These blog posts are designed to get you and your loved ones through the challenge of chemotherapy. I hope these tips and recommendations will point you in the direction of feeling better! You’ll get through this—feel better soon.
The worst has happened. Someone you love has told you they have cancer… and you have no clue how to react. Should you stay positive and help them stay positive? Should you cry and hold them while they cry? Should you carry on as normal and pretend it’s not a big deal so they don’t know you’re freaking out inside? Or should you admit to them you have no clue how to support them right now?
What are the steps that you, the patient in front of me, can take toward eating more healthily? You’re motivated to improve your diet, but changes are hard when you’ve got many things competing for your time and energy. Let’s break down the change into parts.
When you’re undergoing cancer treatment, the physical effects alone can be so overwhelming that mental health gets lost in the shuffle. Between keeping up with chemo appointments, juggling health insurance and running your daily life, it can be hard to care for your mind and soul.
During chemotherapy, many people feel like their brain doesn’t work properly and the symptoms can go way beyond a simple lack of energy. Chemotherapy patients often report brain dysfunction symptoms such as memory problems, difficulty learning new things, trouble concentrating and trouble staying organized.
If you find yourself lying in bed, eyes wide and staring at the ceiling, then join the club! Trouble sleeping is common during chemotherapy.
If you’re looking for ways to stabilize your energy, consider this list of techniques I share in my book, Braving Chemo: What to Expect, How to Prepare, and How to Get Through It. Remember that you can always use these energy boosting techniques to help you feel your best.
Like giving yourself a mental hug, use this visualization whenever you want to give your chemo and your immune system a boost.
It can be difficult to know what mindset will feel most supportive for you as you undergo cancer treatment, and even then, you might find your mindset changes as your experience with cancer evolves. Try this exercise to practice different mindsets and see what feels right for you.
By now, if you’ve spent any time in a cancer support group, whether in person or online, then you’ve probably talked a lot about sex. Cancer and its various treatments, chemotherapy included, can devastate your sex life, and this can contribute to relationship tension, depression and decreased quality of life.
Don't let the soft pink color of the gown I'm wearing in this selfie fool you - there is nothing cute or soft about scanxiety! Scanxiety is the pre-scan anxiety so particular to cancer survivors that we've given it a special name.
Fatigue is the number one persistent side effect of chemotherapy. By using these strategies, you can actively increase your energy during this healing period.
Coordinating doctor visits, receiving chemotherapy and recovering from each treatment cycle takes a tremendous amount of time and energy. Here are some tips to help you accept help from your loved ones…
What should you ask your oncologist? Where do you start given that cancer is such a complicated topic? Here is a list of ten questions to start with…
¿Cómo escapé de este desánimo por la quimioterapia? Me solté y me mantuve firme simultáneamente. Dejé de lado las expectativas mientras encontraba un núcleo al que aferrarme.
Pandemic work is exhausting and I am weary. I feel that my country, and perhaps our whole world, is weary as we transition from sprinting through the pandemic to running a marathon.
A cancer diagnosis is a medical concern as well as a financial concern. Financial toxicity is closely associated with cancer treatment due to of the rising costs of chemotherapy, medication, surgical procedures, and post-care.
Now I'm well past my chemo days but I still turn to a protein smoothie if my schedule demands a portable breakfast. Here's my basic smoothie recipe, which is vegan if you use a plant-based milk.
Before cancer, I cooked quite a bit and I dabbled in baking… When I was diagnosed with cancer and entered chemotherapy, everything changed.
I propose a different approach to Valentine’s Day when you’re dealing with cancer, an approach that I experienced when I was living in Mexico…
To help solve the challenge of navigating healthcare, I recommend several questions to ask your oncologist. These questions will help you gather your information and orient yourself to what you’ll need for cancer care planning...
Here is what I suggest for getting gentle exercise during chemotherapy, excerpted from Braving Chemo…
Each time someone sent me a gift I felt a connectedness to the giver and to the “outside world,” which was a welcome escape from the cancer world that I was living in.
I showed up for my first chemotherapy session with only my purse, my cell phone and perhaps a disposable water bottle. But I had no snacks, no blanket and nothing to pass the time. Did I think I was going to the movies? Why hadn’t I thought about what to bring?