310. Surviving Cancer Is Only the Beginning: How to Process What Comes After

Love the podcast? Send us a text!What happens emotionally after you've spent months—or years—focused on simply surviving cancer?Treatment may end. Scans may look good. Life may begin moving forward again. But that doesn't necessarily mean you've processed what happened to you.In this episode of Breast Cancer Conversations, Laura Carfang sits down with visual artist, therapeutic arts practitioner, author, and cancer survivor Nerissa Balland for an honest conversation about the emotional aftermath of cancer—and why healing and surviving aren't necessarily the same thing.Nerissa was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma while five months pregnant and already raising a toddler. After navigating cancer treatment, motherhood, and enormous uncertainty, she began asking a question that would ultimately change the direction of her life:Was she the only one struggling to recognize the woman she had become after cancer?That question led Nerissa to interview more than 100 young mothers diagnosed with cancer. Across different diagnoses, backgrounds, treatments, and family circumstances, common themes emerged: identity, grief, anger, isolation, resilience, meaning-making, and the challenge of figuring out who you are after cancer changes your life.Those conversations eventually became her book, Canvas of Courage.In this episode, we explore:Why surviving cancer and processing cancer are two different experiencesThe emotions that can surface after active treatment endsCancer's impact on identity and sense of selfFear of recurrence and the emotional impact of "watch and wait"Why you don't have to be an artist to benefit from creativityExpressive writing, visual art, photography, movement, and other creative outletsHow creativity can help when you don't have words for what you're feelingMotherhood and parenting through cancerThe pressure to return to "normal" after treatmentFinding meaning and purpose after a life-changing diagnosisWhy emotional healing isn't linear—and doesn't follow a timelineLaura also shares her own experiences with emotions unexpectedly surfacing after breast cancer treatment and what she learned from breaking a crayon during an expressive arts exercise.Whether you're newly diagnosed, years beyond treatment, living with ongoing cancer, or supporting someone you love, this conversation offers permission to acknowledge that getting through treatment is only one part of the experience. Support the showListener FeedbackIf this episode resonated with you, we invite you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.You can also click the link in the show notes that says "Love this episode? Send us a text" to share feedback.Messages are completely anonymous.If you would like us to follow up directly, please include your email address in your message so we can respond.Latest News: Join our Mailing List - New content drops every Monday! Discover FREE programs, support groups, and resources from SurvivingBReastCancer.org! Become a Breast Cancer Conversations+ Member! Sign Up Now. Enjoying our content? Please consider supporting our work.