There is a certain kind of anxiety that only cancer patients understand.
It doesn’t happen during chemotherapy.
It doesn’t happen during surgery.
It doesn’t even happen during treatment.
It happens while waiting.
Tomorrow I have another CT scan.
If you have never had cancer, a scan might seem like just another appointment. Show up. Get scanned. Go home.
For me, and for millions of other cancer patients, it is so much more than that.
What Is Scanxiety?
Scanxiety is the fear, dread, and mental strain that cancer patients feel before and after a scan, especially while waiting for the results. It is the emotional toll of not knowing whether a scan will bring good news or bad news. Oncologists and patients alike use this word because there was not another one that fit.
Every scan asks the same questions.
Is the cancer growing?
Is the treatment working?
Did I get more time?
Or is everything about to change?
Scanxiety is not weakness. It is not overreacting. It is a real and documented response to living with the unknown, and nearly every person who has faced cancer has felt it.
Free CT Scan Week Scanxiety Guide
Don’t face your next CT scan unprepared. Download my Free CT Scan Week Scanxiety Guide and discover the step by step routine I use to reduce scanxiety, prepare for my oncology appointments, understand my results, and approach every CT scan with greater confidence and peace of mind.
The Waiting Is the Hardest Part
I have lived with stage four cancer long enough to know this feeling well. Every few months I walk into the imaging center knowing that somewhere inside my body is the answer to a question that could change my life.
Then comes the hardest part.
Waiting.
Sometimes it is one day. Sometimes it is several. Sometimes I find myself checking the patient portal on my phone far more often than I should, hoping the results have posted. That small notification can bring incredible relief or complete heartbreak. I know because I have felt both.
What Scanxiety Feels Like
The strange thing is that life almost feels normal while you are waiting.
You mow the lawn.
You have dinner with your family.
You laugh at something on television.
But in the back of your mind, the scan never leaves. It is always there, quietly waiting with you.
When I was first diagnosed, every scan filled me with fear. I imagined the worst before I knew anything at all. Over time, I have learned that fear does not change the outcome. It only steals today’s peace.
That does not mean the anxiety disappears. It does not. It simply becomes another part of living with cancer.
6 Ways to Cope With Cancer Scanxienty
Waiting for a CT scan, PET scan, MRI, or biopsy results can be one of the most emotionally difficult parts of the cancer journey. Known as scanxiety, this anxiety affects many cancer patients and caregivers, often bringing fear, uncertainty, and countless “what if” thoughts before every appointment. In this article, Wayne shares six practical strategies that have helped him manage scanxiety throughout his own Stage 4 cancer journey. From preparing for your appointment and practicing relaxation techniques to leaning on loved ones and finding hope during the waiting period, you’ll discover actionable ways to reduce stress, regain a sense of control, and face each scan with greater confidence. Whether you are newly diagnosed or have been living with cancer for years, these tips can help make one of the hardest parts of treatment a little more manageable.
How Faith Helps Me Face Scanxiety
My faith has changed how I approach these moments.
I pray before every scan.
I remind myself that God already knows the results before the radiologist ever reads them. Whatever those images show, they will not surprise Him. That thought brings me peace.
I also remind myself how far I have already come. When I was told I had stage four cancer that had spread to my lungs, the future looked very different than it does today. My scans have shown tumors shrinking. Some have disappeared completely. Others have stayed stable. I have been given time I was not sure I would have.
Those victories matter. But every new scan starts the emotional cycle all over again.
You Are Not Alone in This
If you are reading this because you are waiting for your own scan results, I want you to know that what you are feeling is normal.
You are not weak.
You are not overreacting.
You are human.
Cancer teaches us that life can change with a single phone call or a single sentence in a radiology report. That reality is hard. But it also teaches us something else.
Today is still ours.
Until the results are in, we still have today.
Today we can laugh.
Today we can pray.
Today we can love our families.
Today we can choose gratitude over fear.
Tomorrow will take care of itself.
As for me, tomorrow I will walk into another CT scan. And then I will wait. Like millions of other cancer patients, I will feel scanxiety once again.
But I will also remember something this fight has taught me.
The scan may tell me what the cancer is doing. It does not determine who I am.
I am still here.
With faith and gratitude, Wayne Schlicht WaynesCancerJourney.com
Frequently Asked Questions About Scanxiety
Scanxiety comes from the uncertainty of waiting for scan results. Patients do not know whether the news will be good or bad, and that unknown creates real fear and stress in the days before and after imaging.
Scanxiety is not an official diagnosis, but it is a widely used and recognized term among cancer patients, caregivers, and oncology staff to describe this specific type of anxiety.
Many patients find that prayer, staying busy, leaning on family, and focusing on the present day rather than the unknown result help ease the wait. There is no single fix, but naming the feeling is often the first step toward managing it.
For most patients living with cancer, scanxiety does not disappear completely. It becomes something you learn to carry, scan after scan, rather than something that fully goes away.