--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think often when we talk about things…" description: "\"I think often when we talk about things like cancer, the kind of final act at the end of the story comes with a cure. But we don't talk a lot about wha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f77/suleika-jaouad-6310_cancer_i-think-often-when-we-talk-about-things_219822.jpg" --- # I think often when we talk about things like cancer, the… ![“I think often when we talk about things like cancer, the kind of final act at the end of the story comes with a cure. But we don't talk a lot about what happens after. And it took me a while to even acknowledge to myself how much I was struggling.” quote by Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f77/suleika-jaouad-6310_cancer_i-think-often-when-we-talk-about-things_219822.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f77/suleika-jaouad-6310_cancer_i-think-often-when-we-talk-about-things_219822.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f77/suleika-jaouad-6310_cancer_i-think-often-when-we-talk-about-things_219822.jpg) > “I think often when we talk about things like cancer, the kind of final act at the end of the story comes with a cure. But we don't talk a lot about what happens after. And it took me a while to even acknowledge to myself how much I was struggling.” [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote highlights how narratives focus on cures, neglecting the long‑term emotional and practical challenges after illness, and admits personal struggle to recognize that difficulty. **In simple terms:** We often ignore life after a cure and the hidden struggles that follow. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and address post‑cure challenges. Themes health resilience storytelling mental health recovery Mood reflective hopeful Type personal inspirational When to use this quote - after a diagnosis - returning to work - family dynamics - mental health therapy Key Concepts post‑cure adjustment identity reconstruction support systems long‑term care Questions to Reflect On - How do you support yourself after a major health milestone? - What resources help navigate life after illness? A Different Perspective Recovery is not just medical; emotional healing can be harder. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cancer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cancer/) [Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story/) ## Related quotes > [It's nothing to be ashamed of and that there are even beneficial traits associated with the condition. Most importantly, acknowledge yourself for who you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-knight/it-s-nothing-to-be-ashamed-of-and-that-there-are-even-beneficial/) [Christopher Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-knight/) > [A breast cancer might turn out to have a close resemblance to a gastric cancer. 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It's like you get that you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/the-minute-someone-tells-you-you-have-cancer-it-s-kind-of-like-you/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [Un-forgiveness is like cancer; it eats you from the inside out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-johnson/un-forgiveness-is-like-cancer-it-eats-you-from-the-inside-out/) [Mary Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-johnson/) > [My goal is to see that mental illness is treated like cancer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-pauley/my-goal-is-to-see-that-mental-illness-is-treated-like-cancer/) [Jane Pauley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-pauley/) > [There is a terrible conservatism, like a cancer, right in the heartlands of music-making, a tremendous resistance to change, an absolute horror of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-hazlewood/there-is-a-terrible-conservatism-like-a-cancer-right-in-the/) [Charles Hazlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-hazlewood/) > [Lies and secrets, Tessa, they are like a cancer in the soul. They eat away what is good and leave only destruction behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/lies-and-secrets-tessa-they-are-like-a-cancer-in-the-soul-they-eat/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [“Don't tell me you're one of those people who becomes their disease. I know so many people like that disheartening. Like, cancer is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/don-t-tell-me-you-re-one-of-those-people-who-becomes-their-disease-i/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I'll never go so far to call cancer a gift. It's a really terrible disease. It's taken the lives of so many of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/i-ll-never-go-so-far-to-call-cancer-a-gift-it-s-a-really-terrible/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [The bone marrow transplant procedure itself can be dangerous, but it is swift, which makes it feel strangely anti-climactic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/the-bone-marrow-transplant-procedure-itself-can-be-dangerous-but-it/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [When I finally returned home after my five-week hospitalization, I could feel the stares of strangers on my bald head and thinning eyebrows. Everywhere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/when-i-finally-returned-home-after-my-five-week-hospitalization-i/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [When you fight something like cancer, you not dealing with a person that looks at where you come from or what's your background or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-berry/when-you-fight-something-like-cancer-you-not-dealing-with-a-person/) [Eric Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-berry/) > [“Being stuck on love was a real bitch to cure. Like cancer, I think. Just when you think you’re over it, it comes back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tarryn-fisher/being-stuck-on-love-was-a-real-bitch-to-cure-like-cancer-i-think-just/) [Tarryn Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tarryn-fisher/) > [“false