|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Article Navigation
|
Fighting For Your Lifeby: Royane Real Recently the well known American news anchor Peter Jennings died of lung cancer just a few months after he publicly announced that he had the disease and that he was going to fight it with everything he had. After his death, I read some of the tributes that poured in about the life of Peter Jennings. One of the common themes that appeared in the statements made by his friends and colleagues was that they remembered what a determined, competitive man he was. They said that he took on his battle with cancer head on, and that he fought his cancer the same way he battled everything, with steely will and determination. And unfortunately he didn’t win. Reading about Peter Jennings’ losing battle with lung cancer reminded me of another conversation I had had about cancer very recently. Last week I had a meeting with one of my business associates, a man named Brian, to discuss some business matters. After our business meeting was finished, Brian started telling me about his parent’s experience of living with cancer. A lot lof what Brian had to say was very thought provoking to me. Brian told me that his mother had been diagnosed with a bad type of bone cancer and doctors had told her that she had only a very short time to live. Yet in spite of the fact that her cancer kept spreading to other parts of her body, she managed to live fourteen years longer than what her doctors had originally predicted. Brian said that he often wondered why his mother managed to live such a long time with cancer when many of his younger friends who got cancer died of it quite quickly. Brian told me “I come from a sports and and athletic background, and so a lot of my friends are athletes. My athletic friends tend to be very focussed and competitive people, and they’re used to being very aggressive. When they were diagnosed with cancer, I watched them go into their competitive and athletic mode, and they would say ‘I’m going to fight this thing’. They would fight their cancer the same way they fought their athletic battles, with gritted teeth and courage and determination. Brian said, “What I noticed about these guys who were so tough and fought cancer so hard was that in a lot of cases they burned out really soon. When my mother got cancer, Brian continued, “Her approach was kind of the opposite. She wanted to live, but she never said she was going to fight this cancer. One of the things I watched her do is that she decided to drop everything that was stressful from her life.” Shopping was stressful for her, so she dropped it. Driving a car was stressful so she stopped driving. In fact, she stopped doing everything she didn’t want to do, and she only kept the things she really enjoyed. And she made a point of becoming very relaxed and enjoying her life. Then Brian told me, “This experience made me think that maybe the idea of fighting for your life when you have cancer is like trying to fight off insomnia.” “If you decide to fight insomnia by gritting your teeth and saying ‘I’m tough, I’ve fought lots of battles, I’m going to fight this insomnia and I’ m going to beat this thing, well, you’ll never fall asleep. It won’t work.” Now I can’t say that what seemed to work for Brian’s mother in living with cancer is the miracle key for anyone else who has cancer. This wasn’t a scientific study, and many other factors are involved. But Brian’s comments about his mother’s approach to living with cancer, and his comments about trying to use will power to fight insomnia are worth keeping in mind when we are facing a problem. Not every problem can be solved with will power and determination. In such fields as business and sports, an attitude of determination and competitiveness can be very useful, and can be highly rewarded. If we have been very successful in these fields by being high powered, determined and aggressive, we may try to use the same approach to tackle every problem. Aggressively and head-on. With grit and determination. However, being aggressive and determined does not work on every kind of problem. If your mate is unhappy in your marriage, or your child has a serious illness, or if you have too much stress in your life, then using determination and aggression will not solve these problems. In these situations, aggressiveness does not work. We need to recognize those situations where another approach might work better. Sometimes what we need to do is relax more, let go of our illusion that we can control everything, become more humble, and be open to living in the moment even when we don’t know all the answers. Latest Cancer News:GE Scientists in Technology ?Relay Race? Against Cancer To commemorate National Cancer Research Month, a team of scientists from GE Global Research, the technology development arm of the General Electric Co. , are joined together in a technology ?relay race? against cancer. UK tries out new model for gene testing in cancer patients By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Britain launched a research programme on Monday that should eventually allow all cancer patients to have access to the kind of genetic analysis that led Hollywood star Angelina Jolie to decide to undergo a double mastectomy. The project, involving the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London, the U.S. gene sequencing firm Illumina, geneticists and cancer ... University of Washington Receives CEO Cancer Gold Standard Accreditation UW Medicine, a leading healthcare provider serving Seattle and the Northwest, is leading by example when it comes to promoting workplace wellness and encouraging healthier behavior. Tackling Cancer: Leukemia's Biggest Current and Upcoming Players Cancer research is big business, and it pays to know where research dollars are headed. ANN ARBOR: Group hosts activities for kids touched by cancer Cancer is hard, but life should be fun! This is the phrase that sparked a series of new, family friendly activities organized by the Cancer Support Community of Greater Ann Arbor. Community Oncology Organizations, Clinics and Patients Support the Bipartisan "Preserve Community Cancer Care Act" WASHINGTON, May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- A majority of cancer patients receive their treatment at community clinics. Today, that care is being threatened by a payment calculation in Medicare that has made ... Cancer charity slams 'enormous drug inequality' A cancer charity has hit out at the "enormous inequality" in the system for prescribing new medicines. GE Healthcare Launches #GetFit Cancer Prevention Campaign GE Healthcare has today launched its third annual #GetFit global public awareness campaign on cancer prevention. This year?s campaign leverages social media channels including Instagram, Sina Weibo in China, and Twitter to enable participation, interaction and engagement. Breast cancer: What is the risk? How high is the risk for the average woman? Media registration for the European Cancer Congress ( ECCO-the European CanCer Organisation ) Media can register now for Europe's premier cancer congress: The European Cancer Congress in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Friday, September 27 to Tuesday, October 1, 2013. Registration for bona fide journalists is free. UK tries out new model for gene testing in cancer patients - Reuters
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 2006 CancerAdvice.org