Every year more and more people are diagnosed with some form of Cancer. This is something hard to deal with and cope with during treatments, but there are ways to be able to cope easier. There is enough to worry about with Cancer, how to deal with it should not be one of them. Everyone deals with cancer in their own way, but there are some things that can help every cancer patient to deal and cope no matter what type they may have. Here are ten ways a cancer patient and support can deal with the diagnosis and treatments.
Eat: Listen to what your body wants and needs. Whatever you are craving could be something your body really needs. Even if you are feeling sick, eat something whether it be some toast or a cup of yogurt, you need to eat, sometimes having food in your stomach helps give the chemo something to attach to instead of your body fat. Also eating some foods can help keep those blood counts at a good level. Eating something is always good; you can’t heal better without having some sort of food within your stomach. There are proteins and other nutrients that can help your body handle the chemotherapy easier.
Talk: Talk to anyone about anything you are feeling whether it be your friends, family, nurses, pastors or even a support group. A good thing to do is to find a support group so you know there are others out there dealing with the same thing you are, and you are not alone. Gilda’s Club is a wonderful support group, not just for cancer patients, but also those around them. If you don’t want to talk to someone, talk out loud when you are alone, go for a walk and just talk things out to yourself, or even pray. You don’t want to keep everything bottled up inside, that’s not good for you.
Keep a journal: Go out and buy yourself a good journal or find one online: I find Soulcast.com is a wonderful place. Write; just write anything from what you are feeling good or bad to the thoughts that are in your head. Write about those fears, lessons you’ve learned and even poems if you got it. Getting things off your chest and out of your mind helps you deal with whatever comes next. You want to keep track of how you react to various things and what the doctors tell you. You can also write down questions you have whether it be for the doctors or just the general “why” questions, so you don’t dwell so much on them.
Hugs: Hugs give us the sense of safety that when we are being hugged, nothing can seem to harm us. Hug anyone who is willing to give you one, friends and family are great for hugs, but also if you need one ask your nurses for a hug, they will be more than willing to give you a nice hug. Grab your pet and cuddle with them or even a stuffed animal from your childhood, anything that will you the comfort you need. Hugs really do make a difference when you need one.
Relaxation: Make time for yourself throughout the treatments. You should go and take a nice bubble bath and read a good book: escape to a new world outside of appointments. Grab a coloring book and color, it’s so relaxing and gets your mind off of things. Along with coloring you can draw, write a story or poem, anything to keep your mind from anything dealing with cancer. Even go for a walk and enjoy the seasons and the things surrounding you. Find joy in the outside life and soon the joy within your own.
Do whatever you want: Try to get as much normalcy into your limited life. Just because there are limits to what you can do doesn’t mean you can’t do anything you want. GO shopping, or to the movies. Swim and go out with friends, these things will keep your life as normal as possible. Don’t allow the cancer to control your life; you can still control some aspects of your life. Just because you were diagnosed with a certain illness, doesn’t mean you should give up on the things you once loved.
Ask Questions: Ask your doctors any question you may have about your cancer, chemotherapy, symptoms and limitations. No question is too stupid to ask. Asking your questions help you understand things better which in turn helps you cope with it better. Ask your pastors questions about God and why things happen, you may not get an exact answer, but expressing these questions help you deal with them and understand yourself better. Asking questions not just to yourself gets your mind to focus on something different, and allows your mind to hold on to the answers you do get.
Exercise: Finding a type of exercise is a good idea. Try something that is low impact of course because of the limitation on the body. Something like Yoga and swimming helps your body stay in shape while going through the treatments. Both are also very relaxing and swimming makes you feel weightless, and it takes your mind off of things. Doing even a low impact exercise helps keep some of your energy level up, and as you get better, your energy level with continue to get better.
Cry: Yes I said it, cry. Not all the time, but when you feel the need to cry go ahead and just let it out. Crying helps release that pain and heartache you feel. Having any type of cancer is like you have lost a part of yourself, you need to cry and mourn that lose, but also remember that you are growing through the experience. Crying is good for your soul, but crying to much can be harmful to you as well.
American Caner Society: Get in touch with the cancer society, they are simply wonderful. They can help you with prescriptions, wigs, mileage, and so much more. They provide seminars, survivor walk and more to help you see you’re not alone. It makes you feel better and see that people really do care about what’s happening to someone else: you. Talking to them can be so helpful and reassuring; they are very compassionate and loving. They understand it’s a hard time and really want to help.
Having Cancer can do a great deal of damage if you let it. There are ways to cope and deal with having cancer. You can’t let it over-run your life, you need to take control and say “this is my life.” Enjoy your life and take control again, even with limitations.
