Choose to Be Positive
- Olivia Newton-John has stage four cancer, and sees the diagnosis in a positive light.
- Having a positive attitude while going through cancer treatment has been shown to prolong lifespans and impact outcomes.
- Try to incorporate activities and people that bring you joy during your cancer journey.
Mental Approach to Cancer: Find Joy
In coping with a cancer diagnosis, many people experience grief. After you have gone through a necessary grieving process, it can be helpful to seek the good in life, as you go through cancer treatment.
Dr. Dana Chase, a gynecologic oncologist at Arizona Oncology, tells SurvivorNet, “We know, actually from good studies, that emotional health, quality of life is associated with survival, meaning better quality of life is associated with better survival, better outcomes.”
She says, “So definitely, working on your emotional health, your physical well-being, your social environment, your emotional well-being, definitely working on those things and making them better are important and can impact your survival. If that’s related to what activities you do that bring you joy, then you should try to do more of those activities.”
What Still Brings You Joy? Your Emotional Health is So Important to Living with Cancer
Maintaining a Positive Attitude
Choosing to be positive in the midst of going through cancer can feel impossible sometimes, but it can be hugely beneficial. Dr. Zuri Murrell, a colorectal surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, agrees with this, and tells SurvivorNet, "A positive attitude is really important.” He says some of his patients, even those with stage four cancer, “thrive” and he says he is “pretty good at seeing who is going to be okay.”
“Now doesn’t that mean I’m good at saying that the cancer won’t grow,” says Dr. Murrell, “but I’m pretty good at telling what kind of patient are going to still have this attitude and probably going to live the longest, even with bad, bad disease. And those are patients who, they have gratitude in life.”
Dr. Murrell recalls his mother’s attitude while fighting breast cancer, and how, he believes, it led to prolonging her life for 10 years while battling the disease. “My mother, who passed away…from breast cancer, she lived 10 years, at a time when people weren’t. One of her most amazing characteristics was her attitude.” He noted how prayer can be helpful, as it was for his mom. “But also, in some patients who don’t believe in prayer, I believe that a positive attitude is what’s really important.”
Related: A Major Step in the Cancer Journey: Learning to Deal With Vulnerability
While a good attitude is helpful, so is continuing to do things that make you happy. Speaking with SurvivorNetTV, Dr. Chase says that emotional health and a good quality of life are both associated with better survival rates, and better outcomes. Social, emotional, and environmental well-being, says Dr. Chase, can all impact survival rates.
So, what does this mean for someone who has cancer, and for their loved ones? It means that you and your loved ones can positively impact the cancer journey by continuing to do things (insomuch as your energy allows) that fill you up. Make a list of hobbies or things you love to do, and people you love to be around and try to incorporate them as much as possible into your life.
Ensuring that you make time for activities and people you love will help to buoy your spirits, making the road ahead potentially a bit easier to face.
SurvivorNetTV Presents: Maintaining a Positive Headspace Through Cancer
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