Read 100 Perks of Having Cancer: Plus 100 Health Tips for Surviving It Online
Authors: Florence Strang
Tags: #Health; Fitness & Dieting, #Diseases & Physical Ailments, #Internal Medicine, #Oncology, #Cancer, #Medicine & Health Sciences, #Clinical, #Medical Books, #Alternative Medicine, #Medicine
Perk #35
Early Menopause
H
ey, I know what you are thinking, ladies:
What is so perky about early menopause?
Those
were my thoughts exactly when my oncologist
told me about “chemopause”: a side effect of
chemo that causes the womanly cycle to come to
an abrupt halt. Sitting in the pretty young doc-
tor’s office with Shawn by my side (very early
into our relationship), I couldn’t help but blush
as she told us the likely side effects: mood
swings, hot flashes, loss of libido, weight gain,
and no more monthly periods (well, that part I
was looking forward to). I would not have been
the least bit surprised if my new love had sud-
denly bolted out the door, but I’m glad he decided to stick around. Sure
enough, chemopause kicked in soon after treatments began, but fortunately
my only unpleasant symptom was hot flashes—a small price to pay to get
rid of the dreaded monthly visitor.
Many moons ago, while I was still married, I whined to my best friend
that my hubby turned into a complete villain once a month, purposely
doing things like slurping his soup in an attempt to drive me bonkers. In
fact, when I thought about it, it seemed that everyone around me got kind
of crazy at that time. “Does this happen at the same time every month?”
my wise friend asked. “Yeah, usually just before my period,” I confided. Ah,
it suddenly dawned on me; they weren’t trying to make me crazy. I had PMS.
But those days are behind me now. As an added perk of chemopause, I no
longer turn into a demon once a month.
Chemopause is not all bad. Just think of the perks:
no more periods and no more PMS.
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Perk #35: Early Menopause
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HEALTH TIP #35
No More Living in a “Healthy Cage”
Y
ou must not eat any meat. You must eat broccoli every day. You must
never raise your voice. You must be crazy if you think you’ll find any of
these statements in this book!
If you think of french fries when I say “vegetable,” and the thought of
exercise makes you want to cry, you’re not alone. Changing everything you
do, eat, and think every day is a tall order. And since we humans don’t fare
well with change of any kind, trying to stick to your “healthy living plan”
can be like living in a dungeon for some.
Here’s something to remember: when making a healthy living plan, you
must consider your happiness.
Eating seaweed and drinking turmeric tea may not be the thing that gets
you to your happy place; however, you should be willing to try some new
things to see if you can work them into your plan. Your healthy lifestyle
should never be stagnant but should be an ever changing, evolving process;
evolving to the healthiest lifestyle possible for you.
Eating a plant-based diet, exercising four to five times a week, and med-
itating daily will help you feel better and fight illness, but if abstaining from
that burger while all your friends are devouring theirs makes you feel trapped
and causes anxiety, then go ahead and eat the burger. It’s better to be happy
eating the burger than to be miserable by not eating it. But maybe the next
time you want that burger, allow yourself the idea of exploring other options,
like a black bean burger. And when trying said black bean burger, try not to
put any negative labels on it, like “I have to eat this dumb thing instead of
the burger I love.” Instead try to think, “I can still have the burger occasionally
if I want it, but I’m going to try this to see if I feel better when I eat this one.”
Of course, you don’t have to say these things out loud.
Here’s an anecdotal story, so take it for what it’s worth. About four
months into taking the medication for post–breast cancer treatment (the
aromatase inhibiter, Femara) I started to get terrible joint pain and swelling.
When I woke up in the morning, I literally could not walk. It would take
me about twenty minutes or so to loosen up and walk normally. I was a
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100 Perks of Having Cancer
forty-one-year-old with ninety-year-old joints. When I went to see the
acupuncturist for a tune up, he suggested I cut down on dairy as that can
seriously affect joint inflammation.
