When the Calendar Marks “Scan Day”: Understanding and Managing Scanxiety

If you are living with cancer—whether you face lung cancer, esophageal cancer, or another diagnosis—you know the reality of periodic imaging. These scans are vital for monitoring disease activity, but they often bring with them a powerful wave of distress known as “scanxiety.”

Scanxiety is the term used to describe the emotions, nervousness, fear, and anxiety that accompany getting routine scans. It’s a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically related to an imminent event with an uncertain outcome.

This emotional journey is shared across our community. Those of us who have undergone numerous scans immediately understand what this term means. It’s a normal, intense reaction to having a disease that is always lurking over our shoulders.

The emotional storm leading up to scan day

Anyone who has received a cancer diagnosis understands the barrage of feelings that arrive with great intensity when it is time to undergo periodic imaging. It seems there’s something about getting a scan that creates a range of feelings from intense curiosity to deep-seated fear.

For some people, scanxiety can set in weeks prior to the actual CT scan. For others, the anxiety begins the moment the CT machine issues the familiar command, “Hold your breath,” and they feel as though they continue holding their breath until the doctor shares the report.

If you live with stage IV cancer, the emotional weight can feel particularly heavy because treatment is often lifelong, not temporary. Every time you go for scans, you might worry that you have developed resistance to your current treatment. Instead of feeling more confident the longer a treatment lasts, you might worry that its effectiveness is going to end soon. You might question, is this the time my luck changes and my current treatment will no longer suppresses my cancer?

We also face the difficult reality that even our loved ones often struggle to understand this persistent worry. Many people assume that treatment is a temporary part of the past, not an ongoing part of the present.

When worry takes over

Living with cancer means that the smallest ache or pain can quickly escalate into a crisis in your mind. It is a quick jump to worrying that any new symptom, however minor, is due to disease growth or metastasis. You may find yourself wondering if that shoulder pain is from sleeping in a strange position or from a bone metastasis.

The day of the scan itself can also be an emotional hurdle. If your appointment runs late, that extra, unexpected time can be “the worst thing in the world for a cancer patient” because it allows the mind to wander and believe the worst.

And sometimes, the scan process itself forces us to confront the disease visually. Even when seeing the results beamed directly to your phone, sometimes before your doctor has reviewed them, you are forced to make sense of ambiguous findings, like knowing that "increased radio uptake was not good," even if you aren't sure what it means.

When results are not clear, and your oncologist says an area needs to be “watched”—perhaps because they suspect an infection rather than growth—you must wait until the next scan for a clear determination. This can make enjoying the time in between scans incredibly difficult.

Practical strategies to take back control

Although scanxiety may never completely disappear, there are practical steps you can take to manage this intense worry.

Plan ahead for the appointment and the results

• Reduce the Waiting Time: Waiting several days between the scan and the oncologist visit can lead to “runaway scanxiety.” A helpful suggestion is to ask your doctor to schedule your visit immediately following your CT scan, preferably the same day, which can help eliminate sustained anxiety.
• Take Care of Your Body: Ensure you are fueling your body with nutritious foods and hydrating well before the scan. Remember to take care of yourself by going for a walk and getting a good night’s sleep; these actions will help you be alert and ready to face whatever your doctor’s appointment brings.
• Use Logistics to Your Advantage: If you have found a technician you like, request to stick with them, and you can even have preferences noted in your chart to avoid unnecessary stress. If anti-anxiety medication has been prescribed, take precautions such as taking your prescription before the scan.
• Manage Post-Scan Result Checking: After the scan, try to avoid constantly checking your phone for results. Instead, choose 1 time in the morning and 1 in the evening to check. This prevents you from refreshing your phone constantly, glued to the screen.

Rewiring your mindset

• Practice Helpful Self-Talk: Try changing your self-talk to stay in the present moment. When you feel worry creeping in, try repeating a phrase like a mantra. One highly effective mantra is: “worrying will not do anything helpful; it will only end up ruining today.” Repeating this literally, whenever worry starts, may help significantly relieve anxiety in between scans, allowing you to enjoy daily activities.
• Focus on the Present: Research shows that when self-talk focuses on the present moment and seeing its opportunities as valuable, it is more effective. Try picturing yourself taking the scan information and putting it in an envelope not to be opened until right before your next scan.
• Assess New Symptoms Rationally: When a minor ache or pain makes you anxious, ask yourself: Would I be concerned about this issue if I didn’t know that I had cancer? If the answer is no, attempt to distract yourself, wait a few days, and see if the problem resolves. Of course, any truly unusual or severe pain that continues should always be brought to your oncologist’s attention.
• Connect with Community: Share your scan day worries with others in the cancer community. Sometimes, giving the anxiety a name and talking about it with others who face the same challenges can help tremendously.

Managing scanxiety is part of living with cancer. Just like navigating treatment, it takes practice, effort, and support. By using these strategies, you can minimize the fog of fear and reclaim more of the time you spend living in between scans.