For some people with bone cancer, treatment may remove or destroy the cancer. Completing treatment can be both stressful and exciting. You may be relieved to finish treatment, but find it hard not to worry about cancer coming back. (When cancer comes back after treatment, it is called recurrence.) This is a very common concern in people who have had cancer.

It may take a while before your fears lessen. But it may help to know that many cancer survivors have learned to live with this uncertainty and are leading full lives. Our document, Living with Uncertainty: The Fear of Cancer Recurrence, gives more detailed information on this.

For other people, the cancer may never go away completely. These people may get regular treatments with chemotherapy, radiation, or other therapies to try to help keep the cancer in check. Learning to live with cancer that does not go away can be difficult and very stressful. It has its own type of uncertainty. Our document, When Cancer Doesn’t Go Away, talks more about this.

Follow-up care

When treatment ends, your doctors will still want to watch you closely. It is very important to go to all of your follow-up appointments. During these visits, your doctors will ask questions about any problems you might be having and could use exams, lab tests, or x-rays and scans to look for signs of cancer or treatment side effects. Almost any cancer treatment can have side effects. Some may last for a few weeks to months, but others can last the rest of your life. Now is the time for you to talk to your cancer care team about any changes or problems you notice and any questions or concerns you have.

Following extensive bone surgery, a program of rehabilitation and physical therapy will be an important part of helping you regain as much of your mobility and independence as possible.

It is important to keep health insurance. Tests and doctor visits cost a lot, and even though no one wants to think of their cancer coming back, this could happen.

Should your cancer come back, our document, When Your Cancer Comes Back: Cancer Recurrence can give you information on how to manage and cope with this phase of your treatment.

Seeing a new doctor

At some point after your cancer diagnosis and treatment, you might find yourself seeing a new doctor who does not know anything about your medical history. It is important for you to be able to give your new doctor the details of your diagnosis and treatment. Gathering these details soon after treatment may be easier than trying to get them at some point in the future. Make sure you have the following information handy:

• A copy of your pathology report(s) from any biopsies or surgeries
• If you had surgery, a copy of your operative report(s)
• If you had radiation, a copy of the treatment summary
• If you were in the hospital, a copy of the discharge summary that doctors prepare when patients are sent home
• If you had chemotherapy (or targeted therapy), a list of your drugs, drug doses, and when you took them
• A copy of your x-rays and other imaging studies (these can be put on a CD or DVD)

The doctor may want copies of this information for his records, but always keep copies for yourself.

Last Medical Review: 03/21/2014
Last Revised: 01/21/2016

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