Can-xiety: Understanding and Navigating Cancer Anxiety with Clarity, Compassion, and Control
It often starts in the quiet moments—the waiting room silence before a scan, the unfamiliar ache that sends your mind spiralling, or the long pause before a doctor shares your results. Cancer, whether newly diagnosed or long behind you, has a way of opening the door to a deeply human, deeply visceral emotion: anxiety.
This experience is so common, so relentless, and so misunderstood that it deserves its own name. I call it can-xiety: the persistent, often paralysing anxiety that surrounds a cancer diagnosis, treatment, remission, and the ever-lingering “what ifs” that follow.
And yet, despite its prevalence, can-xiety is rarely addressed in clinical settings. You’re given a diagnosis, maybe a prognosis, a treatment plan—and then left to hold the emotional weight of it all. But here’s the truth: this anxiety is not a flaw in you. It’s not weakness. And it’s not a sign you’re not coping.
It is your nervous system responding exactly as it should in the face of chronic uncertainty, perceived danger, and life-altering disruption.
Let’s talk about what anxiety actually is, why it takes such a strong hold during cancer, and most importantly—how you can take back a sense of agency, even in the midst of the unknown.
Why Cancer Anxiety Happens
At its core, anxiety is a neurobiological survival response. It’s the body’s way of preparing for threat—tightening, bracing, scanning the environment for danger. In the context of cancer, the threats are many: physical, emotional, existential, financial, relational. Suddenly, the ground you stood on feels like it’s shifting beneath your feet.
There’s the fear of treatment. The fear of recurrence. The fear of scans. The fear of side effects. The fear of death. Even the fear of hope. And because cancer is so often experienced as something happening to you—something out of your control—your nervous system is left wide open, exposed to unpredictability without a clear roadmap back to safety.
In a state like this, anxiety becomes your constant companion. It’s not just a feeling—it’s a physiological state. And until you can create safety again in the body and mind, your system won’t feel settled, no matter how “positive” your results may be.
Why Medicine Often Misses the Mark
Traditional medicine, as life-saving as it can be, often fails to address the emotional terrain of the cancer experience. Oncology is built around protocols—chemo, radiation, surgery—but not often around people. The standard model isn’t designed to hold space for the psychological toll, the nervous system dysregulation, the trauma that comes with facing your mortality.
This lack of support doesn’t just create distress—it can actually impact outcomes. A nervous system stuck in chronic survival mode struggles to heal. High levels of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline can impair immune function, disrupt sleep, slow recovery, and even promote inflammation and tumour progression.
When your nervous system is dysregulated, it doesn’t just feel bad. It has physiological consequences. But the good news is that we can do something about it.
Taking Back Control: Scaffolding Around the Fear
One of the most effective antidotes to anxiety is agency—the sense that you are not powerless, that you are participating in your care, not just enduring it.
This is where scaffolding becomes essential. Scaffolding means building a support system around you that steadies you when your foundation feels shaky. This includes:
Engaging the right practitioners – beyond your oncologist, this may include an integrative GP, counsellor or psychotherapist trained in trauma and nervous system work, a naturopath experienced in oncology support, and someone who can help coordinate your care holistically.
Having regular, appropriate testing – not just relying on “watch and wait,” but developing a proactive testing rhythm that helps you feel informed and in charge.
Building your nervous system literacy – understanding how your body responds to fear, and learning tools to bring it back to a state of calm and safety.
Testing That Supports Peace of Mind
When used wisely, testing can be a powerful tool for calming cancer anxiety—not by chasing every number, but by providing clear checkpoints that reassure you of where you’re at.
Some key tests to consider include:
Tumour markers (e.g. CA-125, CEA, PSA): Helpful in certain cancers, but not always reliable as early indicators. They should never be the only measure used—but in combination with other data, they can provide insight.
Inflammatory markers (e.g. CRP, ESR): Chronic inflammation can drive cancer progression, and watching these numbers over time can help monitor your internal environment.
D-dimer: This test measures clotting activity and is sometimes elevated in active cancer or recurrence. It can be useful when interpreted alongside other indicators.
Vitamin D, immune function panels, full blood count: These give insight into how well your body is resourced for healing.
These tests can often be ordered by your oncologist, GP, or through a private functional medicine provider. Just having access to this data, on a regular basis, can ease the mental pressure of wondering what’s going on inside.
Nervous System Resilience: The Real Game-Changer
Even with data and support, anxiety can still creep in. That’s why one of the most important practices you can develop is building vagal tone—strengthening your body’s capacity to move out of fear and back into regulation.
This is where I bring in the Polyvagal Theory, which helps us understand how the nervous system responds to threat, and more importantly, how to bring it back to safety. When you’re stuck in fight, flight, or freeze, your system is trying to protect you. Nothing is broken. This is biology doing its job.
The key is giving your body new information—signals that it’s safe enough to soften, to breathe, to rest.
Here are some practical tools to begin building nervous system resilience:
Breathwork – Slow, extended exhales (especially with humming or toning) stimulate the vagus nerve and promote calm.
Cold exposure – Gentle cold showers or face immersions can activate the parasympathetic system, improving vagal tone.
Somatic movement or shaking – Releases stored tension and helps complete survival responses that were interrupted.
Vocalisation – Singing, chanting, humming—all vibrational practices that support vagal activation.
Body-based mindfulness – Techniques like yoga nidra, grounding, or self-touch help bring you back into your body.
I go deep into these practices and more in my 3-hour Nervous System Mastery workshop—designed specifically for people navigating stress, trauma, and chronic illness like cancer. If you haven’t yet experienced it, I highly recommend it as your next step.
You’re Not Broken. You’re Wired for Survival.
If you’ve been feeling like you’re spiralling in fear, caught in cycles of dread before a scan or obsessing over a new symptom, please hear this: you are not doing it wrong.
You’re not weak. You’re not negative. You’re human.
Your body is doing what it was designed to do—responding to perceived threat with vigilance and protection. But you don’t have to stay stuck there. You can learn to guide your nervous system home. You can build rituals and rhythms that support safety. You can scaffold around the fear so that it doesn’t consume you.
And you don’t have to wait for a clear scan to find peace.
You can start now—by understanding your anxiety not as an enemy, but as a messenger. And by learning how to respond, not with panic, but with presence.
This is the heart of Nervous System Mastery.
It’s not about suppressing fear. It’s about learning how to move through it—with clarity, with tools, and with grace.
Access the full Nervous System Mastery workshop here: PURCHASE HERE
Because your healing journey deserves to feel steadier, safer, and more supported.