Cancer Survivorship and Supportive Oncology

Cancer survivorship and supportive oncology are essential parts of recovery — yet they are often overlooked once treatment ends.

In this episode, we explore what truly happens after chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery with Dr. Jeff Kendall, a psychologist and leader in supportive cancer care. Together, we unpack the emotional, physical, and identity shifts that define life after cancer treatment — and how evidence-based supportive oncology helps patients rebuild with confidence.

For many patients, finishing treatment does not feel like a celebration. It can feel like stepping off a cliff. The structure of appointments disappears. Fatigue lingers. Relationships shift. Work resumes before energy fully returns. And sometimes the mirror reflects someone unfamiliar.

Supportive oncology addresses these realities head-on.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• What cancer survivorship really means
• Emotional health during and after cancer treatment
• Cancer-related fatigue and post-treatment adjustment
• Identity disruption and appearance changes
• Why aesthetic care during treatment is about dignity, not vanity
• The role of trained oncology aestheticians in safe skincare
• How to avoid misinformation, supplements, and “miracle cure” marketing
• The integration of therapy, research, education, and bedside care

Dr. Kendall explains how a strengths-based approach transforms fear into action. Rather than relying on willpower alone, patients who develop practical coping tools — emotional skills, structured routines, and intentional support systems — navigate survivorship more successfully.

You’ll also learn two actionable strategies:

Collect tools. The more usable coping tools you build, the steadier your recovery.

Match your asks to others’ strengths. Ask the good listener for comfort. Ask the fixer for logistics. Strategic support reduces burnout and strengthens connection.

Whether you are a cancer survivor, caregiver, healthcare professional, or someone seeking credible information about life after cancer treatment, this episode provides practical, science-based guidance rooted in supportive oncology.

If this episode resonates, follow or subscribe, share it with someone navigating cancer survivorship, and leave a review. It helps more people find trusted, evidence-based cancer support when they need it most.

Transcript

Welcome And Disclaimers

Raejan 0:00

This podcast is brought to you by the Ricardo Fisas Natura Bisse Foundation, produced by Lyons Creative. All the information contained in this podcast is intended only to provide general skincare guidance. The information is not a substitute for consulting with a physician or other qualified medical professional. Welcome to the Oncology Aesthetics Podcast, where we explore ways to enhance well-being, self-esteem, and resilience while navigating cancer. We bring you expert skincare tips, practical self-care strategies, and inspiring stories to help you rediscover strength, radiance, and joy. Welcome back to the Oncology Aesthetics Podcast. My name is Raejan. I am your host and national educator for the Ricardo Fisas Natura Bisse Foundation. Very excited for this episode today. I am joined by Dr. Jeffrey Kendall. Welcome to the show.

Jeff 0:57

Oh, well, thank you so much for having me. And please call me Jeff.

Raejan 1:01

All right, you got it, Jeff. Thank you so much for being here. We're really excited to pick your brain and understand a little bit more about your role. I know you've been in the oncology sphere for a long time in supportive services. If you could maybe start off just kind of telling us what exactly that means and what your role has been.

Jeff 1:19

Yeah, I'd be happy to because there is some question related to that. in cancer centers in the United States, we often have departments that are sometimes called psychosocial oncology departments, but that term is kind of been changing over time to be oncology supportive care. These departments are often filled, the way I've always described it to my family and friends, is they're filled with all the people that aren't medical oncologists, surgical oncologists, or radiation oncologists. So, what does that mean? Well, it's your social workers, your dietitians, your chaplains. It might be a pain management team, it might not be, it might be your volunteer department, it could even be your aesthetics people, music therapists, art therapists. It's all of these different professionals that are also there to help cancer patients through their cancer journey.

Raejan 2:24

Okay, so quite a wide variety of people that can bring in, it sounds to me like very integrative services.

