“Live Every Minute Guys!!!”

  The doctors tried everything possible, such as chemotherapy, radiation and a lot of procedures over the 14 + year period. He made it through all of that because he had a lot   of support from his family, and a strong attitude.  I have never met anyone,  and I never will, who has displayed such a strong will to survive and a mental attitude made of steel.

  He carried that attitude through everything, even through his battle against cancer.    That the mind has more power over the body than most people think. If you have a good attitude about anything, like school or your job, you will do a lot better than if you have a bad attitude. This relates to everything you encounter in your life including cancer. If you have loving support, as well as a positive attitude about beating cancer, then you will have a better chance of conquering this disease.

   The mental healing process is a new way to treat cancer patients with the mind as well    the medicine. Cancer is feared by many people because of the label people put on it. It is often associated with a long and painful death, and with the loss of body parts, this isn’t always the case. Many people survive cancer with their bodies intact, but we seem to only hear about the bad things.

   In order for one to overcome their affliction with cancer, it is important that they have the quality medical care along with the required positive attitude. Dr. Bernie Siegel, the founder of ECaP (exceptional cancer patients), tells us that using the mind can not cure cancer alone, but it can enhance the quality of life for those dying of cancer, and it can even prolong their lives.

   Dr. Siegel believes that this treatment is very effective, but cautions against relying on it solely. It can not be used as a substitute for medical treatment. Science has proven that our minds have a great influence on our health and body. People view themselves by what they learn about themselves through what they go through and how they deal with it. People with cancer might think of themselves as weak individuals just because they allowed a terrible disease to take over their body.

 The truth is that a cancer patient can not let the disease get the best of them, and take over their mind. With a positive attitude, and not a defeated one, they have a better chance at fighting the disease.  There are many kinds of therapy that cancer patients have used to maintain a positive attitude while fighting cancer.  One anticancer imagery technique that was made famous at the Simonton Cancer Center ,  Pacific Palisades,  California, teaches cancer patients to picture the cancer cells inside of their body.

   Then they are taught to visualize other cells beating the cancer cells, and to see themselves as cancer free. Psychotherapy ….  is  a  widely  used  practice  in  fighting cancer.  Not only,  can it help you deal with cancer emotionally, but also it can also help you fight it physically by teaching patients that in order to have a healthy body, one needs to possess a sound mind.

   Dr.  Siegel is convinced that the mind can strengthen the immune system,  therefore,  fight cancer. After observing patients who were dealing with and coping with the disease, he said: “As I saw people learning how to live with their illnesses, I also saw them having incredible control over their wellness. They were getting better and I didn’t have to lift a finger.” He even said that “sometimes their cancer disappeared.”

  Mind/body therapy has been increasing in hospitals because it has been proven to be effective in cancer centers for prolonging people’s lives and improving the quality of them. In a study of women who underwent psychotherapy it was found that “after only one year, the women in the therapy group reported less depression, anxiety, and pain than did the others (women who had no therapy).”

 Also, the women who had psychotherapy “lived almost twice as long on the average as those who did not participate” in the therapy. The women who had therapy lived about      37 months from the beginning of the study as opposed to 19 months for the others. After ten years, only 3 of all the women who participated in the research was still alive, and all   3 were in therapy.

  Researchers do believe that it is better to wait at least four months before starting psychological therapy because they have to deal with getting cancer first. People whom received therapy later, reacted  better  than  those  whom  got  therapy  right  after  their  diagnosis. These findings are too good to be ignored. Everyone who experiences any kind of illness, especially cancer, should at least try these approaches to fighting back. There is so much to be gained, and nothing to be lost by trying.

  In his book A Psychological Approach To Cancer ( from 1964),  Doctor  Jacob Samuel claims that  “You can do anything you believe you can,  providing you know you’re not alone.”  He also says that “… love  💕 when in its truest nature is properly understood,  can be a force  sweeping toxins out of the body,  building up cells,  while reawakening, renewing, strengthening and healing.”  Along with a positive attitude, love and support can help a patient to fight the cancer.  Self-help groups have been proven to    be effective in prolonging the lives of cancer patients a great deal.

  In a study done at Stanford University by Dr. Siegel and his colleagues, evidence has been found that people who attend self-help groups experience less pain than those who don’t participate in groups. Self-help groups are an added support for a cancer patient on top of love from friends and family, or in some cases, a substitute for lack of friends and family. People in the self-help groups really know how you feel because they are going through the same experiences that you are, but others (friends and family) can’t possibly know what it feels like to have cancer unless they have or had it themselves.

  Some of the main goals that support groups work towards are creating a sense of self control, providing a means for the cancer patients to learn more about dealing with the disease, helping them to come to terms with their fear of death, creating ways for them to feel better about themselves and their purpose in life, providing a means for people to get together who have the same problems and create friendships, and learning how to talk to their doctors about what is wrong and how to get better.

  Self-help groups have a cycle which consists of three steps. The first is to bond with the group which sounds difficult,   but seems to be pretty easy for patients to do.  The second step is to begin to trust the other members and to share personal thoughts with them. The third step is experiencing empathy among group members. This cycle is repeated over and over again with each meeting of the group.

