Tag: Breast Cancer - Part 2
Living Through – A Spiritual Guide Through Cancer
I suppose I have recited Psalm 23 publicly at religious services more times than I can count, but in the private times of trial and tribulation, when I needed the comfort of the Holy One, I have turned to it as well. Allow me a preface, and then I will return to the Psalm itself.For…
Self Care – Everyone Needs It!
Dealing with a major illness can be traumatic on all levels—physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Similarly, recovery from illness also needs to happen on all levels. Self-care refers to simple practices that nurture the mind, body and spirit. As part of a healthy lifestyle, self-care practices can help boost resilience or one’s ability to “bounce…
Oh, My Lord! You Won’t Believe This One!
In Reverend Susan Sparks’ book, “Laugh Your Way to Grace,” a single phrase sums the unique perspective of a lawyer, minister, standup comedian cancer survivor: “…alone with what were soon to be my two constant companions: cancer and sarcasm.” After facing a breast cancer diagnosis five years ago, Susan Sparks found herself using humor to…
Self Care – Everyone Needs It!
Dealing with a major illness can be traumatic on all levels—physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Similarly, recovery from illness also needs to happen on all levels. Self-care refers to simple practices that nurture the mind, body and spirit. As part of a healthy lifestyle, self-care practices can help boost resilience or one’s ability to “bounce…
Surviving Cancer: Physical Realities
Cardiorespiratory (CR) fitness, also called aerobic capacity, is one of the most important indicators of health and longevity in humans. CR fitness refers to the body’s ability to transport oxygen from the air to the body’s cells in order to produce energy for a multitude of processes (e.g., muscle contraction, immune system function). The integrity…
Living with Cancer-Related Sexuality Changes
As cancer survival rates increase, more attention is being paid to quality-of-life issues such as sexuality. Initially you may be concerned about lifestyle changes or limitations from cancer and do not focus on sexuality issues until you are resuming your life. Treatments and/or the disease itself can cause changes in sexuality, but health care providers…
Tomorrow’s Pain
It was the size of the needle that made the biggest impression on me. Cindy Sanderson, a clinical psychologist in her mid-40s, was delivering a lecture to the psychiatry service of the cancer hospital where I was training. She didn’t offer the usual research on this or that psychiatric issue; instead, Sanderson described coping with…
7th Annual Breast Health Summit
Join the Texas Breast HealthCollaborative for the 2011 Breast Health Summit. Topics and activities will focus on the need to educate, navigate, and advocate through, around and across the gaps so that no woman with breast cancer goes untreated. The two-day event will begin on October 20 and will include discussions about breast cancer treatment…
Pay Attention!
Cokie Roberts had already told her bosses at ABC News that she wasn’t renewing her contract as co-anchor of “This Week with Sam Donaldson & Cokie Roberts” before her breast cancer was discovered. Like many other women, Cokie continued to work “and put one foot in front of the other” during her treatment. But when…