Jeff 2:32

Very much so. And it and it's the oncology supportive care department that also manages the spiritual, the emotional, the nutritional, all those other factors that we know from decades of research really help people not only get through their treatments, but recover more quickly after treatment and get back into their life.

Raejan 2:56

That makes a lot of sense to me, just in the understanding of there's so many variables that go into not only the experience of going through cancer, but also the healing journey as well. So it seems like this kind of sphere can cover a whole lot of those services that help assist that. What do you typically do more specifically?

Jeff’s Role And Core Pillars

Jeff 3:20

So I've been fortunate enough to work in six different cancer centers in six different states. And so in each cancer center, the oncology supportive care department can have different makeups. My job specifically, I'm a psychologist by training. So I would see people for individual therapy. Usually it was I often introduce myself as the stress doctor rather than the psychologist, and just help people with the tools they need to get through treatment, manage the emotions of having cancer, and and again rehab lives after treatment is over. So seeing people for individual or couples therapy was one of my jobs. Another job I've held within my role is doing research on the psychosocial aspects of cancer. I always had an administrative role running the department as well. And then another role that I always brought to all my cancer centers was an education piece. We wanted to educate the professionals of tomorrow. So anytime anyone asks me, well, what do you do all day? I usually in a brief way tell them, well, there's pretty much four categories clinical work, research, student training, and administrative.

Strengths, Motivation, And Goals

Raejan 4:49

All very important aspects of that. I'm sure they all feed into each other from your experience with the patients, kind of supporting your role in educating that. And then, of course, what you're learning and researching is then being applied to how you're speaking with your clients. So that's amazing. We're very lucky to have you and have all of the experience that you have. When it comes to how you're empowering your clients, because it sounds like that's a lot of what you do. How and what would you say are kind of more of the more important touch points that you typically try to make sure that you're covering? I'm sure there's tons of them, but if you could tell us a few that you think would be maybe pertinent to our listeners, I would love to know what some of those specifics are.

Jeff 5:34

Well, I can always I always answer that question with a little bit of a caveat. You know, when when I meet new people, say I'm at a a dinner or cocktail party or something, and people say, What do you do for a living? And I'll be my response would be, Well, I'm a psychologist for cancer patients. The first thing that they say is, Oh, that's got to be so depressing. And the reality is it's not, at least it's not for me, because of the touch points that you're talking about. And the touch points that are that I focus on are what do people love? Because they can use that to motivate themselves. What are someone's strengths versus focusing on their weaknesses? And and how do we use those strengths to meet the goals that you have in front of you, whether it's related to cancer, its treatment, or related to something that's not cancer, but cancer is making making a making it worse in your life. So, you know, for some people, they're like, I want to make my marriage better, or I want to have a better relationship with this person in my life. And so the touch points are focus on your strengths and use the things that you love to motivate yourself to set those goals and get them done because your strengths and the things you love are two things that are not taken by cancer.

Action Mindset During Treatment

Raejan 7:01

I love that. That's a fantastic way to put it, and I think really kind of translates into what I feel like we do in the aesthetics realm as beauty professionals is kind of focusing on okay, what can we do? What can we do to make you feel good, to make you look good, and see where those things parallel? So I love that, and I can really see how that works alongside that. thank you for sharing that. I feel like that's so impactful and super important. And when it comes to that as well, do you feel like you would kind of take that approach? Let's say if you have a client that's really having a hard time, maybe spiritually, emotionally, even financially or physically, how do you typically approach that with those clients?

Jeff 7:44

It's very much in the same way of taking more of an action problem-solving approach. a common conversation I have with people is when you're diagnosed with cancer, you kind of feel like life is coming at you. And you kind of you have to dodge things and and avoid things. And we help people move transition to a mindset of I'm still going to be the creator of my life. I am still going to make decisions so that I'm the one in as much control as I can be. Obviously, we can't control the illness, we can't control the effectiveness of the treatments on your specific cancers, but we can still control things like what do I eat every day? How do I move my body? Do I get the rest I need? How do I use the tools that I learned from my aesthetician on how so that I can look good and or look the best I can look? It's transitioning people to that mindset so that when the financial problems come, if they come, you're at a problem-solving approach, not a I have to dodge a life approach.

