The Treatment Mind Game: How to Feel Better During Chemotherapy

When fighting a battle against cancer, finding ways to feel uplifted and motivated to move forward is crucial. While treatment is meant to create a path towards healing, the actual process and resulting side effects can be painful and emotionally difficult to manage. For example, chemotherapy often causes nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, fatigue, and depression.

Many options for managing these side effects focus on the body and lessening physical discomfort. However, during this journey, believing in the power of the mind and the thoughts you have can also really make a difference. Here are some ways to help manage the emotional toll treatment can take.

Read more: How Chemotherapy Fights Mesothelioma?

Positive Post-Its

Staying positive can sometimes feel like an insurmountable task. To help shift your mindset towards the self-supportive end, surround yourself with positive affirmations and behaviors. This includes the people you allow around you. Take some notes from this Do Great campaign and share it with your loved ones. Keep a gratitude journal and read it often. Try putting sticky notes all around your house that say things like, “you will get better, you will do great.”

Breathe Better

Rather than trying to meditate, which can quickly become a frustrating and counterintuitive chore, spend some time with your breath. This subconscious process can be used as a tool against feelings of anxiety and also bouts of nausea. Look around and see what kinds of breathing exercises seem to help you. Try counting your breath, or simply breathing deeply and focusing on or visualizing those physical sensations.

Similarly, when having a treatment, visualize the chemo killing the bad cells. Visualize your body healing.

Uncensor Yourself

To say you’re going to feel a lot of different things on your treatment journey is an understatement. Feelings of guilt may trick you into a mode of suffering in silence. Don’t. Staying positive is important, yes, but so is allowing yourself to be in a bad mood. You’re going to want to cry, yell, scream. Let yourself, then move on.

Read Stuff Not About Cancer

It’s easy to find yourself constantly in a cancer-this-cancer-that rabbit hole. It’s important to know what it is you need to, but beyond that, pull yourself out of the hole and read other things you enjoy. Perhaps a magazine, a comic, an old favorite book, or a new one you’ve been meaning to check out. Take the opportunity to get away from the computer screen and visit your local library. If it’s nearby, opt for the walk.

Find Your Funny Bone

Don’t underestimate the power of laughter. Know someone who can always make you laugh? Invite them over. Have a favorite comedy show? Set up a Netflix binge. Do the same for things you find beautiful, and for things that make you feel good about yourself. Seek out the good.

Look To Your Superheros

Who do you admire? This could be an author, a celebrity, a friend. Chances are, they have some pretty great things to say that you’ll believe in. Write them down or recite them in your head. Some cited favorites of cancer survivors include:

“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

“Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.” – Mary Anne Radmacher

“When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

Also, become your own superhero. Walk like the warrior you are and soon you’ll believe it.

Young Cancer Patient's Tenacity Inspires Family, Friends and Strangers

Jimmy E. is a remarkable man.

Inspired by the doctors who helped him overcome a rare form of childhood cancer, he forged a career as a skilled surgical nurse in southern California, driven by an urge to serve others.

But more than 30 years after beating cancer, Jimmy developed a persistent fever, pneumonia and fluid around his lungs. This time, the diagnosis was a more insidious disease — malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Jimmy, who recently turned 38, is far too young for a disease that typically strikes the elderly. As he struggles to rise above each setback, now it's Jimmy inspiring others around him, including family, friends and strangers he never met, and never will.

In the last three months, 122 people have contributed more than $12,200 to his “Please Help Jimmy!” campaign on GoFundMe.com. The goal is to reach $25,000 to cover medical costs.

"I never knew, never guessed, that there were so many people who cared and would reach out to help," said Linda, his mother and primary caregiver. "There are people all over the world who are praying for him now. It's been amazing to see how people have responded. In a way, it's been inspiring to see."

First Encounter with Cancer

Cancer first struck Jimmy at age six.

Doctors told his parents he had fibrosarcoma, a rare, soft-tissue cancer that originated around his jaw. They said there was a 70 percent chance he would die soon.

