Write (Or Cut And Paste) Your Way Through Cancer

Two-time cancer survivor shares how journaling can help get you through cancer.

BY Barbara Tako

PUBLISHED August 31, 2018

Barbara Tako is a breast cancer survivor (2010), melanoma survivor (2014) and author of Cancer Survivorship Coping Tools–We'll Get You Through This. She is a cancer coping advocate, speaker and published writer for television, radio and other venues across the country. She lives, survives, and thrives in Minnesota with her husband, children and dog. See more at www.cancersurvivorshipcopingtools.com,     or www.clutterclearingchoices.com.

Journaling through cancer helped keep me sane (or at least saner) through my cancers. When something in life is really intense and my brain keeps spinning thoughts around and around, I journal. Long before my first talk therapist suggested keeping a journal, I was privately writing about my angst to get through everything rather than to drown. The fact that my first therapist and all subsequent ones suggested journaling just reinforced that maybe I was onto something – something helpful, effective and less crazy-making than cancer itself.

First, let go of any pre-conceived ideas about what journaling is. There is no one right way to journal. A journal can be hand-written or typed. A journal can be drawn or sketched or even pictures clipped from magazines. A journal can be added to daily, several times a day or simply whenever you need to journal. A journal can be a rant, a detailed observation, a list, a letter never mailed, a copy of a letter or an email someone sent to you. It could also be a travel log – maybe a travel log of your life experiences.

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Positively Jessica – No Speed Limits ** NEW on NFD

New post on New Focus Daily Positively Jessica – No Speed Limits by Jessica Meyer Your own goal can be very different than your friend’s goal or your neighbor’s goal. Everyone has different achievements, passions, interests, and ability levels. But what is important is that we don’t put a “speed limit” on ourselves or others. In my book there are no cant’s, wont’s, will not try’s, or I doubt that’s. […] Read more of this post Jessica Meyer | May 24, 2018 at 8:45 am | Tags: cancer survivors, Jessica Meyer, summer | URL: https://wp.me/p7szYo-1i4 Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from New Focus Daily. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://newfocusdaily.com/positively-jessica-no-speed-limits/

Insurance Company Squabbles Cause Stress for Patients

Being unsure of medical coverage can cause cancer patients undue stress, which is very unhealthy.

BY Bonnie Annis

PUBLISHED April 19, 2018

Bonnie Annis is a breast cancer survivor, diagnosed in 2014 with stage 2b invasive ductal carcinoma with metastasis to the lymph nodes. She is an avid photographer, freelance writer/blogger, wife, mother and grandmother.

Medical bills are continual and often lifelong after a cancer diagnosis. Many times, the frequency of visits to hospitals or doctors is greatly diminished as treatment shifts from the active stage into the maintenance stage, but most cancer patients would agree that cancer is quite expensive, and the mounting bills can be a source of anxiety and stress.

For those fortunate enough to have health insurance, the burden of health care is made little lighter, but for those without good insurance, bills for medical care can be exorbitant. Those without any insurance face an even greater problem and are put into the position of struggling to find ways to take care of a bill sometimes before treatment is administered. Worrying about how to pay for treatment and tests isn't something any cancer patient should have to endure, but it seems this is a common, everyday occurrence.

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Running From the Pain

Exercise can be a very effective way to treat depression. So why don’t American doctors prescribe it?

By Scott Douglas

March 12, 20185:50 AM

Here’s the most important thing I learned while writing a book on running and mental health: In clinical studies, regular aerobic exercise is as effective as antidepressants in reducing symptoms of mild to moderate depression. And that’s not just because moving might help you get into shape and feel better about yourself. Exercise actually causes the same structural changes to the brain as antidepressants—neuroplasticity, or creating new neural pathways, and growth in the hippocampus, a part of the brain that’s generally shrunken in people with depression.

Patients are excused for not knowing these facts. Doctors working in an evidence-based health care system shouldn’t be. Yet if you’ve seen an American doctor for mild or moderate depression and been told to try working out, you’re in the minority. Current guidelines by groups such as the American Psychiatric Association and the American College of Physicians don’t count exercise as an initial form of treatment a physician should recommend for a patient with depression. Instead, modern antidepressants and some forms of psychotherapy are the two main first-line treatments prescribed. The U.S. approach is captured nicely on a patient portion of the National Institute of Mental Health website discussing depression. It includes exercise in a section called “Beyond Treatment: Things You Can Do,” along with items like “set realistic goals for yourself” and “continue to educate yourself about depression.”

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No Instruction Manual to Emotionally Cope With a Double Mastectomy

Two-time cancer survivor works through her feelings as her double mastectomy approaches.