Raejan 8:59

It sounds like kind of preparing people in sort of a practice mode, practicing that problem-solving mindset, practicing that empowering quality so that when things inevitably get more challenging in one way, shape, or another, they kind of already have that mindset ingrained in them.

Jeff 9:20

Yeah. And for the those people that complete cancer treatment and then rehabilitate their lives, they're already in that mindset. They don't have to relearn it. and so their rehabilitation period of their of their cancer journey is usually shorter and they more effectively create their new normal.

Raejan 9:41

That's brilliant. And I love how much you really consider the after effect as well. I feel like that's something that, you know, we talk a lot about this is what to do while you're going through this experience in your life. This is how you can support yourself while it's happening. But that after effect, I'm sure, leaves a lot to be dealt with.

Preparing For Life After Treatment

Jeff 10:04

Oh, definitely. And there's a there's a very large body of research. Some people don't like the the terminology we use, you know, that period of time right when right when you just completed treatment. I myself call that like the rehabilitation time. other people will call it cancer survivorship. frankly, what you what you label it as, it doesn't matter. The tasks that you have to do are the same. And and you are correct that in much of my work, I'm always preparing people or the things we talk about during treatment are preparing them with the tools and skills that they need for that period so that they can get back into their life. And that's again, even true for the aesthetics. The tools that you use and and learn from an aesthetician during cancer treatment. Well, they change a little bit post-treatment, but there's still some very strong similarities that that they have to use.

Raejan 11:05

Absolutely. There's so many parallels to this. I love kind of being able to draw them through there. And really, I'm so curious about this sort of after-effect because, again, it's not really something that we talk about or hear too much about very frequently, but you obviously have a lot of experience with many, many patients. What are some of the things that stand out to you about that rehabilitation or even that recovery time frame after people have gone through their cancer treatment and now they're in a completely different stage of their life?

The Cliff After Chemo And Radiation

Jeff 11:37

Yeah, and I'll give you a real brief history lesson. So, way back in the 1980s, the 1990s, as our medical treatments were getting better and better and better, and the way we were applying them was getting better, more and more people were surviving cancer. And right now it's estimated there's about 21 million people who have had cancer and don't have cancer now in the United States, and that number is expected to go up to 24 million people in just the next few years. So there's a large number of people, but back in the 80s and 90s, and what would often happen is somebody would complete their cancer treatment and everybody would clap and and and be happy, and then they would say the medical team would say to the the patient, the person with cancer, they would say, see in three or six months. And the people with cancer and even their family and caregivers, they kind of felt like they were falling off a cliff. you know, if they were getting chemotherapy, they were getting it on a certain schedule over the course of months or years in some cases. Radiation therapy was often five days a week for a number of weeks, so they were interacting with us frequently. We get to know them, they get to know us, and then it's like, okay, see ya. See you in three months. So that was kind of the genesis of the psychosocial oncologists to start researching what is the experience of people when they complete treatment, and their energy levels are still low, their appearance can be still different. So they had a lot to do. And on top of it, if if you stopped working during treatment and were going back to work, well, that's a transition. If if the stress of all the treatments and the cancer had a negative impact on your family relationships or your friend relationships, those would have to be rehabilitated. So, as we all know, cancer affects every aspect of a person's life: their appearance, their emotions, their body, their finances. So all of those factors to varying degrees have to be rehabilitated when treatment is completed.