Multiples surgeries and several rounds of chemotherapy interrupted his young life, but they helped him prevail. His mother said Jimmy raced back to school after each treatment, leaving doctors shaking their heads in amazement.

Doctors Inspire His Career

Jimmy grew up admiring those doctors who orchestrated his care and was determined to help others in much the same way. He loved working with his hands and tinkering with things. He soaked in the Discovery Channel like a sponge.

"He loved the blood and guts of medicine," Linda said. "At a young age, he wanted to be a doctor, a surgeon, but he never quite got that far. Someone suggested he become a surgical nurse, and he did. People liked him."

He spent almost a decade assisting surgeons. They praised his work. Among the surgeries, he helped with organ transplants and organ donations. He was fascinated by the process, giving people the opportunity to live and help others.

Cancer Interrupts His Life Again

Shortly after relocating his job to another hospital in 2012, health problems returned.

Symptoms included a persistent fever, pneumonia and fluid around his lungs. Doctors removed the fluid multiple times, and Jimmy returned to work as quickly as possible after his procedures.

By the fall of 2013, he was struggling to catch his breath. After several other procedures, doctors said he had sarcomatoid mesothelioma — the least common and most aggressive type of the disease.

It was also a stunning diagnosis for someone so young. Most people diagnosed with mesothelioma are in their 60s. The disease, primarily caused by exposure to asbestos, usually takes 20 to 50 years to show.

Complications Continue to Mount

The past year has been a battle. The cancer spread from one lung to the other. Chemotherapy worked briefly, but it was only a Band-Aid.

There have been blood clots, infections and pneumonia. At times, Jimmy was unable to breathe or eat on his own. An emergency insertion of breathing tubes broke his front bottom teeth.

"It's been difficult on the whole family with so much frustration," Linda said. "But it has brought people together. Made you realize how many good people are out there. Jimmy is a fighter. He always has been. He doesn't like hearing anything negative, because he knows God is the only one who will make the final decision, and until he does, Jimmy will fight for his life."

Never Losing Faith

Linda talks to God each day. She prays for a miracle to save her son, who is facing almost-insurmountable odds.

She clings to the hope inspired by the tenacity her son showed as a child and now an adult. He is now at his parents' home in Banning, California, after his latest, two-week hospital stay.

Jimmy needs around-the-clock care now. Although his father, Christopher, works as a schoolteacher, Linda lost her job because of the demands required for taking care of her son.

"It will take a few days to get back into the regular routine again, but we'll make it through," Linda said. "We've done this before."

Strangers, Friends Show Support

His uncle, a former U.S. Navy SEAL, started a page for him on the crowdfunding website GoFundMe, where people donate money to help pay for his care. More than 120 people — many of them strangers — have donated to his campaign.

A donor, listed as Amy, Momo and Olivia Kimura, commented: “Although we've never met, [Jimmy] is a big part of our life and we love him. Therefore, the Ellis family is a part of our family. Positive thoughts and all things good to Jimmy and the whole Ellis family!”

His friend, Dave Ross, wrote: "Jimmy, you have been an inspiration to pretty much everyone you know, and those you don't know. You have been through a lot throughout the years. Stay Strong."

Linda rarely leaves her son's side for very long.

"It's very hard to sit back and know you can't do anything to help," she said. "It's all so hard to figure out. As a parent, you have to be a fighter too, and have faith that there's always a chance. If you're not a fighter, too, you'll never make it through this."

Source:

http://www.asbestos.com/blog/2014/08/13/jimmy-e-inspirational-cancer-battle/

Mesothelioma Survivor Remains Strong 10 Years After Diagnosis

Virginia Beach spent four years researching and writing hundreds of pages of family history.

She began her memoirs with her ancestors' voyage to America on the Mayflower in 1620, and then across generations, including the birth of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Her move into hospice care in 2014 because of a malignant pleural mesothelioma diagnosis is also part of the tale.

