Hollings Horizons Winter/Spring 2026 - Magazine - Page 8
SURVIVOR’S GUILT
Getting back to life after cancer
His diagnosis was terminal – four to six months – but that was
15 years ago now and, thanks to a clinical trial, Nathan Calhoun
is still healthy and cancer-free.
While part of the trial, Calhoun became close to many of the
other patients involved. None of them responded to the trial
the way he did.
“Everyone I got close to passed away,” said Calhoun. “And
so that was a unique challenge that was unanticipated – the
survivor guilt and getting back to normal living.”
According to Hollings Cancer Center’s Stacey Maurer, Ph.D.,
these are common challenges that many cancer survivors deal
with as they try to move on with their lives post-cancer. Maurer
is a clinical psychologist who specializes in working with people
diagnosed with cancer.
“What I hear most commonly is that there’s a struggle to
integrate back into normal life,” said Maurer. “Sometimes
there’s even encouragement from family and friends to be
happy that you’re alive and get back to your work, your
family and all the things that are important to you. But for
most people who have been through cancer, that’s a really
challenging thing to do.”
While improvement in the rates of overall cancer survival is
very encouraging, survivors may face physical, emotional,
social, spiritual and financial challenges because of their
diagnosis and treatment. There are fears that the cancer will
come back. Some patients struggle with lingering side effects
from their treatment or from the cancer itself, and many notice
physical changes to their bodies or how they look and feel.
Maurer said there are symptoms that survivors and their
families should be aware of post-treatment. Survivors can
appear more withdrawn or distracted. They can be hesitant
to engage in activities they previously enjoyed, and they may
share more worry or may feel and appear more down or sad.
To combat these symptoms, Maurer starts by helping her
patients to clarify what’s most important to them.
“I want them to think about what they value most,” she said.
“Not what they feel they should value or what they feel they
should be doing – but really and truly what is most important
to them.”
From there, she recommends taking small steps toward
those things. That could be working on having closer family
relationships, working on overall health, or doing something
they’ve always wanted to do – like going back to school.
“When you’re going through cancer, it’s your singular focus and
a lot of day-to-day concerns or worries might even fade into
the background temporarily,” said Maurer. “And then it’s like
being dropped back into your pre-cancer life while you’re still
reeling from this life-changing experience.”
For Calhoun, he found that sharing his story, not putting
too much pressure on himself and reaching out to the family
members of the other patients was what helped him through
the healing process.
“It’s completely counterintuitive and antithetical to what I
thought would help at the time,” he said. “I was terrified to
speak with the other families, and that’s what ended up helping.
You can really overwhelm yourself with the pressure of a new
purpose. It’s really easy to close off, but healing comes through
those connections and reaching out to others.”
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“nathan calhoun - why i ride”
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Hollings Horizons Winter/Spring 2026
