Body Image And Cancer – Taking Control Back

We all know that cancer is an aggressive, ugly disease that doesn’t care who or what it hurts. It just ravages through your system, causing chaos as it goes. This can cause all sorts of changes in both your mind and your body, which can all be incredibly difficult to deal with. In our experience, one of the ones that most people don’t expect, but hits the hardest, is the change it can cause in body image. It’s something we and Jill dealt with when she was going through cancer treatment, and so today we want to highlight what it is and the true impact it can have on someone with cancer.

What Is Body Image?

Your body image is the picture you hold in your mind of how your body looks and works. It’s how we think and feel about our bodies, and how we believe others see us. It’s linked to things like confidence and feelings of self-worth.

How Does Cancer Affect Your Body Image?

Cancer and the treatments for it can change how your body looks, how it works and how it feels, all of which changes your relationship with it and how you feel about it. These changes could be temporary or permanent, and they might be visible to everyone, like hair loss or weight gain, or they might not be obvious to others. For example, these include:

Surgical Changes: For example breast surgeries and mastectomies, formation of stomas, amputations, head and neck surgery and skin grafts.

Weight and Muscle Mass: Treatment and medications can cause you to lose or gain weight, which is a fairly widely known side-effect. It’s not as well-known that it can also change your body composition, like where you store fat, as well as changing your muscle mass, all of which can change how you look and even how clothes fit you.

Skin & Hair Changes: Hair loss, skin rashes, scars, lymphedema (tissue swelling), dry skin, acne, voice changes and even voice loss.

Posture: Some types of treatment can change your posture. For example, if you need to use walking aids like a stick or a wheelchair, these can change the way you’re able to move and your posture while moving. There are also other visual changes like feeding tubes and portocaths that can influence how you hold yourself, and your view of yourself out in public.

You might feel:

• Less confident

• Anxious about people’s reactions to you

• Worried about going out and meeting people

• As if you’ve lost a part of yourself, or aren’t the person you used to be

• Worried about your relationship or starting a new relationship

• Less feminine or less masculine

• Angry, anxious or sad

All of these are completely normal feelings when you’re coping with cancer and the changes it brings.

What Can You Do?

Remember that you’re allowed to feel sad. After all it’s a loss. Temporary or permanent, you need to grieve the change in order to accept the new reality. If the sadness stays for a long time, or you find yourself feeling panicky, anxious or depressed, a conversation with your GP or some counselling can be a positive thing.

Learn to like the body you have. This is a hard one, but it’s the healthiest thing you can do for your own mental health. Learning to like the body you’re in, how it works and the flaws it has can give you a new sense of empowerment. After all, this is the body that’s helping you beat cancer – it’s taken some punches, but it’s damn strong. Plus, you’re more than just a physical being. You have qualities and attributes that will outlast and outshine the physical road bumps. Try looking outward instead of inward, and build your confidence slowly.

Talk. Talk openly and honestly about how you feel. It can be with your partner, your friends and family, or even a complete stranger on a support line. Express how you feel, acknowledge your vulnerabilities and share support, positive feedback and even laughter. You’ve been through a lot, as have they, and seeing you re-emerge with confidence, even if it’s in a slightly different form, will help both them and you.

Prepare some soundbites. People who you haven’t seen in a while, or since your physical changes, then they are bound to have questions, or be unsure how to approach it with you. Preparing a sentence or two can do a world of good here. For example, something like:

‘I’ve been having cancer treatment, so I might look a bit different at the moment, but I’m ok.’

This lets them acknowledge the changes and move on, or open the discussion further if you and they want to.

Ultimately, cancer and cancer treatment are big things to go through, and changes to your body are completely normal. Thousands of people go through them every day, and you are not alone in your feelings. If you ever need to talk, or just some space to get away and reflect, Jill’s Fundraising Journey is here to help. Just get in touch, or apply for a free holiday at Jill’s Place.