By Isabella Rossellinee
Advice on dealing with cancer is available by the bucket-loads on virtually every aspect; nutrition; chemotherapy nausea, hair loss and much more. However, useful as the advice may be, many people afflicted with the dreaded disease find it difficult to listen to and adopt the advice because they are simply too preoccupied with coming to terms with their changed circumstances. Some strategies that can help cancer patients to cope better:
Get Involved With a Community
It may be quite overwhelming for you to get over the initial shock of the cancer diagnosis and try and think about sharing your story with some strangers. Though it is quite natural for you to hesitate about getting involved in a support group, it can really be an enlightening experience to know that you are not the only one afflicted with cancer and there are many others who are going through the same experience and fighting their anxieties and fears very much like you are. Listening to the experiences of other people and how they have managed to deal with their emotions can actually be very empowering and inspiring. While there are quite a large number of cancer support groups in the online and social media space; getting to meet people face-to-face is something that is irreplaceable. You can find a whole new set of people with the same interests and passions and become very good friends; just because you belong to a cancer support group does not mean that all your interaction needs to about the disease.
Get Rid of Clutter
When you have cancer, it is quite likely that you feel messed up from within as well as outside. Not only do you have to deal with the disease and the medications, but many conflicting emotions run through your mind that prevent you from attending to your daily routine with the same degree of focus and efficiency. As a result, it is not uncommon for laundry to pile up, mail to go un-replied, bills to go unpaid and bottles of prescription drugs to assume mountainous proportions on the bedside table and elsewhere. The clutter around you can add significantly to the chaos of emotions, and it is easy to slide into depression thinking that nothing is under control. If you make a physical effort to get on top of the clutter and get organized, you will automatically end up by de-stressing yourself. Not only will your immediate surrounding be cleaner but you will feel a sense of accomplishment every time you sort out the mess.
Engage In Relationship Prioritization
The onset of cancer can make it very difficult for you to keep up with the 24×7 frenzied interactions with friends and acquaintances physically and over the social media because it is quite likely that you will have other things on your mind and you will be having less energy too. Instead of feeling guilty all the time about not being able to keep up with your friends, it may be really worthwhile for you to take a relook at your relationships and adopt a schedule that is simpler and less tiring. Focus on interacting with people across the table instead of the social media and you will soon find yourself making better utilization of your valuable time. Instead of chasing virtual relationships across scattered groups of people on the social media, interacting personally with a smaller but more vibrant group can make the interaction more meaningful and the relationships far stronger.
Get the Focus Away From Yourself
When you get diagnosed with cancer, it is quite natural that the people around you will be very concerned and you will become the focus of attention. You will also be inclined to keep on worrying about your own health. When all the attention is focused on yourself, it can be very easy to become depressed and start to pity yourself. It can help a lot to consciously start thinking about others and what’s happening in the rest of the world. Try to participate as much as possible in mainstream life and extend a helping hand to other cancer patients with small acts like sending letters and random acts of thoughtfulness to people passing through times as distressing as you. By doing this you can feel more in control and capable of looking beyond just yourself.
Conclusion
Quite apart from the huge impact cancer has on your physical wellbeing, you need to gear yourself up emotionally so that you can battle the disease for a long time that the treatment usually takes. Taking active interest and participation in support groups can not only be extremely inspiring to you but also give you an opportunity of lending encouragement to those who are in similar circumstances. Cancer does not have to mean an end of life but merely the start of a new chapter where you empower yourself to lead a more meaningful life.
Author bio: Isabella Rossellinee is a leading cancer researcher working on the development of monoclonal antibody for a leading pharmaceutical company. Having interacted with a large number of cancer patients, She recognizes that much of the efficiancy of treatment lies in how emotionally balanced the patient is. She has authored a number of articles on the emotional wellbeing of cancer patients.
