Pages 27 - 30

‘Cancer – 50 Essential Things to Do’ is a book by Greg Anderson which I used as a guide to journal what I needed to work through in the immediate aftermath of being diagnosed with Stage 4 Inflammatory Breast Cancer in February, 2006. I’m broken down and I need the paths of others who have gone before me. I need them to lead me across the water and to tell me how best to save myself.

Quotes from the book will be in italics.

Find A Positive Support Group (28):

Cancer patients who regularly attend support group meetings live longer than those who do not.

In a study of patients with advanced breast cancer, those who attended a weekly two hour support group session had a life expectancy twice that of non-attendees (Standford University).

Two types of support groups are informational and psychosocial.

Psychosocial support groups are more critical to survival.

Look for groups that take a stance of hope without denying the reality of the illness.

You want to encourage personal growth, not have a pity party.

Read And Study These Books (29):

Knowledge is power. Educate yourself!

Wahid said ‘you cannot be in denial about your health.’

Make sure you read books that are current; as changes to cancer treatments and outcomes change every day.

Discover Your Beliefs (30):

Cancer, no matter how advanced, may or may not mean death.

*A wide range of treatments do exist. The difficulties in recovery are far outweighed by the benefits.

Your response to a problem is more powerful than the problem itself.

The fact is, there are long-term survivors of every type of cancer, including many patients who have been told by their doctors that there was no hope.

When I think of my cancer diagnosis, my thought is let’s get started on my treatment and get rid of the cancer from my body.

I believe my cancer treatment is going to be successful and that no matter what the treatment is, it will be more than doable.

The one thing I believe would best help me is conventional treatment and a positive attitude.

Reframe Your Cancer (31):

Cancer is not a threat, it is a challenge.

Your mind and spirit have cancer only if you allow it to.

What belief about cancer do you want to change? That it can spread faster than my treatment can get to it.

What does holding this belief currently gain you? Absolutely nothing.

How might you change that belief and view cancer as a positive challenge? I can change that belief by remembering that my medical team is constantly doing tests and knows exactly where my cancer is and is giving me the best treatment to eradicate the cancer. I have the best minds and the best of medicine at my disposal.

Writing this down and bringing it out in the open has already helped me. My belief in my treatment is strong.

*My experience of the illness will be largely determined by the way I think. Too true!

The way I think is something I can choose.