A diagnosis of recurrent ovarian cancer can bring many uncertainties and anxieties. Our discussion, lead by Julie Larson LCSW, talks through how you can learn to calm your fears.

1. The Fear of Recurrence
Julie Larson, LCSW
www.julielarsonlcsw.com

2. “This just isn’t like me”
• Fear
• Sadness
• Guilt
• Anger
• Emotional numbness
• Uncertainty
• Worry
• Pressure
Totally NORMAL

3. And at the same time…
• Acknowledge personal strengths
• Deepened relationships
• Excitement about the future
• New desire to set personal goals
• Gratitude and appreciation for life

4. Fear of
Recurrence
Will cancer come back?
Will I get a secondary cancer related to my treatments?
Will I recognize symptoms?
What do I pay attention to? What do I dismiss?
Am I doing enough?
Am I overdoing it?

5. Why? Why?
Why? Why?

6. Taking Action #1:
Worry = Unanswered Questions
When is my cancer
most likely to recur?
What are the doctors
looking at during
follow up visits?
When should I contact
my medical team?
Did treatment put me
at risk for any future
health issues? How will
those be monitored?
What are the questions driving your worry and fear?

7. Strategy #1: Redirect
your Thinking
“What If?” to… “What Is.”
Take inventory of your present. What you
know for sure.
“What If?” to…. “What Else.”
Are there other possible truths?
“What If?” to… “Then What.”
Create a concrete plan for your worst-
case scenarios.
“What If?” to… “What’s Left.”
Turn the lights on in the rest of the room.
What is available to you now?

8. Desperatly
Seeking
Control
Control is your best effort to
get rid of or problem solve
something that is distressing
to you.

9. • Rested
• Nourished
• Hydrated
• Connected
• Acknowledged
• Tired
• Hungry
• Sick
• Overwhelmed
• Emotional
Paying Attention with Purpose
STRESS RESILIENT
STRESS VULNERABLE

10. “Well hello Worry…”
 Greet your feelings like a visitor.
 Resist judging or struggling to “fix” them.
 Allow them some space to just be with you.
 Struggling with the uncontrollable feelings often makes the
feeling more intense.
 Watch how it is you learn to live
despite their presence?
“Oh! Anger. It’s
you.”
“Ah,
Restlessness.
Yes, I know
you.”
“Fear, you’ve
returned I see.”
“Oh jealousy,
hello.”

11. Taking Action #3:
Multiple Feelings at once
Do you have
more than one
feeling at a time?
Are these
feelings
contradictory?
How do you
attend to these
feelings?
What do you
need?

12. Increasing Self Awareness
TRIGGERS

13. Prevents you from being present
Catastrophizing
Personalizing
All or Nothing
Fortune
Telling
Should
Must
Ought
Negative
Comparisons
“The Voice” inside your head

14. The Anger Sadness Alliance
SADNESS:
• Sadness is vulnerable.
• Sadness accepts the situation for what it is.
• What helps you feel safe enough to be really sad?
• Pay very close attention to what makes you stop crying?
• Why does THAT matter?
ANGER:
• Anger is active energy.
• Anger gets you fired up and ready to defend yourself, jump into action!
• Anger rallies you to do something to change the situation.
• What can you do with that energy?
• Do you know your triggers?
Mindfully
consider: Which
emotion tends to
be your default?

15. “He lived
some distance
from his
body”
Worry and Fear can be very “head heavy”
How can you reconnect with your body?
Breathe
Change location (sit/stand; inside/outside; lay
down/get up)
Feel your body – touch
Ground yourself into the…ground. 
Change the pace with breath

16. A Support “Who’s Who”
•Health Care Professionals
•Peers (other who “get it!”)
•Friends and Family: “F.D.R.”
YOU
FEELING
Friends
DOING
Friends
RESPITE
Friends

17. Stay
in
Your
Lane
• Your emotions are influenced by the people around you.
• Hearing variances in treatment plans or follow up care can
cause you to second guess your treatment.
• Learning about someone else’s recurrence is a trigger.
• The set-backs (or successes) of survivor friends can trigger
concerns about doing cancer “well”.
• MAKE YOUR CANCER PERSONAL.
This is your diagnosis. Your survivorship. Your story.