Survivorship Programs And Gaps

Raejan 14:10

Yeah, wow. It's it really is so surprising how little I feel like we hear about this or talk about this with the understanding of how integrated it is into every aspect of somebody's life. Like you're saying, you know, I can understand that hair might be growing back differently, the appearance might be still altered. And of course, the feelings of how you have seen yourself prior to the diagnosis, to how you were feeling about yourself during the diagnosis. And now you're kind of trying to reintegrate back into what felt like it was maybe going to be a normal life, but now it's a different phase altogether. That's a lot to handle for, I would assume, anybody.

Jeff 14:56

Yeah. And the reality is for a very large percentage of people with with cancer that are completing treatment, there is a very significant adjustment. many, many, many, almost all of them now, cancer centers have something that they label survivorship program or life after cancer program. There may be different names, but the the goals are always the same of you have been through a major life event, and we're here to help with whatever piece of of your life that needs to be rebuilt. We're here to to give you tips, tools, suggestions, professionals, and resources to to help do that.

Raejan 15:42

I'm sure that's very helpful. Do most hospitals have these services available, or is this kind of more of a case-by-case basis?

Training And Staffing Challenges

Jeff 15:50

The answer to your two-part question is yes. Many, many, many programs have these types of resources, but I would be misleading you if I said every cancer center has all of these resources. what we have been finding lately, being the last five to ten years, is especially with the pandemic, that many cancer programs that did have some of these resources eliminated them due to financial troubles post-pandemic. So everyone knows the importance of all of these resources. We have boatloads of research, clinical experience that tell us how important it is, as well as over 21 million people that tell us how important it is. But not every place has the same the same level of of opportunity.

Raejan 16:50

Yeah, absolutely. I'm sure the capacity to hold all of this in addition to all of the things that people are needing during their time of cancer treatment can can be challenging for you know any institution.

Jeff 17:05

Yeah, it's not only challenging that way, but as I'm figuring you know as well, it's also having enough well-trained professionals. So in the area, I know I've tried to bring in oncology aestheticians, and I don't want to just bring in somebody in off the street. cancer patients are very special to those of us in the those of us professionals, and we want to make sure they get properly trained people working with them, regardless of the issue. So I know that that getting properly trained aestheticians is exceedingly important given the skin changes and the potential for reactions to the medications that they're giving. So, same thing for psychologists, social workers, dietitians, chaplains. Finding enough of us to help all the people we want is a challenge too. So even if a cancer center has a program, they might be struggling to staff it.

Raejan 18:12

Yeah, absolutely. That's such a good point. And exactly what you were saying, I would absolutely agree, is the training itself is very important. And I think even partly the personality aspects of, you know, being able to interact with someone at this point in their life and know at least somewhat how to handle the conversations that can come up. You know, I'm sure from your clinical perspective and your professional perspective, it's important to know that when you're working with somebody who is going through such a major life event, it really, really does matter how you're able to speak to them and hold space for when they're willing to share with you.

Intimacy Of Aesthetics And Trust

Jeff 18:55

Yeah. And and pretty much all of the aestheticians I've ever worked with, they'll tell me that when they get one-on-one with somebody and showing them the different techniques and tools that they have, or even in a group setting where they have three, four, five people. I was gonna say women, it's not always all women, but it often is. you know, they get three to five women sitting around a table learning these tools and techniques that the aesthetician feels like there's a there is a very clear therapeutic moment and energy that is happening and information. The patient often the person with cancer often, you know, divulges their emotional state, the the things that are important to them. And so an aesthetician has to be very skilled in connecting with people.

Beware Lotions, Potions, And Capsules

Raejan 19:56

Absolutely. Yeah, that's very validating to hear you say. but I would agree definitely through my own experience. I think what we as aestheticians do is so intimate and so vulnerable, even in the sense that we're kind of holding people's self-esteem in our hands. I can't tell you how many times, like you were saying, you know, you're at a cocktail party, you're at an airport, whatever it is, adults love to know what do you do for work? And if I tell people that I'm an aesthetician that specializes in oncology aesthetics, they're just like, wow. And I've had so many women say something along the lines of, oh, don't look at my skin, it looks awful right now, or you know, they kind of immediately start getting self-conscious in the same way that I would if I were talking to a dentist or something. I'd be like, oh, don't look at my teeth. but it is, it's very evident in my response because I always try to, you know, find something good. Oh, actually, you your skin looks very even or your skin looks very hydrated, and you can see immediately how much it impacts people. just to know that someone who is experienced in this field can, you know, see something of quality and of value in them. And so I think there is a lot to be said about that sort of intimacy, that vulnerability, especially while someone is going through something that probably

