The diagnosis came on January 26, 2007: stage IIA Hodgkin lymphoma. "People don't forget the dates," says Dr. Anthony Perre, Director of New Patient Intake & Vice Chief of Staff at our hospital in Philadelphia. In the blink of an eye, Dr. Perre went from a healthy small-town physician with a private practice to a cancer patient dealing with a life-changing diagnosis. He suddenly had a treatment plan to develop—chemotherapy followed by a month of radiation therapy. He had a practice to run, a family to consider and the accompanying wave of emotions that would ebb and crest like the daily tide. This is when Dr. Perre learned, by experience, about what he calls the four pillars of survivorship—a coping plan for life after cancer.
"When you look at people who have gone through cancer treatment, it's like having post-traumatic stress disorder," he says. "I don’t know if I have PTSD, but I can tell you it was overwhelmingly stressful." In the years that followed, even after he was told he had no signs of cancer, Dr. Perre remained shaken by his diagnosis. Inspired by a survivorship seminar he attended, he began to build a new foundation for his life, supported by four pillars: diet, exercise, sleep and mindfulness. "The control that people are used to having over their lives is suddenly gone during a cancer battle," Dr. Perre says. "These pillars are four things that you do have control over. They became part of a routine for my well-being."
No comments:
Post a Comment