It is a terrible shock to anyone to be diagnosed with cancer. Most people cannot comprehend what the physician is saying, but the underlying tone is that this may mean the end of your life. Or at the very least, it will mean the end of your life as you had known it. We’re here to tell you that it doesn’t have to!
When the initial shock wears off, you have choices. You can cease living. You can curl up in your shell, feel sorry for yourself and those around you and vegetate until you die, OR you can go on living. You can be grateful for your life today. You can be thankful for those around you. You can enjoy life today and make it count. You can be optimistic and hopeful and make the most of every minute.
After all, over 50% of all serious cancers are cured and many more go into remission. If you try, why can’t you be one of those lucky ones? It is for sure that if you don’t try, you won’t be. But if you try, you might. And the positive feedback from trying can improve your mental attitude which can do nothing but help your physical being and possibly extend the length of your life.
Two facts are known for certain: there is no type of cancer for which there are no treatments and there is no type of cancer from which some have not been cured. If a physician tells you nothing can be done or you will die from it in a certain amount of time, get a second opinion. As long as doctors are human beings, cancer patients need a second opinion.
Dr. George D. Lundberg, former editor of Medscape and past editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association for nearly 20 years , stated in a recent interview, “Business has taken over medicine, that professional standards have eroded and that once trusting relationship between doctor and patient has collapsed.” He goes on to state, “The way people live with their cancer can greatly affect their quality of life and, in some instances, the length of their life. And the relationship of caring goes a long way toward influencing people to live with their disease well. There’s no doubt that how a person thinks and behaves has a lot to do with physical illness in one way or another.”
In a wonderful article written by Tad Szulc, a free lance writer, some months after he was diagnosed with a terminal, incurable cancer (and still feeling great), he suggests looking on the bright side of such a diagnosis. He lives every day doing what he normally does and not focusing on the cancer other than what must be done. He spent quite a bit of time putting family things in order, a fact he is grateful for because stroke or accident victims do not have this luxury. His advice is to develop a good disposition, don’t feel sorry for yourself, lead as normal life as possible, keep in touch with your oncologist, if religious, put your faith in prayer, and above all, be positive and optimistic.
Three quotes in closing: When something bad happens, you decide whether to be better or bitter.
The past does not matter. This is then and now is now.
Live in the past and your life will be tearful. Live in the future and your life will be fearful. Live in the moment.