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For some people with stomach cancer (also known as gastric cancer), treatment can remove or destroy the cancer. The end of treatment can be both stressful and exciting. You may be relieved to finish treatment, but it can be hard not to worry about cancer coming back. This is a very common concern.

For other people, cancer might never go away completely. Some people may get regular treatment to try to keep the cancer in check for as long as possible and to prevent or limit any problems it might cause. Learning to live with cancer that does not go away can be difficult and very stressful.

No matter your situation, there are steps you can take to live well, physically and emotionally.

Follow-up care after stomach cancer

Whether you’ve completed treatment or not, your doctors will want to watch you closely. Talk to them about developing a survivorship care plan for you. This plan can guide your next steps after treatment, including follow-up appointments and ways to stay healthy.

A survivorship care plan might include:

• A suggested schedule for follow-up exams and tests
• A timeline for other tests, such as screening for other cancers, or monitoring for long-term health effects from your cancer or its treatment
• A list of possible late or long-term side effects, including what to watch for and when you should contact your doctor
• Diet and physical activity suggestions
• Reminders to keep seeing your primary care provider (PCP) for regular health care and cancer screening tests.

What to expect during follow-up visits

If you have finished treatment, most doctors recommend follow-up visits every 3 to 6 months for the first few years, and then less often. It’s very important to go to all of your follow-up appointments.

These visits usually include a physical exam and review of any symptoms you’re having. Lab tests and other exams, such as upper endoscopy, might also be done or ordered at this time to look for signs of cancer or treatment side effects. Imaging tests such as CT scans are not usually needed at each visit, but they might be done if you have any suspicious symptoms or physical findings.

During these visits, your doctors will ask questions about any problems you are having. Almost any cancer treatment can have side effects. Some might last for a short time, but others can last longer. Your follow-up visits are a good time for you to ask questions and talk about any changes, problems, or other concerns you have.

Help with nutrition issues

For many people, stomach cancer and its treatment can affect how they eat and absorb nutrients. Nausea can be a problem during and after some treatments, and some people lose their appetite (as well as some weight). You might also find you need to change the way you eat, such as eating smaller, more frequent meals instead of a few larger ones each day.

Some people may need additional help to make sure they get the nutrition they need. For example, they might need nutritional supplements. Some people may even need a feeding tube, called a jejunostomy tube (or J-tube), put into the small intestine. This is done through a small hole in the skin over the abdomen during a minor operation. A J-tube allows liquid nutrition to be put directly into the small intestine to help prevent weight loss and improve nutrition. Less often, the tube may be placed into the lower part of the stomach instead. This is known as a gastrostomy tube or G-tube.

Your cancer care team may refer you to a dietitian, an expert in nutrition, who can help you adjust to changes in your eating habits and can give you ideas on how to deal with some of the nutrition issues that might arise from cancer or its treatment.

If you have lost or are losing weight, or if you’re having trouble eating, do the best you can. Eat what appeals to you. Eat what you can, when you can. You might find it helps to eat small portions every 2 to 3 hours until you feel better. Try to keep in mind that these problems usually improve over time.

Your doctor or dietitian may also recommend that you stay upright for some time after eating. Your health care team can help you adjust your diet if you are having problems eating.

If part or all of your stomach is removed

Some people with stomach cancer have problems with nausea, diarrhea, sweating, and flushing after eating. This is called dumping syndrome. When part or all of the stomach is removed, the food that is swallowed quickly passes into the intestine, leading to these symptoms after eating. This often gets better over time, although some people might still need to take medicines to help with long-term diarrhea.

People who have had surgery, especially if they had the upper part of their stomach removed (in either a subtotal or total gastrectomy), will probably need to have blood work done regularly to check their vitamin and mineral levels. Some people might need vitamin supplements, which could include B12 injections. (The pill form of vitamin B12 isn’t absorbed into the body if the upper part of the stomach has been removed.)