Accepting Help And Using Social Strengths

Jeff 21:16

doesn't make them feel very good in the first place. I fully agree. I fully agree with that. and you know, the one I created a little phrase that's kind of sing songgy so people remember it. But the minute somebody is diagnosed with cancer, there's this very large body of people that want to sell them lotions, potions, and capsules. And it's true in our nutritional world, it's true for psychologists, but it's especially true for aestheticians. So, what I imagine happens when you bump into somebody at the airport and tell them what you do, one of the first things they say is, Oh my gosh, we need one of those in our Cancer center. but then it's also the education piece of please don't fall for all the social media, the lotions, potions, and capsules that people want to sell you just because you feel vulnerable having cancer. Absolutely, absolutely. And just like you're saying, there's a lot of that in every aspect and every realm of this sort of experience. And it's not exclusive to cancer, as I'm sure you know as well, but it is such a vulnerable time frame for somebody that I can imagine I would be reaching for almost anything that showed any sort of promise of making me feel better. So it is something that definitely that education piece, that empowerment piece makes all the difference in knowing, hey, there are solutions, there are things that you can do that aren't going to cost you, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars. And they're actually a lot more simple than you would have thought, but maybe they're so simple that you wouldn't have thought about them. And that's also why I I feel personally why your work with this podcast is so very, very important because you are getting the the information out that that is credible and people who have can easily access it. So bravo to you.

Raejan 23:17

Well, thank you very much. It's truly all in thanks to people like you who are willing to come on and share your expertise in a manner that I think is digestible and accessible to people in a timeframe where we want to make it as easy as possible to feel a little bit more empowered and understand what you can do that's going to continue to support you. And I love the work that you're doing, especially, like I said, kind of you seem to have a lot of involvement in point A to point Z, really, from the start to the finish of where they're at, not only in their diagnosis, but of course, like you're talking about, that rehabilitation and that recovery period. And on that, I'm actually I'm quite curious. This is something that I've thought about because it's maybe even my own experience with clients. I find in several ways, a lot of us, just in general, no matter what we're going through, tend to be kind of reluctant to receive sometimes. I find that asking for help or even accepting help that hasn't been asked for, or support, or even no-cost services, can feel really uncomfortable for some people. What do you typically advise in these situations? Like if you have a client that's telling you, you know, I need a lot of help, but I just don't feel comfortable asking my friends or my family for whatever that looks like, how do you typically address that? Because I would love to know, and I'm sure we have plenty of people who are very uncomfortable asking or receiving help.

