A cancer diagnosis can be a hugely traumatic experience, often fraught with anxiety and, in many cases, followed by a challenging treatment programme.

While chemotherapy and radiotherapy are among the treatments for the physical illness, the mental strain of the disease can sometimes go by the wayside.

A new Mindfulness for Cancer programme at Gort Cancer Support seeks to address that.

Facilitated by Hilary Smyth, this evidence-based programme is designed to support people who are living with or recovering from a cancer diagnosis.

The course will be particularly beneficial to prepare for and deal with the emotions that come with the end of treatment, says Hilary, when people sometimes feel slightly lost and worried about what the future might hold.

“Quite often, after treatment has ended, people are told, ‘that’s great, you can go and live your life now’. But it isn’t that simple. That can be hugely upsetting because you go from having weekly hospital appointments to, suddenly, having nothing.

“So much of your time goes into getting through the treatment. There isn’t time to process feelings and emotions. Suddenly, all of those come to the fore after the treatment has ended,” she says.

Hilary, who has a medical background and spent 20 years working in palliative care nursing, says mindfulness offers an opportunity to look at what life after cancer will be.

“Nobody, other than those who have been through cancer, can fully understand what someone with cancer has been through. When you go back to work, there is a feeling that you should be able to go back to normal – pick up where you left off. But that isn’t how it works,” she says.

Many people are left with ‘overwhelming fears’ and concerns that “every ache and pain is the cancer coming back”.

“Mindfulness helps us to not look too much into the future, or back at the past. It helps us to work with the now without letting our mind wander,” explains Hilary.

To learn more or to register for the Mindfulness for Cancer programme, contact Hilary Smyth on 086 3537445 or email kindmindireland@gmail.com.

Caption: Vice Chairperson, Mary Nolan, outside Gort Cancer Support’s Hollyblue House, with Centre Manager Cara Brady.

Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie.