Scanxiety. If youβve been through cancer, chances are you know the feeling all too well.
In this panel episode of The Young Tongues Podcast, Barbara is joined by Young Tongues members Kelly and Noah for an open conversation about the anxiety that can surround scans, check-ups and the possibility of recurrence.
Together, they explore what scanxiety actually feels like β from the physical tension and hypervigilance to analysing every new ache, pain or change in your body. They talk about the strange limbo of living from one appointment to the next, the agonising wait for results, and how a previous recurrence or difficult diagnosis experience can fundamentally change the way you respond to reassurance and statistics.
Kelly shares the additional complexity of scanxiety after experiencing a recurrence that was discovered on a scan, while Noah reflects on being just a few years out from treatment and learning how to balance vigilance with not allowing fear to take over his life. Barbara brings the perspective of being seven years post-treatment and how her relationship with follow-up appointments β and her own body β has gradually changed over time.
The panel also discusses access to scan results, patient portals, communication from healthcare teams, advocating for what you need from your clinicians, and the mixed emotions that come when appointments finally become less frequent. Most importantly, this is a conversation about learning to live in the space between check-ups: recognising when something genuinely needs investigating while finding ways to stop cancer from occupying every corner of your life.
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