Be a Healthier Cancer Survivor

Article date: May 27, 2011

Each June, cancer survivors celebrate National Cancer Survivors Day, sponsored by the National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation. The event, which includes hundreds of life-affirming gatherings across the US, is a time to celebrate life – and if you're a cancer survivor, it’s also a good time to reflect on what you could be doing to be even healthier.

Whether you're still in treatment or long since finished, be sure you’re doing everything you can to safeguard your health. Eating right – limiting processed and red meat, and getting in 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day – is an important part of that equation. Exercise can boost your stamina, alleviate fatigue, and keep you on the road to better health.

It's also important to get the recommended cancer screenings so you can catch any new cancers early, when treatments are more likely to be successful. Another good idea: create a survivorship care plan, a thorough record of the treatments you had and any follow-up your cancer team recommends.

For more information about what you can do stay well after cancer, visit cancer.org/survivors or call 1-800-227-2345. To learn about American Cancer Society programs to help people with cancer, visit cancer.org/programsandservices. Be sure to also check out the  Cancer Survivors Network, an online peer support community of survivors and caregivers, at csn.cancer.org.

Reviewed by: Members of the ACS Medical Content Staff

ACS News Center stories are provided as a source of cancer-related news and are not intended to be used as press releases.