BY Barbara Tako

PUBLISHED April 06, 2018

Barbara Tako is a breast cancer survivor (2010), melanoma survivor (2014) and author of Cancer Survivorship Coping Tools–We'll Get You Through This. She is a cancer coping advocate, speaker and published writer for television, radio and other venues across the country. She lives, survives, and thrives in Minnesota with her husband, children and dog. See more at www.cancersurvivorshipcopingtools.com or www.clutterclearingchoices.com.

How am I supposed to cope with losing two body parts that I have had since age 12? Of course I am talking about my breasts! There is no instruction manual to cope with a double mastectomy. I am not a previvor. I am already a breast cancer survivor - a survivor who recently learned she has the PALB2 genetic abnormality. I am making a difficult decision that all my doctors support. Just because it is ultimately my choice to improve my odds of survival, it has not made this major decision any easier.

I am sad and worried and even slightly hopeful all at once. When I look down at my breasts and touch them, I cringe. What will they be like after surgery? Will the pathology reports come back negative? How will I feel in this forever-changed body? Will I be less stressed with a lower chance of future breast cancer? Am I being selfish that my appearance matters to me? Will my surgeries go well, or will I be sent back to the drawing board? Am I being vain that I want my body to someday be "normal" again?

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A Shiny New Look and a New Perspective

Hair loss due to chemo can still be traumatic even for men, but shaving it off taught me a surprisingly lesson.

BY Justin Birckbichler

PUBLISHED April 05, 2018

Justin Birckbichler is a fourth grade teacher, testicular cancer survivor and the founder of aBallsySenseofTumor.com. From being diagnosed in November 2016 at the age of 25, to finishing chemo in January 2017, to being cleared in remission in March, he has been passionate about sharing his story to spread awareness and promote open conversation about men's health. Connect with him on Instagram @aballsysenseoftumor, on Twitter @absotTC, on Facebook or via email justin@aballsysenseoftumor.com.

I moved the Chia Pet of Uncle Si from Duck Dynasty off the edge of the tub so I had a place to sit. I had been neglecting watering it in the past few years, and now it appeared that all of the plant growth that made up his beard and hair had died.

"You and me both," I murmured to the terracotta structure (and then immediately thought how ridiculous I was talking to a small statue).

It was Saturday morning, and I was preparing to shave my head. My hair had been thinning since the end of the first week of chemo, but I hadn't been ready to shave it yet. I wanted to wait until it was coming out in chunks and was noticeably thinning.

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Cancer is Not a Singular Experience, It's Plural

Sometimes it feels like we go through cancer alone, but there’s a community out there to offer us love, support and encouragement.

BY Bonnie Annis

PUBLISHED April 03, 2018

Bonnie Annis is a breast cancer survivor, diagnosed in 2014 with stage 2b invasive ductal carcinoma with metastasis to the lymph nodes. She is an avid photographer, freelance writer/blogger, wife, mother and grandmother.

Cancer is not a singular experience, it’s plural. When one is diagnosed with cancer, it doesn’t only affect that specific individual, it affects many.

When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I thought I would be the only one going through the trauma of disease. Erroneously, I thought cancer would only affect me and I thought in some way my loved ones would escape unscathed. I was terribly wrong.

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Exercise Keeps Me Moving Through Cancer's Ups and Downs

It's simple, nontoxic and free. This cancer survivor shows you how to add a little lift to your life.

BY Khevin Barnes

PUBLISHED March 16, 2018

Khevin Barnes is a Male Breast Cancer survivor, magician and speaker. He is currently writing, composing and producing a comedy stage musical about Male Breast Cancer Awareness. He travels wherever he is invited to speak to (and do a little magic for) men and women about breast cancer. www.BreastCancerSpeaker.com     www.MaleBreastCancerSurvivor.com

I'm not a fitness guru. I've never been an aerobics instructor or a physical therapist. I'm just a man with cancer. My mother often told me how, the minute I discovered my legs, somewhere around 18 months of age, I would dash out of the house laughing as she chased me down the sidewalk. Running was emancipating. It was exhilarating and it was fun.

But you don't have to be able to run to exercise. The truth is, you don't even have to be able to walk. I've found the very act of movement whether it's with our legs, our arms, our lungs or even our brains, can be deeply beneficial to us as cancer survivors, despite our thoughts about ourselves and our disabilities that may try to convince us otherwise.

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Living More and Refusing to Be Another Cancer Statistic

By cancer standards, 104 months is a long time, but for me, it flew by. As my oncologist has said about all of her patients, it is never long enough. I always want to write more, do more, travel more and live life more.

BY Jane Biehl, Ph.D.

PUBLISHED March 16, 2018

Jane has earned three advanced degrees and had several fulfilling careers as a librarian, rehabilitation counselor and college teacher. Presently she does freelance writing. Her articles include the subjects of hearing loss and deafness, service dogs and struggling with cancer. She has been a cancer survivor since 2010.

