John Farrell is excited to get back to work.

Last week, Farrell told the world that his cancer was in remission. He had been given a clean bill of health and has no restrictions as he resumes his role as manager of the Boston Red Sox. He’ll still need to rebuild his strength and stamina in the weeks and months ahead. And he’ll need all the strength he can muster next spring when he tries to lead his team out of back-to-back last place finishes.

There’s no doubt Farrell will tackle the challenge head on. He did it in the battle with stage 1 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, undergoing six months’ worth of chemotherapy in just eight weeks. It was a grueling battle. In a conference call with reporters last week, Farrell admitted there were stretches in the process that “beat me up a little bit.”

Yet Farrell would not back down.

“You can put your tail between your legs and feel sorry for yourself,” Farrell said. “Or, to hell with that. I’ve got a very clear, goal-oriented treatment I’ve got to go through.”

Farrell went through it. Now he wants to return to normalcy. Or at least as close as the manager of the Red Sox is allowed to get.

Under Boston President Dave Dombrowski, Farrell will try to fix the failures that put the Sox in the AL East basement for a second straight year in 2015. He’ll try to prove that a 2013 championship wasn’t a fluke, and that he’s the right man to lead this team into the future.

He’ll do it with Torey Lovullo back as his bench coach. Lovullo’s decision to return shocked many people. As interim manager, Lovullo led the Sox to a 27-20 record and would’ve been a top candidate for any of the open managing jobs in the major leagues. Instead, Lovullo will help Farrell in the rebuilding efforts.

The two have never been closer.

“When you have life situations where you’re talking about life other than the game, I think it not only galvanizes what you have already, it deepens it,” Farrell said.

“We talked about a lot of personal things that had not come up in the 20-something years that I’ve known him. So it grows even further and I can’t thank him enough for the support he’s shown me.”

Farrell will get plenty of support from the fans at the start of the year. That’ll last a few weeks. If the team is winning, it’ll continue. If not, the criticism will begin. It’s part of the job.

There will come a point where Farrell will hear boos, like any other manager. That will be the true sign that he has come all the way back.

Farrell’s never been the type to worry about such things. After the last six months, his resolve will undoubtedly be even stronger.

“There are a lot of quiet moments,” Farrell said. “A lot of reflection. A lot of the simple things in life begin to gain a greater appreciation. We live in a pretty fast-paced world. Really, what I think it causes you to do is kind of slow down and take a personal inventory and see what’s important around you.

“This in some ways, in many ways, has been a life-changing event. There’s no doubt about it.”

Anyone who has been through a cancer diagnosis will tell you it changes your outlook on life. Those of us lucky enough to regain a normal life after that diagnosis will tell you they never forget it.

Farrell is moving back toward that normal life, returning to a world where wins and losses mean everything. Except, now, Farrell knows he has already won the biggest battle he’ll ever face.

Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.