But her story doesn't end there because mesothelioma did not win.

Beach, 88, recovered from the cancer miraculously, left hospice care and returned to independent living at the Presbyterian Retirement Community near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Now she is eagerly awaiting the birth of three more great grandchildren to add to her chronicles and her growing correspondence list.

Last month, she passed the 10-year survival mark for a patient with malignant pleural mesothelioma — a rare moment — stunning doctors with her ability to fight off this incurable cancer.

She also returned to the church choir and her job as a librarian at the retirement community.

"My oncologist doesn't say it's in remission. He says it's in control,'' Beach said recently from her home. "I've been very fortunate. When I was originally diagnosed, they gave me a year and a half to live. That was 10 years ago. Then last year, they said it was time for hospice. The tumors had doubled in size, but after six months, I graduated out."

Miracles happen.

The Power of Prayer

Beach is a pastor's daughter and widowed wife of a pastor. She believes strongly in the power of prayer. Her faith never wavers. Each day starts and ends with a Bible passage. She gives thanks to God.

She mentions mesothelioma only once in her 250-page autobiography. And it's only in passing — nothing more.

"I live with a lot of elderly people here. Everyone suffers from one thing or another. I just don't like to hear sad stories. I'm not going to be one," she said. "It's not a huge part of my life right now, so I don't talk about it. It's not how I want my grandchildren to remember me. I'm an optimistic person who looks at the bright side."

When Virginia was first diagnosed, they put her name in the church bulletin so that everyone could pray for her and the other cancer patients. As much as she appreciated the prayers, she asked church members to remove her name. She believed God would handle it just fine. And he has.

Her father may have died at age 54 from lung cancer, which doctors originally thought she had. But her mother lived to be 104 and gave speeches in her community throughout her 90s.

Virginia inherited her mother's strong genes.

Still Sharp and in Touch

She had fought off malignant melanoma cancer in the late 1990s. Her husband, Roger, suffered through dementia in the final years of his life and died in 2009, leaving her with the fondest of memories.

But there is a clarity, purpose and sharpness to her today that defies her age.

Beach has 20 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren between her five daughters who are spread across the country in Oregon, New York and Ohio. Some of her grandchildren live as far away as Japan, Thailand and Colombia.

One son-in-law became a minister. One grandson is overseas on a church mission.

She keeps a spreadsheet with everyone's birth dates, wedding anniversaries and addresses. kanaEvery year, she sends each family member Christmas and birthday cards with personalized, handwritten notes.

"It's a wonderful family," she said. "I've been blessed."

Sudden Health Scare

Beach underwent eight rounds of chemotherapy shortly after she was diagnosed a decade ago, and doctors were pleased with the results. Since then, she opted against undergoing any otheraggressive treatment.

But last summer, she became frightened by a sudden shortness of breath, prompting her oncologist to recommend hospice and palliative care.

A nurse and a social worker started visiting her regularly. Her primary care physician also continued to stop by. Even the local chaplain started making house calls. But her health improved, and she waved off much of the help they were offering.

"After a while, the doctor told me my lungs were clear. I didn't need them to do much, but the nurse did help me understand my iPad, and how to use it better," she laughed. "That was a big help to me."

Living an Active and Productive Life

Beach remains active today and takes classes on balance five days a week at a wellness center. She traveled to Oxford, Ohio, earlier this summer for a grandson's wedding and visited Portland the previous summer.

She uses her iPad to send emails to her daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren. The organizational skills she learned throughout the years as a librarian are evident today in her writing.

Family members help format, edit and create graphics for her memoirs, but Beach maintains full control, amending her story each time another event takes place in her life.

Despite her mesothelioma, Beach has accomplished much in her life, and that's why she has aptly titled her memoirs "Journey to Joy."

Sources: www.asbestos.com/blog/2015/09/02/mesothelioma-survivor-strong-10-years-after-diagnosis