Scanxiety Take Two

  I have posted about scanxiety before, but I recently attended a webinar by A Time to Heal that elaborated on this topic. The psychologist who presented made the point that:

• Scanxiety is a colloquial/informal term usually referring to:
• Fear of cancer recurrence or
• Fear of cancer progression
• Anxiety about the results, implications, and ongoing uncertainty about the future
• Not necessarily about the scan itself

 The definition I provided prior is:

 High and Unhelpful Scanxiety can lead to:

• Lower quality of life
• More limitations by physical issues
• Higher perceived stress
• Higher rates of depression
• Higher rates of anxiety
• Difficulty in relationships

 The Paradox of Anxiety

It is helpful for:

• acute stressors (immediate physical threats)
• controllable stressors

It is unhelpful for:

• stressors that last > 10 minutes
• uncontrollable stressors

Bottom line, it's fight or flight. While fight or flight is essential to our survival and a normal response, prolonged exposure to that state can be unhealthy and increase stress levels.

 All this to say that a CT scan I received in November 2024 for some right lower abdominal pain showed some findings on my left lower lung and warranted a repeated CT scan of my chest. I like to admit that I tend to be very calm around times like these as knowing is better than not knowing, so I don't tend to become extra anxious (beyond my normal axiety). When I do become anxious is when these scans continue to find new things that could show progression of or recurrence of cancer. Those findings revealed:

• Mild posttreatment fibrotic change of the anterior left upper lobe of lung (from radiation)
• Skin thickening of left chest wall (from radiation)
• Recommend clinical evaluation for the potential for inflammatory breast cancer

Are you kidding me!? I have yet to hear from my physician to make a determination on if this is warranted or not, but talk about the definition of scanxiety, even if you're able to keep your cool prior to the scan.

 I'm also waiting on my biopsy results from my endometrial biopsy, but my lab results of my follicle stimulating hormone indicated I kicked out of menopause and back to normal cycle, which could account for my symptoms. This isn't cool either since we need my ovaries to NOT be producing estrogen or progesterone.

 A refresher for those who remember health class:

Now, how to manage scanxiety:

• Anticipate Anxiety
• Expected triggers
• Upcoming appointments/scans
• Waiting for results
• Anniversary of diagnoses, treatments, etc
• Social gatherings, positive events, holidays
• Unexpected triggers
• New or worsening physical symptoms / pains
• Random reminders (e.g., commercials, billboards, hearing of someone else’s diagnosis, learning someone passed)
• Social gatherings, positive 
• Preparing to respond
• To expected triggers
• Plan for distraction & relaxation
• Remind yourself what you can and can’t control
• Remind yourself that anxiety is trying to be helpful
• When seeing family/friends who will ask about your health, have a "canned response” and remind yourself they are asking because they care
• To unexpected triggers
• Have your ‘break-glass-in-case-of-anxiety’ plan
• Relaxation, deep breathing, jot down worries, call a friend, etc.
• Reminder that anxiety occurs because 1) you are alive and 2) you care about your health
• Preventing can be more helpful than reacting
  
  
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