The day that will remain etched in your mind forever—one of those times you will remember explicitly what happened, when it happened and how it happened—the day you are diagnosed with the dreaded word, “Cancer!” First, disbelief floods your mind, then you enter the “why me?” stage. Your head reels with new found information, you seem to be so healthy—how can this be?
The doctor continues to talk to you, but you cannot hear what he is saying. He goes on and on about how to treat this cancer—dreaded words like chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, and bone marrow transplants may be mentioned—or worse yet they may say it is incurable! Your body and mind are numb, you hear part of what is being said, but truly this is not one of your best listening experiences!
The doctor tells you what will happen next. Fortunately for you, they give you a piece of paper with your next appointment, so when your head clears you have a chance of making the appointment, but for all intents and purposes—you are in shock. Cancer has such a bad reputation in our society that this word makes you react like no other word that can come from a doctor’s mouth.
Like others before you, you leave the doctors office and head home to announce to the people who love you that you have the “C” word—Cancer. First you start with those nearest you, and you think you were in shock; this word seems to affect your loved ones even more than it affected you. More disbelief. Now the questions start, and since you weren’t really listening to the doctor, you can’t answer these questions. But wait, we have the internet! So you quickly get on the computer and start to find out about your cancer. You may find out it is considered incurable by the medical establishment, you may find out all the ugly things this menace can do to your body, you may find out that the treatment is worse than the disease. You will learn about “chemo brain,” Oh great! You can get rid of your cancer but your brain doesn’t work right anymore. Or you may find out all the hair on your body will disappear, not as bad as having a brain that doesn’t work, but still not so attractive. Or you may find out that the treatment will make you so sick that you will want to die.
Now you are really numb, the more you find out and the more you research, the more depressed you get. There doesn’t seem to be anything positive about this situation in your life.
Where do you go from here? What do you do next? A million questions run through your head. Depending on your personality type, you may start searching for solutions, you may bury your head in the sand and hope this will go away, you may become depressed and not be able to continue to function well or you may take matters into your own hands, using your knowledge of life to fight for your life! The sooner you take matters into your own hands, the better off you will be!
Of course, taking things into your own hands in no way excludes continuing to work with your physicians to determine exactly what is going on in your body and getting his or her opinion on how to best treat this disease. The more information you have concerning this disease, the greater chance you will have a positive outcome.
Then there is the question—how much information do you want to share about your diagnosis? Do you share with people outside your family; do you share with your co-workers? Will they be supportive, or will this information affect how you are perceived at work.
As you continue moving forward with this diagnosis, you may start to look at other things in your life—like stress. You may decide to make some changes in how you handle your job or your family. And you may start to look at what you have accomplished in your life, what you still want accomplish, what is important in your life. The period between the initial diagnosis and the details of the diagnosis can be a great opportunity for reflection. This is a period where you have no idea how the disease is going to affect you. Are you in stage 1 or stage 4? So during this time you can reflect with a different view of the world. Maybe I don’t have a long time left, what should I change, what would I do different if I am in stage 4?
You don’t have to let the diagnosis of cancer control you, let it be a wake-up call for you to take control of your own life. Don’t be a victim, be a victor—live your life to the fullest.
Jean Sumner has pursued an interest in wellness her entire life. An avid runner, she is passionate about exercise, eating healthy and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.Jean was diagnosed with cancer in May, 2009 this only served to fuel the flames of her passions and encouraged her to learn more about wellness. This diagnosis actually led to the beginning of World Wellness Education with a mission of “Teaching the world about wellness — one story at a time.”
As Jean pursued alternative methods of treating cancer she met countless individuals who had great stories to tell regarding how nutrition, spirituality and exercise helped them to overcome their various illnesses. Since these stories were moving, motivating and timely she thought that each of these stories may make a difference in others lives. With the knowledge that we learn from stories more quickly than other teaching methods an organization was born in hopes to make a difference in the well being of every individual on the planet.
This information is not meant to be medical advice. No action or inaction should be taken solely on the contents of this information. Instead, you should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to your health and well-being.