Positive Cancer

I tend to write alot, mostly because I talk alot, or so I’ve been told. In any case I thought it time I posted concerning reactions, not from the people you tell about your Cancer, but from the people who are told they have Cancer.

My reaction to Cancer was fairly even, and some would go so far as to say it was relaxed. I had no issues with talking to people about my Cancer, and I didn’t feel isolated or alone from the world. Proudly I say that I handled it in stride. People like me are the easiest ones to deal with when they’re given the Cancer sentence. So we’ll just skip that reaction

Some people react as if the hangman’s noose has fallen, and let’s be honest in many cases it has. Equally so, in many cases it hasn’t and so that’s why you need to talk to people with this kind of reaction from a particular point of view. Look for answers, treatments, and understanding of their type of Cancer, and hopefully that knowledge may allow them to understand that while they may be under the hangman’s noose, there could be an indefinate stay of execution. Give them goals to learn more about the Cancer and in doing so they will remember to live. That’s my theory, just stay Positive, focused and driven. Of couse talk to a doctor if you need help dealing.

Another reaction is the one where the person who has Cancer decides to spare you the details of his situation, and by doing so thinks that he or she will save you. This one is hard, because while they think their sparing you, in reality there just making things much harder in the long run. My personal opinion on this is to let these people have some time to think about it, let them come to the Positive conclusion that they need to talk to you about the Cancer and let them do it at their own pace. If this doesn’t work, you can talk to them honestly and directly and hope that they respond well. Most people do, but every person has his own mindset. Maintain Positive thinking and try to help someone with this reaction the best you can.

The last reaction we’ll discuss is that of the Cancer victim who falls of the face of the planet, the one who becomes a complete loner. Give them time, their absense doesn’t reflect a lack of love for you, but rather an attempt by themselves to find some hope, or direction. You can call them and ask to help with mundane chores, or just ask if they need anything even if you know the answer will be no. Lending support without being there is a very Positive thing to do, and it’s very hard but rewarding. Hopefully the person will come back stronger and once again willing to resume a normal relationship. After all, that is what we hope for.

When it comes to Cancer I tend to get nervous right before my CT scans and CT results appointments, especially the latter. Nervousness is fairly normal, especially for anyone dealing with Cancer. Our lives are lived on the words of a doctor who will read results from a sheet of paper that controls our health, and the relative length of our life. That is quite a bit to deal with. Add to that the knowledge of how our family feels, and will feel in the future and you realize just how nerve-racking a visit can be.

By acknowledging nervousness you are really saying something important, something I want you to think about. There is only one reason you are nervous, and that is because you realize everything you have to lose. This is profound because you have just shown yourself how important it is to maintain a positive frame of mind, to not give in, and to do whatever you can to survive.

So acknowledge that you have everything to lose, and by doing so you will realize that you also have everything to gain by trying every method to maintain your health, both physically and mentally. Every time you feel nervous your mind tries to tell you something you may have overlooked. You have the power to feel Positive and that power will reinforce your mindset for living, and that is something anybody with Cancer or anybody who has dealt with Cancer needs unequivocally.

Listen to your nerves, realize what is at stake, and get Positive. Positive Thinking and stress management aren’t easy but both are non-negotiable when dealing with your health. Remember that.

It’s hard enough having Cancer, but as anyone who has kids, and for those that don’t but are susceptible to colds, flues and infections knows it sucks getting a cold. I can tell you I never get crankier then when I get colds, and so that’s why I thought I would talk a little about walking on a treadmill.

I like to walk the treadmill, at first it was just for the sake of effort, and then as a way of recouping my cardio, and now as a precursor to any running I might do. I am completely for doing exercise, and the treadmill was a great help to stabilizing my weight loss and allowing me to fight colds and other infections.

At first thought it would seem that doing more exercise would hurt my ability to gain weight but walking the treadmill had a great side effect: hunger. Not my usual stunted hunger, but my muscles wanted nutrients hunger, and so I ate and ate and started gaining weight. The weight gain helped deal with colds but even more so the stamina I got made colds definitely, and I will say again, definitely seem less severe and I was better able to handle them.

Now consulting a doctor is a must before beginning any exercise, and what I have done may not be for you. With that in mind, walking gave me more energy, more ability to fight colds, made the colds seem less powerful, and even triggered endorphins which tend to fight “depression.” Sure the occasional cold, or flu knocks me out for a couple of weeks, but I can only imagine how much worse they would be or how much longer my recuperation would take if I did not keep to my walking routine. Walking treadmill took some time to build up, but now I can go for an hour, five days a week, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. If the doctor says yes, give it a try.

People tend to forget things, especially things that were unpleasant, such as the recovery period from a major surgery. Even now, I don’t really remember how bad it felt, to be unable to eat, unable to drink water, unable to pass gas, and even unable to go to the washroom without assistance. I know it was a tough ride, but my mind has created a “numbed memory” of the experience, and thank goodness for that.

Positive Thinking is not all mental; there are physical components to your well being that will encourage you to get better, feel better, and even live better. One of the most important things I did to help myself was exercise. I was 32 when the operation to remove the GIST(gastrointestinal stromel tumor) occurred, and so I was stuck in a strange “limbo” between being lucky that I was young enough to recover from the major surgery I had, and unlucky because I had and still have a life threatening Cancer.

I started walking, two days out of the surgery, but I barely took more than a few feet before returning to my bed, spent of energy, and dizzy from effort. I should explain what was done to me, so that you can all have a point of reference. I had a complete gasterectomy(complete removal of the stomach), a spleenectomy(complete removal of the spleen) and a partial pancretectomy(partial removal of the pancreas), or as I call it a complete mid-section renovation. One, I might add, I had no wish to do, and as you’ll read in my Story, had no idea was coming.

While in the hospital I continued to walk, until I could at least walk once or twice around the section of the floor I was in. I walked with all the different tubes in me, with my family around me in case I need help, and with a decided tilt since my stomach still had staples in it. This was the beginning of healing for me, but more importantly, my mind stayed positive in a way I did not know it could. Despite the worst situation occurring, I continued to think about my family, and about how I would not be a burden to them, both physically and mentally. I think that is what drove me to continue to work, the urge to not give in because I owed it to my family to fight with every fiber of being I had.

From then until now I have been through numerous hospital visits, infections, chemotherapies, and recently a reoccurrence that has metastasized, and a permanent use of pills for chemotherapy. In addition this “lucky” man has suffered kidney stones with no relation to my situation, stitches due to a fluke shelving accident, and I even subjected myself to a vasectomy. You can trust that I understand pain, frustration, anger and surprise, but I continue to think positive.

Exercise has made it much easier for me to deal with the problems I’ve had, and I can tell you this with absolute certainty. I can deal with real life, just as before the Cancer, if not better as my body is in better shape now than before. I have put on over 40 lbs, work out five days a week, help with the kids, drive my parents where they need to go, hang out with friends, deal with colds and work on websites all because I forged ahead and worked out.

The way I worked out may not be for you and you do need to talk to your doctor about what kind of workout is right for you. I’m not advocating my workouts, I’m advocating the mindset that I wasn’t ready to give in, that I was Positive that Cancer would not take my standard of living away. I can assure you, no one would guess that I have life-threatening Cancer, and most people say the same thing when they find out, and that is, “Wow you look so healthy, I can’t believe it.” It does not make me feel better, but it does prove my point. My Positive Cancer mind works better with exercise, and exercise helps me to live my life the way I want to. Talk to your doctor about how it can help you.