Do What It Takes to Make It Through Your Journey with Cancer

Almost everyone experiences trauma at some point in their life. When this happens, you do whatever it takes to get through. Of course, this principle applies if you receive a cancer diagnosis. No matter how big or small something may seem, if it helps you cope, be sure to include it as you move forward to better times.

Here are some actions that may gain significant importance as you work your way along a journey with cancer.

If you enjoy being creative, notebooks, pens, markers, and stickers may become emotional anchors. You might decide to journal about your experiences, thoughts, and reflections. Perhaps you carry your notebook to treatments and doctor appointments. You might jot down inspirational quotes that provide motivation to move forward. Or, you could add pictures of family, friends, or favorite destinations you enjoy or want to escape to. Since everything you decide to do is judgement free, do what makes you feel good.

Consider writing down a WHY statement. This can be your reason for pushing along on your journey with cancer. Think about why you’re enduring all the chemotherapy, surgeries, and treatments. In addition to regaining your health, expand on your answer. Cancer treatment is difficult and can take a long time. You may get physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. Your body will change as your feelings get tested. Anger, sadness, and fear can result. Having a WHY statement provides encouragement to continue moving forward.

Think about creating a calendar that reflects your cancer treatments, doctor appointments, surgeries, and other scheduled care. Crossing off a round of chemotherapy can be very satisfying. It’s one less thing you have to endure again. You should feel one step closer to being done with treatment every time a task is completed.

Ask for and accept help from family and friends. As independent as you may be, you cannot do everything on your own. This is especially true after surgery, if you have restrictions on how much you can move or lift. Your loved ones will be happy to help however you need. They want the best for you and will do what it takes to help you move forward.

Because everyone’s journey with cancer is different, what helps one person through differs from what helps another person through. This is why Chix 4 a Cause continues to modify the emotional support items included in Gifts of Love Boxes. To learn more about these Boxes, or to have one shipped to someone you care about who’s battling cancer, visit chix4acause.org today.

Overcoming Insomnia

Sleep is something we all need but don’t always get enough of. This is especially troublesome if you’re fighting cancer and dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. If you’re experiencing insomnia, rather than sleep being a relief, going to bed may become a dreaded activity. The anticipation of lying there for hours, staring at the ceiling, tossing and turning while not being able to drift off, is frustrating.

Insomnia may be accompanied by anxiety, anger, depression, and other feelings that affect your healing and wellness. You might be facing financial challenges from medical bills that keep you awake at night. You could be dealing with side effects of medication that keep you up at odd hours. Caffeine and stress often make things worse. Because lack of sleep suppresses your immune system and harms your body, you need to take action to overcome the issue.

Thankfully, there are steps you can take to reduce your odds of experiencing insomnia during your journey with cancer.

You already may know that keeping your bedroom cool, limiting your caffeine intake for several hours before you go to bed, and drawing the shades to darken your room help. Other suggestions include journaling, keeping the same bedtime habits each night, and turning on a white noise machine. You might want to consider cognitive-behavioral therapies as well. This may include visualizing a runaway train on the tracks and changing your thought process to derail it. Such action reminds you to stop in your tracks and not let your fears run away from you, preventing you from going to sleep. Perhaps you want to talk with your oncologist about your insomnia. They may prescribe a nonaddictive medicine to help.

Getting an adequate amount of sleep is required for your body to heal from cancer. If you or someone you know is fighting the disease, get in touch with Chix 4 a Cause. Learn more about our Gifts of Love program at chix4acause.org today.

Create Your Vision Board as a Cancer Survivor

A vision board creates a sacred space showing what you want from life. Because what you focus on expands, creating a vision board and placing it in an often-viewed area sets you up for visualization exercises throughout the day. This helps makes what you want to happen become reality.

The more you visualize something, the more you emit powerful frequencies into the universe. This is why Olympic athletes use visualization to improve performance. According to Psychology Today, the brain patterns activated when a weightlifter lifts heavy weights are similar to the ones activated when they visualize lifting weights. This is one reason why visualization is so powerful.

To create your vision board, think about what you want to do, be, and have. Consider areas such as relationships, travel, spirituality, health, and personal growth. Write down goals for what you want your life to look like in the areas that interest you most.

Use pictures, words, quotes, sayings, or images of places you want to go cut from magazines. Include trinkets lying around your home, memorabilia from trips, or reminders of events, places, or people meaningful to you. Add representations of anything else that inspires and motivates you.

Use scissors, tape, pins, or a glue stick to add your items to any type or size of board. You might choose a cork board or poster board from a hardware store, a pin board from an online shop, or anything else that interests you. You can use markers, stickers, or anything you desire to decorate your vision board.

Take as long as you need to create your vision board. Make it as big as you want. Feel free to redo your vision board whenever you want. Do whatever feels best for you. Once you set intentions for what you want to do, be, and have, you’ll be amazed when you start to see them appear in your life.

If you or someone you know is battling cancer, get in touch with Chix 4 a Cause. Learn about the financial and emotional support we provide through our Gifts of Love program. Visit chix4acause.org today.