It is OK to laugh during cancer treatment. Laughing and humor are one of the few things cancer can't touch.
BY Dana Stewart
PUBLISHED April 20, 2018
Dana Stewart was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010 at the age of 32. She is the co-founder of a cancer survivorship organization called The Dragonfly Angel Society. She volunteers as an advocate and mentor, focusing on young adults surviving cancer. She enjoys writing about life as a cancer survivor, as well as connecting survivors to the resources, inspirations and stories that have helped her continue to live her best life, available at www.dragonflyangelsociety.com.
Seeing “cancer” in the same sentence as the word “laughter” is really hard to understand. I get that. It makes no sense as their meanings are on opposite ends of the spectrum. I've always latched on to humor and made it a staple in my life. I try to not take things too seriously. Even when things get rough, humor is my first go-to coping mechanism. So, when I was diagnosed with cancer seven years ago at 32 years old, humor was one of the first things I looked to in order to get through the shocking news. I allowed myself some time to feel sad, scared and anger after learning I had cancer. However, I forced those emotions to live on a stopwatch's time count, and soon enough pressed the stop button. It was time to work through the emotions of cancer. It was not going to go away any faster if I kept crying or screamed about it. So, I took a different approach: I laughed it out.
Now, some people might think this is crazy. Fair enough. I thought I was a little odd in the process myself, but that didn't stop me. First of all, the cancer was in my body, so it was my journey and my decision as to how to handle it. I have been and always will be the first to say that however anyone approaches their personal journey through what they’re going through is up to them. None of us have a right to judge it because it is not our body, journey or experience. It's that plain and simple. Second, laughing was part of my daily routine so why would I approach cancer any different? I refused to let cancer change who I was so why would I let change my approach to my life?
Now, some people might think this is crazy. Fair enough. I thought I was a little odd in the process myself, but that didn't stop me. First of all, the cancer was in my body, so it was my journey and my decision as to how to handle it. I have been and always will be the first to say that however anyone approaches their personal journey through what they’re going through is up to them. None of us have a right to judge it because it is not our body, journey or experience. It's that plain and simple. Second, laughing was part of my daily routine so why would I approach cancer any different? I refused to let cancer change who I was so why would I let change my approach to my life?
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