Cancer is such a horrific disease that it affects not only the person who goes through it but their near and dear ones as well. The battle against cancer requires determination, hope, peace, and inner strength, along with medication.
Learning that you or your loved one has cancer is a difficult experience. If you have been diagnosed with cancer, you might feel anxious, scared, or overwhelmed. It’s normal to feel this way. Many strategies can help you manage these feelings. Taking care of yourself is important.
Getting the needed basic and useful information about a cancer diagnosis is very important for you to make decisions about your health. You should write down the questions below and ask yourself if you’re handling cancer the right way or not:
- Is my cancer curable?
- How will I go through the process?
- What are the treatment options?
- Will the treatment work for me?
- What could be the possible side effects of the treatment?
- What can I do to prevent my cancer from recurring?
- How likely are my children or other family members to get cancer?
Everybody deals with cancer differently because the impact it has on an individual varies briefly. Some people want all the facts and details so they can be very involved in the decision-making process. In contrast, others prefer to learn the basics and leave the details and decisions to their doctors. To simplify the process, you should determine whichever approach works best for you.
Maintaining two-way communication with your loved ones, doctors, and others after your cancer diagnosis is also very crucial. You may feel alone and try to put up a strong front, but always remember that your loved ones care for you and want to be as involved in the process as you are.
Try to prepare your mind for the physical changes that are most likely to occur in your body after getting diagnosed with cancer. Seek information from your doctor about all the possible changes you will experience in the body, and go with the flow.
By maintaining a healthy and nutritious lifestyle, you’ll be able to cope with cancer even better, as it will provide you with the energy your body very well needs in the process. Choosing a healthy diet consisting of a variety of foods and getting adequate rest helps you a lot to manage the stress and fatigue of cancer and its treatment. Exercise also plays an important role in keeping you healthy while battling cancer. People who maintain some physical activity during treatment not only cope better but may also live longer.
Just as every cancer patient’s treatment is different, so should be the coping strategy. Some ideas that may help you are:
- Practice meditation to calm your mind and body.
- Talk to your loved ones about your feelings and emotions.
- Keep a journal to organize your thoughts.
- Find a source that connects with you on a spiritual level.
- Manage alone time to cope with the ailment.
- Keep yourself distracted with work and enjoyable activities as much as you can.
Also, try to find solace in what made you happy before you had cancer and enjoy that in life, whether it be a close friend, a partner, an inspiration, an activity, or anything.
But last of all, do not lose hope. Hope is the ultimate coping mechanism you can possess to get over cancer.