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
Art Therapy Association:
Art therapy is a mental health profession that uses the creative process of
art-making to improve and enhance the physical, mental, and emotional
well-being of individuals of all ages. Research in the field confirms that
the creative process involved in artistic self-expression helps people to
become more physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy and func-
tional, resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, man-
age behavior, reduce stress, handle life adjustments, and achieve insight.
Who wouldn’t want to be involved in this?! Research
shows that art therapy is extremely helpful in restoring
health, specifically for can cer patients who have to deal
not only with their physical illness, but also with the emo-
tional and mental issues that go with it.
Here is a charcoal drawing done by a woman with
newly diagnosed leukemia:
I don’t think you need a degree in psychology to inter-
pret what this woman is feeling. The drawing allows her to
be able to identify and express what she is feeling without
using one word. It also provides her therapist with a tool
to use for opening up discussions about her emotions.
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100 Perks of Having Cancer
Nancy Nainis, MAAT, ATR-BC, is a retired art therapist who conducted
research on the benefits of art therapy for cancer patients. Nancy told me,
“Art therapy often surprised cancer survivors. They enjoyed the creative
process more than expected and experienced reduced pain. Art-making gave
a lift to their self-esteem, and many gave the items they produced to care-
givers to express their gratitude. For a relatively small investment the rewards
were great.”
The “art” doesn’t have to be a fancy, intricate oil painting. In fact, you
don’t need any experience with art at all. While painting is an option, there
is also clay, sculpture, drawing, mobiles, collages, and jew-
elry making.
Consider art therapy
Therapy implies treatment that leads to healing. With
along with your
cancer, there’s a lot of healing to do. Not everyone is able,
chemotherapy and
for whatever reason, to express the feelings associated with
physical therapy to
a cancer diagnosis and everything that it encompasses. Art
help bring you back
therapy can help with expression and can also help with the
to your optimum health.
healing process necessary to regain physical, mental, and
emotional health.
Check with your local hospital or medical center, or your oncologist to
find an art therapist near you, or contact the American Art Therapy Associ-
ation at www.arttherapy.org.
Perk #2
Cancer Helped Me
Find My Soul Mate
A
s fate would have it, at almost exactly the
same time that I found my lump, I also
found my soul mate. Shawn and I were first intro-
duced online. I immediately confided in him that
I had found a lump in my breast, but at that time
I was convinced that it was harmless. We spent
the next few weeks e-mailing and talking on the
phone, getting to know one another and planning
to meet in person.
When I was officially diagnosed, my hopes of
meeting the man of my dreams were dashed.
Although we had not met in person, I really liked
Shawn. He was funny, honest, hardworking, and
handsome to boot! After being divorced for
nearly ten years, I thought that he could really be
Flo and Shawn, celebrating their
three-month anniversary.
“the one.” However, how could I possibly enter
into a new relationship when my prognosis for survival was so uncertain?
Reluctantly, I called him in tears to say, “There is no point in us meeting.
I just found out that I have breast cancer and I don’t know what lies ahead
for me.”
To my surprise, he replied, “If you are trying to ditch me, it’s not going
to work. I am coming out there this weekend to take you out to dinner.”
As cliché as it might sound, it was love at first sight, and Shawn has been
by my side ever since.
How can I be sure that he is really “the one”? Well, who but a soul mate
would enter a relationship with a woman who is about to lose a breast, all
of her hair, and be catapulted into early menopause by chemo drugs? (I just
hoped chemo would leave me with enough estrogen to keep the spark alive!)
I 9 J
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100 Perks of Having Cancer
Cancer may not help you find your soul mate, but it will certainly let you
know if he or she is by your side. If you are still looking for that special
someone, don’t let cancer hold you back.
HEALTH TIP #2
You Need Estrogen to Make Your Kitty Purr
A
hhhhhhh, estrogen . . . the very essence of a woman. It is the hormone
responsible for many things that make a woman a
woman,
such as
breast development, libido, and intelligence (
wink
). Men
also produce estrogen, but in very small amounts. Hence
why they lag behind women in the niceness department
(as well as breast size—in most cases).
One of the purposes of estrogen in women is to make
the sex organs ready, willing, and, more important, able
to have
enjoyable
sex. Unfortunately, after menopause,
even if it is chemo-induced menopause, the “kitty” may
become unresponsive. But wait—there is hope!
If you are in your twenties or thirties, without medical
Without estrogen.
complications, you probably don’t need extra estrogen
as your ovaries and adrenal glands are hard at work pro-
ducing enough female hormones to keep you feeling
healthy and “horny”! However, as estrogen wanes, due
to meno pause, drugs, or health issues, the following can
happen:
●
increased cholesterol, causing arteries to become clog -
ged and possibly leading to a heart attack
●
decreased bone density, possibly causing osteoporosis
●
“hot flashes” or incredibly annoying episodes where
With estrogen.
you feel as if you will spontaneously combust
PERK #2: Cancer Helped Me Find My Soul Mate
11
●
sleep disturbances—either insomnia or waking up during the night
●
mood swings, including (but not limited to) general bitchiness, homici-
dal tendencies, and spontaneously crying at Hallmark commercials
●
vaginal dryness, and a compulsive tendency to methodically repeat the
phrase, “Not tonight, honey; I have a headache.”
If you are postmenopausal or have had a hysterectomy that includes an