities. Eating and drinking, moving around and doing the things you enjoy can become more difficult.
Cancer rehabilitation helps you to maintain and restore your physical and emotional wellbeing. It is a core part of cancer care and helps you to make the most of your life by:
- Preparing you for treatment
- Maximising the results of treatment
- Minimising the side-effects associated with treatment such as weight loss, fatigue and breathlessness
Cancer rehabilitation can also help you with the day-to-day problems caused by the disease and treatment, helps maintain your independence and minimise your reliance on family, friends and support services as far as possible, and helps you to get well and stay well.
If you or a family member have or are recovering from cancer, you can use the information in the following sections to help improve your quality of life.
If you have been diagnosed with cancer, it’s important to prepare for any potential treatment ahead. Evidence shows that paying attention to your nutrition, exercise and wellbeing has many important benefits such as:
- Helping you take control during times of uncertainty.
- Making you less vulnerable to the side effects of treatment which allows you to cope better and recover quicker.
- Improves your long term health and your quality of life.
Further information on preparing for treatment (prehabilitation) can be found here.
Cancer rehabilitation during your treatment (e.g. surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy) can help manage and reduce the side effects of treatment, it also helps you be more involved in you care and recovery.
The Enhance Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) programme can help you stay well and get better quicker following cancer surgery.
Following cancer treatment it is important you are supported to live well and go on with your life. Some people will require support and help to manage the physical and psychological effects of cancer. Whilst others will need to make positive health changes to reduce the chance of cancer recurrence and to lead a healthier life.
Also in this section
Further support and help:
The advice on these pages is designed to help you prepare for the treatment ahead and support you through to recovery.
If you need further advice and support please discuss this with your key worker or healthcare professional.
- Macmillan Cancer Support:
0808 808 00 00 - Maggie’s Cardiff:
029 2240 8024 - Tenovus Cancer Care:
0808 808 1010
