When you or your loved one receives that call confirming the bad news, a wave of shock wraps around, over and under, wiping away your view of the rest of the world. The speculations begin and fear overwhelms while only murmers of those around us hint at attempts for feeling not alone. But whether the room is full of loved ones or your are driving by yourself, with this news, you suddenly feel alone...and the panic sets in.
The good news is, you are NOT alone!
And the better news is, no need to panic!
While those morbid and overly honest relatives might offer the stories triggering fearful thoughts (albeit with good intentions) and the internet is slamming you with grim facts and figures, there are many reasons to not allow that wave of fear and emotion take control.
Ok, so let's see what might happen if you panic.
1 - Clouded thinking = hasty decisions. The regret of jumping into certain treatment options because of fear and panic is real. Unfortunately it's the family members that are left to understand this.
2 - Panic sends the body into fight or flight mode which will inhibit the body from proper rest and healing opportunities.
3 - Blocked listening. Panicing only blocks your ability to listen...listen to doctors, listen to others and their stories, your friends and family offering support, and most importantly - LISTEN TO YOURSELF.
If you can't listen, you can't receive in order to wholly heal.
These are reasons why you CAN remain calm.
1 - Cancer does not happen overnight. Even with the more aggressive forms of cancer, it truly does take even years for tumors to grow to detectable sizes. Those who are diagnosed with late stage cancers will almost always be able to look back and recognize that they had symptoms that were attributed to other factors.
2 - Because cancer does not happen quickly, you have time. While I understand that there are some more urgent situations to get cancer under control when a late stage diagnosis has occurred, most patients are not in this situation and do have plenty of time to research their illness and all viable options within and outside of mainstream care.
3 - This does not have to be a death sentence. If you take the time to understand cancer, and more specifically, your own cancer, you can begin to understand how to heal from it and prevent it in the future. Be wary of what you find online, however, as more sources than not are limited in their explanations and often over complicating the matter, thus adding to your fear and panic. We'll go more into this area in the next post.
Most of us were taught in school how to handle emergency situations, whether it is for fire, tornado, earthquake or other. The first order is always, "Remain Calm". We then learn that by staying calm allows for us to be sensible in our time needed to think quickly for optimum response and safety. Applying the same principals to your diagnosis is paralleled, and is the first step in remaining open for full recovery and transformation...your adventure in healing.