Now I loved my cow’s milk. I mean LOVED it. I loved it on cereal, I loved it
in shakes, I loved it in my tea—and what the heck was I going to dunk my choco-
late chip cookies in? I probably was drinking a quart of cow’s milk every day.
But it was
skimmed milk,
so in cardiac nurse terms, I thought I was eating healthy.
So I heard his “no milk” advice and tucked it in the back of my head.
(
Way
back there, along with learning how to play the harp someday.) But
the pain kept getting worse. Finally, when I had to hold on
Seek out new, healthy
to things to walk after getting out of bed in the morning, I
lifestyle changes
made the decision to give up milk for two weeks to see what
without losing your
would happen. I switched to unsweetened almond milk,
“happy place,” but
after tasting the various options, and I tried not to look at
realize what makes
that beautiful white jug sitting there beckoning to me in the
you happy now may
fridge. The first day was frustrating, but after one week, I was
change in the future.
accepting it, and, after two weeks, my joints started to feel a
lot better, but I wasn’t even noticing that because the gastric
bloating and stomach pains I had been living with had disappeared! That’s
when I was hooked. And that’s when I was able to work on getting all dairy,
such as cheese, yogurt, and ice cream out of my diet and out of my life. It
was a process, but because I kept feeling better, it reinforced my choices.
And with dairy, because of the proteins and other substances that make
you crave it, it took about four weeks until I just plain didn’t want it any-
more. I never realized how good I could feel, and I didn’t realize how dairy
was affecting my body until I stopped it. After doing more research and
discovering that casein (the protein in dairy) could contribute to develop-
ing more cancer, my mind was made up and I never looked back.
My point is, I tried this change for my health and I am happy with my
choice. I’m not regretting it every time I pour almond milk on my cereal,
and, in the end, I’m not following the advice of anyone but myself—my
well-informed self.
Recently, I was reading about seaweed and all its benefits. Costco was actu-
ally sampling seaweed salad the other day. Someday I will be ready for that
seaweed salad, but not today. And I’m happy with that choice . . . for now.
Perk #36
Cancer Streamlined
My Christmas Shopping
I
had my sixth and final chemo in December 2011, shortly before Christ-
mas, and it was by far the toughest one. For days I was mostly confined
to my bed, with my dear little Patches never leaving my side. I found myself
drifting in and out of stages of sleep and wakefulness, never knowing
whether it was daytime or nighttime. My energy was at an all-time low. I
recall wanting to go to sleep one evening, but my bedside lamp was on,
keeping me awake. All I could do was look at the lamp and wish that I had
enough energy to reach over and turn it off. Calling out to someone to help
was out of the question. Even talking was too much work for me! I dreaded
for anyone to ask me a question because that meant I had to search my
dazed mind for an answer, and then speak the words, which left me feeling
exhausted. I would always muster up enough energy in the evenings, how-
ever, to sit and eat with my family, ensuring that I was giving my body good
nutrition to keep up my strength.
Needless to say, as Christmas approached, I had no shopping done.
There wasn’t a present to be found in the house (except stuff for my kiddies,
which I had ordered online). And the strange thing was, I was as cool as a
cucumber about it. After all, who was going to say anything if they didn’t
get a present from me that year? I mean really, how would it look if someone
complained that their sister/friend/girlfriend/daughter with CANCER did
not buy them a gift? So, they could call me a Scrooge if they wanted but
they would only be making themselves look bad.
Christmas shopping can add unnecessary stress to your life when you
are dealing with cancer. People will understand if you take a year off.
(And if they don’t, they are only making themselves look bad.)
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HEALTH TIP #36
How to Eat Healthy Around the Holidays
and Not Seem Like a Health Freak
S
tick sugar and fat in my face enough times, and it’s likely to be gobbled
up eventually. That’s the danger when you’re attending parties, holiday
or otherwise. Going to a party with all that food sitting out is like being
locked in a food fun house . . . distorted evil sights, sounds, and smells . . .
colorful bubbling poison drinks . . . little spiked weenies being shoved in