As a patient advocate, I’m grateful for how The Princess of Wales has been using her platform to normalize the difficulties of post-treatment recovery. In her first major public statement since Kensington Palace released a video last fall, the Princess posted on Instagram a message about completing cancer treatment: “It is a relief to now be in remission, and I remain focused on recovery.” She makes clear that it’s not over with the final treatment. The physical and emotional adjustments after cancer take time, effort, and hope.
In a love-and-laughter-filled video montage of the royal family, a voiceover of Princess Kate tells her truths, such as how her “path to healing and full recovery is long” and how she has entered “this new phase of recovery with a renewed sense of hope and appreciation of life.”
Two weeks after delivering each of my babies (1985, ‘87, and ‘89) I returned to full-time work at my medical practice. In 1991, after finishing chemo, I naturally expected to get back to normal ASAP. I was blindsided by the challenges. Ever since, I’ve been exploring and writing about how to manage post-treatment recovery and longterm survivorship in healthy, hopeful ways.
To have a normal life after cancer means creating a new normal that incorporates the physical emotional, and spiritual changes catalyzed by your cancer experience.…Understanding the changes brought on by cancer treatment allows you to join the ranks of those who have survived the cancer experience and found themselves better for it. (from the prologue and epilogue, After Cancer: A Guide to Your New Life).
I’m also grateful for how Princess Kate focused on hope, offering heartfelt encouragement to those in treatment, “I remain with you, side by side, hand in hand. After darkness can come light, so let that light shine bright.”
With sound knowledge, healing hope, and proper actions, all patients can be Healthy Survivors—people who make life the best it can be.
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