H ow to get through your cancer treatment

How to get through your cancer treatment

I found the first few months after receiving my breast cancer diagnosis the worst. Looking back now, I remember being so terrified. Here are the strategies that helped me get through my treatment and to where I am now. I hope that they might help you too, or even just show you that you aren’t alone on your journey.

Talk about it In those first few months I talked endlessly about my diagnosis with my husband and my mom and dad. Talking helped. If I’d kept it all bottled up, if we all kept it all bottled up, I don’t think we would have been better for it. If you can talk to someone, whether that’s your family, a friend or a counsellor, I think you should do it – talk it all out, that way you can empty it out of your head and say ‘I’ve dealt with that’.

Protect yourself I put a tiny typed note on my front door, near the doorbell, that asked any visitors to wash their hands when they came into our house. I washed my hands diligently throughout the day and I kept my hands away from my mouth and nose. I asked my husband to tighten up his own hand hygiene too and we were super cautious about hand hygiene in the hospital and whenever we were out and about. In the end, I think it was all worth it. We didn’t get sick. Do whatever you need to do to stay away from anyone that is sick with anything contagious while you’re on chemo – protect yourself. A cold or infection will compromise your already-compromised system and set you back, it may even delay your chemo schedule. This is a time to be selfish.

Eat well This is a tough one during chemo – you’re in and out of hospital for appointments and you also don’t have the energy to prepare and cook complicated meals. This is where asking others to make home-cooked meals for you comes in. Try, as much as you can without totally exhausting yourself, to eat whole foods, cooked at home, and lots of veg. Eating well will support your body through chemo and help you to feel well both physically and mentally.

Get lots of sleep Sleep can be a place of relief. Relief from the worry in your head and the tiredness in your body. Make your bedroom a wonderful place of rest and get those z’s. Clear all the technology from your bedroom. Buy some new bedding. If you feel like sleeping during the day – do – do whatever your body tells you.

Live in the ‘now’ You may keep thinking about your diagnosis and wishing to go back, before you knew, to your old life. You may keep worrying about the future, what it will bring, will you be ok, what will happen. This is all looking back and looking forward. If you’re finding this too painful to do right now, just stop. Just be in the ‘now’. Just deal with right now, this hour, then the next hour. Deal with today. Don’t look back into the past and try not worry about the future. Just do now.

Try to exercise You might find this very difficult while you’re going through chemo, and that’s ok. Just do what you can. Maybe it’s a ten minute walk in the fresh morning air after your breakfast. Maybe you can manage a ‘shuffle-run’. Maybe you can handle a half an hour session of yoga on your living room floor. Exercise will give you an amazing boost of feel-good energy. If you can do it, do.

Find yourself a project For me, it was Happy Magazine! The idea came to me during my time getting through chemotherapy. From there the idea grew and it became something positive for me to think about, and then do. Use this time you have at home to work on a project. What have you always wanted to do? Can you do it now? Maybe you’ve always wanted to paint. Or make that wedding photo album or baby scrapbook. What about flower-arranging or photography? Now you have the time and opportunity, why not go for it? Get your mind off your cancer diagnosis and onto a new, positive project.