 This kind of support can not be attained through therapy and a loving family because     the members have a “shared experience”  the best therapist or family member cannot understand.  Even the closest families like “The Waltons” cannot create this special kind of connection that members of self-help groups can. These are the words of a cancer patient’s description of a self-help group: “The example set by other members seemed to strengthen people – I saw that each one could take it and they existed each day and that is what turned my life around.”

  According to Dennis T. Jaffe, Ph.D., author of Healing From Within, coming to        terms with the fact  you have cancer greatly lowers the pressure of having it, and has also been proven that stress hinders the capabilities of your immune system. He says that “…prolonging your life or defending your body could be a possible by-product of self-help groups – but it’s not a primary effect.”

    He insists, however that people should not expect a cure from joining a self-help group, although it has been proven to be helpful. Cancer patients should join the groups in order to enhance their lives.  It must be remembered that  family members  are  greatly affected by the cancer and there are groups for them to join also. The self-help groups for family members are many times just a place for them to release anger about the disease that their loved one is experiencing.

  A person’s attitude will either make or break them in the battle against cancer. If a person has a negative attitude he or she will greatly lessen the chances at beating cancer. There is scientific proof that “patients’ emotional states can affect the course of their disease.” One reason that some patients have negative attitudes is because they feel guilty about getting cancer because of what they have done in the past, and because they deserve it as punishment for what they have done.

  When people go to see a doctor on a regular basis, they have a much better chance at beating the disease than if they don’t see a doctor. Because they feel bad about themselves having cancer,  and think that they don’t deserve to beat it,  they  sometimes  deny  themselves the right to a doctor.  In  A Psychological Approach To Cancer,  Doctor  Jacob Samuel says: No matter what form it takes – lack of faith in yourself or lack of faith in others – unlovingness is unhealthy.

  It sets up a chain of negative thinking that pervades every act we perform and every emotion we feel.  Samuel also says, that if people keep all of their emotions locked up inside, they are wasting valuable energy that they could be using to fight off the cancer.     It doesn’t help if you try to deny or ignore cancer,   this just makes the situation worse.        If you confront the fact that you have cancer, your recovery will go a lot smoother.

  Another reason for negative attitudes of cancer patients are alot of people hear stories about how horrible radiation and chemotherapy are and that they will make you more miserable than dying naturally from the cancer. They don’t even try to fight the cancer because of these negative thoughts and fears.

  Another way that the attitude of the patient can affect the course of their disease and     life in general is that they don’t do everything that they should be doing to take care of themselves after their treatment. Also a negative attitude can cause a patient to not care about taking his or her medication regularly. The depression can also affect the immune system in a negative way that can hurt a patient’s healing process.

  Many people deal with cancer in different ways. These are some of them: *Seeking social support, such as talking to someoneabout feelings. *Using ‘distancing’ measures, such as making light of the disease. *Focusing on the positive,  such as rediscovering what is important in life.  *Wishful thinking,  such as hoping for a miracle,  and trying behavioral escapes such as overeating.   A lot of people change their way of living after they are diagnosed with cancer.

   Like Jane Mayer a cancer patient who said: I’ve stopped waiting for sales. Also If I search stores for a pretty dress, it’s to wear out to dinner- tonight. If I cook a delicious meal, its to savor- tonight. If I stroll along the shore, it’s to enjoy a walk hand in mine     with my husband. I focus on the moment-here the gulls squawk as they soar, feel the      foam ’round my ankles, watch the blazing sunset. I’ve stopped scheming, prearranging, and preparing. I haven’t lost the future; I’ve found today.

   Most people with cancer don’t know how much longer they have to live so they try to     get more things done each day.  As in Kathleen Sylvester’ case: I became a sunrise, not a sunset, watcher, waking every morning promptly at 4 to make lists: things to tell people, books to read and also deeds  I could perform that would make me deserve to stay alive. Michael Landon, a famous actor who had cancer, said at his press conference: “I’m going to fight it …..Every moment gets a little more important after something like this. Live every minute guys.

  A positive attitude can be crucial in your way to recovery. It has been proven positive attitudes “affect the quality, and perhaps the quantity of life.” We are able to talk to our own conscience and persuade ourselves to believe certain things. That’s why positive thinking is important to our physical well being.

  When the doctors told my father he had 14 months to live in his end times.  He again  believed…. in the power of the mind over the body in helping to fight cancer. He always said: “I am going to beat it.” With sheer determination, he got through those 14 months.    I don’t think  he would have made it that long if he didn’t have such a positive attitude. My father was always right about beating cancer with your mind along  with treatment although in the end he stated Leiomyosarcoma was 100 times worse than World War II.     It really can be done, and it has been proven. Every minute of your life is precious. Just like Michael Landon whom died July 1st, 1991 said,   “Live every minute guys!!!” 🙂

Preview  Bernie Siegel: Love, Medicine and Miracles