Another guest blogger. Enjoy.
It’s a dreaded disease whose very name is enough to paralyze people with fear simply because survival rates are very low. So if you’re a cancer survivor, you know you’re among the select few who have beaten this horrific disease that literally eats away at your body. Death comes quickly to some who are afflicted with cancer; to others, it comes after a long and painful struggle to survive. But to those who actually become cancer-free after coping with the rigors of chemotherapy and other forms of treatment, the news comes as more of a relief than something to be elated about. This is more because cancer is notorious for returning with a vengeance, even years after you’ve been cleared of the disease.
I’ve seen both sides of the coin – I lost an uncle to colorectal cancer nine months after it was diagnosed, and I saw my grandmother beat breast cancer and live for another 20 years before she died of natural causes. So I know how fickle cancer can be – it steals life in one breath and also allows you to beat death if you’re lucky enough.
The key to surviving cancer is luck – you need to be lucky enough to detect and diagnose it in the early stages, you need luck with finding the right and most aggressive form of treatment, and most of all, you must get lucky in being able to rid your body of every last cancerous cell. Once you achieve all this, you can start to look to a positive future, one that is untainted by cancer.
The problem with cancer is that it can come back with a vengeance, so you need to do your best to stay positive in the years following your successful treatment of the disease, and the best way to do this is to:
• Focus on all that is positive with your life: You may or may not suffer a relapse, but it’s not wise to spend your life worrying about one. Focus on the fact that you’re healthy now and that you have been given the gift of life a second time. Look forward to living life fully and doing all that you want to do. And be grateful for all that you have rather than regretting the time you’ve lost to battling the disease.
• Join a support group: You may still be overwhelmed by the intensity of your experience, and if family members and friends do not seem to understand your emotional turbulence, find a support group of survivors like yourself who are more in tune with your condition. When you’re able to give vent to your feelings and listen to the stories of other survivors, you feel positive and uplifted.
• Follow up on your medical checks: You may be cancer-free, but it’s best to continue to monitor your condition and ensure that the disease does not return. The earlier you spot any signs of cancer, the sooner it is to get rid of it. Also, you feel more confident when you get yourself checked and find that you’re still free of the disease.
About the guest blogger:
This guest post is contributed by Kathy Wilson, who writes on the topic of X-Ray Technician Schools . She welcomes your comments at her email id: kathywilson1983@gmail.com
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