swears are like sweet poison and cancer , its work slowly without acknowledgment but take the till end like cancer”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-zaki-ansari/false-swears-are-like-sweet-poison-and-cancer-its-work-slowly-without/) [Mohammed Zaki Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-zaki-ansari/) ## More by Suleika Jaouad > [With a Catholic mother and a Muslim father, I've always had a great interest in religion, but I've never practiced one myself. After I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/with-a-catholic-mother-and-a-muslim-father-i-ve-always-had-a-great/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [It felt like 10 years, but I was actually in treatment for three-and-a-half years. I finally finished in April. Two years ago, I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/it-felt-like-10-years-but-i-was-actually-in-treatment-for-three-and-a/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [There are days when I even long for the paralegal job that once upon a time made me so miserable. It wasn't the perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/there-are-days-when-i-even-long-for-the-paralegal-job-that-once-upon/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [When I finally returned home after my five-week hospitalization, I could feel the stares of strangers on my bald head and thinning eyebrows. Everywhere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/when-i-finally-returned-home-after-my-five-week-hospitalization-i/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [The bone marrow transplant procedure itself can be dangerous, but it is swift, which makes it feel strangely anti-climactic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/the-bone-marrow-transplant-procedure-itself-can-be-dangerous-but-it/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [Even amid the shock of my diagnosis, I held onto the hope that I'd be able to make the most of my down time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/even-amid-the-shock-of-my-diagnosis-i-held-onto-the-hope-that-i-d-be/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [I'll never go so far to call cancer a gift. It's a really terrible disease. It's taken the lives of so many of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/i-ll-never-go-so-far-to-call-cancer-a-gift-it-s-a-really-terrible/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [Before my diagnosis with leukemia, two years ago at the age of 22, I'd always excelled at making resolutions. But I was never as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/before-my-diagnosis-with-leukemia-two-years-ago-at-the-age-of-22-i-d/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [Like a lot of other young people, I never thought about health insurance until I got sick. I was 22, and my adult life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/like-a-lot-of-other-young-people-i-never-thought-about-health/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [And there came a point in my treatment where I couldn't see that end in sight. And that was the most challenging, I think,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/and-there-came-a-point-in-my-treatment-where-i-couldn-t-see-that-end/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [But no conversation between doctor and patient can magically turn an uninsured patient into an insured one. Doctors are just as helpless as patients…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/but-no-conversation-between-doctor-and-patient-can-magically-turn-an/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [Cancer magnifies the in-betweenness of young adulthood: You're not a child anymore, yet you're not fully ready to live in the adult world, either.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/cancer-magnifies-the-in-betweenness-of-young-adulthood-you-re-not-a/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [I get along well with my medical team and I have a tremendous amount of respect for them. But the idea of discussing my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/i-get-along-well-with-my-medical-team-and-i-have-a-tremendous-amount/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [For the better half of my early 20s, I was Bubble Girl. When I found out I had leukemia at 22 my world suddenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/for-the-better-half-of-my-early-20s-i-was-bubble-girl-when-i-found/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [It took me a long time to be able to say I was a cancer patient. 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"those aren't stars. it's cancer." - forty years a smoker”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lovelace/the-doctor-hesitated-before-breaking-the-news-to-her-those-aren-t/) [Amanda Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lovelace/) > [I loved you to the moon and back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/i-loved-you-to-the-moon-and-back/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. If the risk among non-smokers is taken as unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-doll/the-risk-of-developing-carcinoma-of-the-lung-increases-steadily-as/) Richard Doll > [I would do away with super PACs. I think it's a cancer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-conrad/i-would-do-away-with-super-pacs-i-think-it-s-a-cancer/) [Kent Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-conrad/) > [Aging is like enlightenment at gunpoint. 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Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-h-koch/) [Browse all 3,177 Cancer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cancer/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think often when we talk about things like cancer, the kind of final act at the end of the story comes with a cure. But we don't talk a lot about what happens after. 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