She has myelodysplastic syndrome, which is rare, and would love to communicate with others who have MDS.

I have always known there was an average timeline on my kind of cancer. By cancer standards, 104 months is a long time, but for me, it flew by. As my oncologist has said about all of her patients, it is never long enough. I always want to write more, do more, travel more and live life more. I told myself that I would not worry about it until the time came and then deal with it. Maybe this was denial, but it worked for me.

I came up against that timeline sooner than I ever dreamed. It seems I just finished grand celebrations for my 60^th birthday, and now I am two years short of my 70^th. So I just kept galloping along.

Until my blood work got funky.

Read More - Refusing to be Another Cancer Statistic

5 Ways to Feel Less Isolated After a Cancer Diagnosis

There are ways to bring a sense of belonging back to your world.

BY Martha Carlson

PUBLISHED March 15, 2018

Martha lives in Illinois and was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in January 2015. She has a husband and three children, ranging in age from 12 to 18, a dog and a lizard.

The world can get small with a diagnosis of cancer. It can feel like a once-expansive place where there are suddenly insurmountable walls and gulfs impossible to travel. Countless doctor visits, scan after scan, blood work, fatigue, fear, anger and grief isolate the person who has cancer. I know, from my feelings of empathy if not from experience, that this is true no matter the stage of cancer. But I also believe it's a special issue for those of us with metastatic disease.

It's easy to become that isolated, and it can happen quickly. One day I had a life, the next day I had cancer. There are still times when it's just me and my cancer, and I think that's probably just the nature of living with this disease. Unlike a patient who rings a bell or who has a final treatment date on her calendar, I have to find my own way to mark a life moving forward.

One of those ways is number two on my list of techniques to feel less isolated, but there are others. If you are feeling alone, and I know some of you are because isolation is usually one of the very first things mentioned when I meet someone else with metastatic cancer, my hope for you is that you find a way to bring a sense of belonging back to your world.

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Self Care Sunday Tips - Take Time for Yourself!

Cancer Survivor Tries to Wait to Worry

Some call it scanxiety. A cancer survivor discusses waiting, and waiting, and waiting.

BY Barbara Tako

PUBLISHED February 09, 2018

Barbara Tako is a breast cancer survivor (2010), melanoma survivor (2014) and author of Cancer Survivorship Coping Tools–We'll Get You Through This. She is a cancer coping advocate, speaker and published writer for television, radio and other venues across the country. She lives, survives, and thrives in Minnesota with her husband, children and dog. See more at www.cancersurvivorshipcopingtools.com,or www.clutterclearingchoices.com.

Something changed in me forever. A tightness dropped smack into the middle of my chest at the moment of my first cancer diagnosis and it never left. Ugh. Go away! It is past time for you to leave. I want to lose the fear and anxiety that sits like a lump in the middle of my chest and nibbles at the edge of my thoughts most days. Go away!

Sometimes this fear is brought into a sharper focus-like on days I have a doctor exam or a test or am waiting for a pathology report. Ugh. I have been through this again and again. Go away, or at least lighten up! Come on. Some call this scanxiety or white coat syndrome. I just think of it as me since cancer.

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A Cancer Survivor's Suggestions on Dealing With Chemo Brain

Breast cancer survivor shares how she approaches her ongoing chemo brain.

BY Barbara Tako

PUBLISHED January 18, 2018

Barbara Tako is a breast cancer survivor (2010), melanoma survivor (2014) and author of Cancer Survivorship Coping Tools–We'll Get You Through This. She is a cancer coping advocate, speaker and published writer for television, radio and other venues across the country. She lives, survives, and thrives in Minnesota with her husband, children and dog. See more at www.cancersurvivorshipcopingtools.com, or www.clutterclearingchoices.com.

Chemo brain. I am glad "experts" now acknowledge that chemo brain is real. I mean, wow. What rational human wouldn't think that using harsh chemicals to kill cancer in our bodies, called chemotherapy, and adding a few steroids to manage side effects, as well as possibly removing hormone-generating organs like ovaries and the uterus, might conclude that these things could create some problems in other organs, like, well, the brain? I have learned that I can't donate a kidney or give blood because of my cancers, too. That said, here are my thoughts and I hope they help you.

Acknowledge chemo brain. I know chemotherapy is a good choice in a bad situation. Still, I am just sometimes frustrated because I don't feel like or think like my old self. Did that make sense? My brain doesn't feel as competent as it did before cancer. My communication skills have deteriorated-words come out of my mouth that don't always match the ideas in my head. I forget stuff, sometimes a lot of stuff. I have bruises from banging into things and being clumsy. I experience mental and physical fatigue that wasn't there before. You too?

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