Identity vs Vanity In Appearance Changes

Jeff 24:51

Yeah, what and what I often tell people, as you can tell, I use a lot of short stories in my work. It's when you're going through a life-changing event like a cancer diagnosis and its treatment, the people that win the game the most are the people with the most tools. So the the person with the most toys or tools is gonna be more likely to win the game. And not of course, I don't want anyone to interpret that phrase as you know, cancer and its treatment as a game, but it's those that use the most tools are the ones that that do best, they get through the treatment the best, they and they get back into their the life that they want to build the fastest. So any tool that's available that the professionals that are guiding you think you would benefit from, it's just to me a no-brainer because the more tools you have, the better you do. The other piece that I share with the people that come to see me is one little trick that seems so obvious after I say it, but so many people are like, Oh my gosh, I never thought of that before. Is when you do need something, think about your social network and ask the person for that thing that it is their strength. So if you this is the story I I have to make up because it's so hard to say that clearly. You know, if you have two uncles, one is Uncle Bob and one is Uncle Bill, and Uncle Bob is a very good listener, and Uncle Bill is very good at at home repair tasks, and for some reason you're you know, you have a light switch that needs to be fixed. You don't ask the good listening uncle to do it, you ask the good fix it guy. By focusing your requests on other people's strengths, you're actually giving them a gift because they're glad to do it and you're tapping into their strength, then they feel good for helping you, versus asking somebody to do something that they're not good at, and then they're like, Oh gosh, I don't, you know, I don't want to screw it up, I don't want to be bad, I don't want to. so that's a one little tool that really makes it easier to ask because when you ask somebody that's good at it, they light up. They're like, Oh, yeah, I'd love to do that. And then you get the benefit of seeing that energy and experiencing that energy. So you have to show a little emotional courage in the very first time you ask. But anytime, again, as you're collecting all the tools and toys you can to get through your treatment and the post-treatment effects, ask the people who it's their strength, and then you'll gain more energy from that.

Raejan 27:55

That's brilliant. I feel like it kind of has a symbiotic effect, like you're talking about. Then you don't necessarily feel as uncomfortable because you're, like you're saying, playing to someone's strength and allowing them to have the opportunity to do something that feels good for them and helps them kind of feel a little helpful, a little bit involved. And I'm sure that we all have people in our lives that would be honored and very glad to help us with things. So pinpointing what it is that they're gonna be the best at and maybe even light up a little bit in is a great way to approach that. I love that.

Jeff 28:32

Yeah, yep. And frankly, you don't have to be diagnosed with cancer and go through treatment for that to be a good tool just to use in your own life.

Raejan 28:41

Oh, yeah, I'm putting that in my pocket to use for sure. Well, Jeff, I don't have a whole lot left to ask you specifically. I say that I could probably talk to you for another few hours, honestly, but to keep this again more digestible and accessible, we'll probably start to wrap it up here. But I would love to know from you if there's anything in particular that you feel is just a heavy hitter and you want to leave our listeners with before we let them go.

Closing Reflections And Listener CTA

Jeff 29:10

There is one big thing, and and this this fits right into oncology aesthetics. when people go into usually chemotherapy and their appearance begins to change, whether they they lose their hair, their skin changes, you know, gets gray. You know, the important thing for the person who is experiencing those changes, I really want people to remember that the emotional upset that you can experience during that time is not vanity. You're not being vain, it's actually identity because no matter what age you are, if you're 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, or greater, you have looked in the mirror and seen you for all of those decades. And especially chemotherapy treatments can change that person you're looking at in the mirror, and oftentimes who you see is not who you remember seeing, and that person often kind of looks sick, so it's really, really important that people remember this is not vanity, this is identity, and it is emotionally upsetting. that's one of the things I love about the oncology aestheticians. I've been fortunate enough to work with is that their tools and techniques and the things that they can do can bring a part of you back. And that's really important during this phase of your life.

Raejan 30:49

Absolutely. I love that, and I'm definitely going to be utilizing that to remind some of our clients and let them know exactly what you just said because it is a huge aspect, and I'm sure that sort of hesitation and feeling like it's vanity can cause just more emotional layering on top of that. And you're right, it is a big part of identity, it's a huge aspect of what makes them feel connected to themselves. So I think that's a beautiful way to end it and remind people that this is something that matters and has value and is okay to feel upset about.

Jeff 31:26

Yeah, and I agree. That's a that's a great, a great way to round out our conversation. And I can't thank you enough for having me today.

Raejan 31:36

We are so honored to have had you here, and thank you so much for sharing such wonderful expertise. We really appreciate you. And to our listeners, we will see you next time. Thank you for joining us. We hope you found this information helpful. It's your reviews and feedback that help make this podcast even better. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who might benefit. Until next time, take care, stay radiant, and we'll see you soon.