Surviving Cancer Guide

Hi, I am glad that you found my surviving cancer guide site.  I have some great information that you will find helpful, and hopefully it will encourage you and your loved ones as you struggle with a dreaded disease.

You Are Not Alone

Notice the banner above.  There is a figure of a person further down the dirt road along two lines of trees.  I picked that banner because it represents, to me anyway, that someone has already gone before you and me.  You and your loved ones don’t have to feel alone or abandoned, because there are people who have gone through what you are having to endure now.  And I am one of them.

We All Are On A Journey Of One Kind Or Another

Someone once said that life is a journey.  That journey begins with birth and then life ends as we know it.  Surviving cancer is also a journey.  Hopefully it is a long journey for you or your loved one.

Hopefully, your journey will change your life for the better  The disease of cancer starts your journey and you learn to cope with it.  You can travel from disease to cure or from pain to peace.  If you arrive at either destination, cure or peace, you have survived the cancer.

Start Your Journey At The Beginning

What was your reaction to the diagnosis of cancer?  What were your emotions?  What were your thoughts?  Both are important.

Keeping your thoughts and feelings to yourself will stifle hope.  Hope floats you along your journey; making it easier to cope with your unique circumstances.

Keeping your thoughts and feelings to yourself will only make you miserable and even make the lives of those who love you and care for you miserable also.

Expressing your thoughts and feelings does not mean taking them out on others who do not understand what is going on inside you.  Expressing your thoughts and feelings can be constructive in a number of ways:

• Talk with your doctor
• Talk with a professional counselor
• Talk with someone who has “Been There” at a cancer resource center
• Talk to an empty chair
• Share your thoughts and feelings with those that love and care about you
• Write out your thoughts and feelings in a journal
• Write a letter to God, tie it to a helium balloon, and send it aloft

The idea is to externalize what you have going on inside you.  When you do that, you make room for the hope of reaching a satisfying destination that you so desperately need.

Hope Is What Sustains You During Treatment

Why go through all the misery of treating the cancer?  The answer to that question is the hope of reaching your destination of cure or peace.

By The Way

Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery are not the only ways to survive cancer.  In future posts, you will learn how to access information about additional treatments of your cancer.

Since you already have Internet access to my post, you will be able to link from a post on this site to another website that will give you helpful information.  Some of those links provide information that is free.  Other links may be to websites where, for a fee,  you can download an ebook or order a hard copy of a book that you will find beneficial on your journey to surviving cancer.

In the meantime, here are a few tips to consider:

• Ask your Primary Care Physician (PCP) for a referral to an oncologist
• Ask the oncologist for a referral for a second opinion on how to treat your cancer
• Seek out the best oncologist for your type of cancer whose “bedside manner” is comfortable for you–some don’t have it!
• Make a written list of questions you want to ask your oncologist
• Take someone with you each time you visit your oncologist to help you remember what the oncologist said to you
• Be willing to change your diet and exercise routine (or start one if you don’t have one)
• Get as much information you can on your type of cancer and how to best treat it
• Remember, there is hope for reaching your journey to cure or peace

Check back to my website for future posts that will help guide you on your journey in surviving cancer.
Here is a free link to more information about cancer.