Lately I’ve had a lot of conversations with women who tell me they’re afraid to give up their fear of their cancer coming back.

Do you feel like your anxiety is protecting you? Like you might miss an important symptom if you let go of your fear?

If you’ve had cancer, fear can feel like the only thing standing between you and danger. Like if you stay alert enough—and scared enough—you might stop the other shoe from dropping. Or at least catch it in time to do something about it.

But here’s the truth: fear isn’t protection. It’s a prison.

You’ve already been through enough. You've faced the diagnosis, the treatments, the endless uncertainty. You’ve shown strength in the most terrifying situations. So why does it still feel like the only way to stay safe is to stay anxious?

Because your brain—especially your post-cancer brain—has been trained to look for danger. And it’s gotten really good at it. Hypervigilance becomes second nature.

Every twinge, every lab result, every “we need to run a few more tests” sends you straight into panic mode. Your anxiety screams, I’m just trying to help you survive!” 

But surviving and living? Not the same thing. And thriving? Not even close.

Whether you have one year or fifty ahead of you—do you really want to spend them trapped in fear? I don’t think so.

Here’s what anxiety doesn’t want you to know: it’s not actually keeping you safe. It’s keeping you stuck. It’s keeping you from peace. From joy. From fully inhabiting the life you fought so hard to keep.

And ironically, when you’re so busy scanning for danger, you might actually miss it. You’re more likely to overlook something when you're on constant red alert.

When your nervous system is stuck overdrive, there’s no room for rest. For connection. For presence.  For all the moments you’ve fought so hard to still be here for.

Even worse? Chronic anxiety doesn’t just feel miserable - it  raises your baseline stress, which can impact your health. 

The very thing you’re trying to protect could actually be at greater risk when fear is running the show.

So what if you could start gently loosening that grip?

You don’t have to completely banish fear overnight. But you can start asking: “Is this helping me, or hurting me?” You can learn new tools for feeling safe without being on edge 24/7.

Letting go of anxiety isn’t giving up vigilance—it’s choosing freedom.

And you deserve that freedom. 

Ready to reclaim it? Talk to me. I’ve got all sorts of ways to help you let it go—so you can thrive rather than just survive. 

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