A cancer diagnosis knocks you flat and before you can get up off the floor, you are swamped by a tsunami of strange medical lingo, perpetual appointments, costly medications, dreadful treatments, possible surgery and an uncertain future. Everything moves along too fast to afford you the luxury of finding your emotional balance.

Just a simple statement from your doctor instantly topples everything familiar and comfortable. Your home, your relationships, your job and your future all change in an instant and will never again be quite the same.

Unfortunately, you simply cannot afford a delay between the cancer diagnosis and the treatment. The sooner you schedule chemotherapy, radiation and/or surgery the better. Unfortunately, your cancer has no sense of fair play and will not wait for you to get your bearings.

So you are suddenly forced to make incredibly important decisions, to re-organize your schedule and to fight the battle of your life while you are still emotionally, intellectually and physically off-center.

This is the worst possible time for you to lose your best, strongest and most stable inner self. So, it is essential that you find a way to center yourself quickly in spite of the turmoil in your life and to remember your former strong, confident, clear-thinking self.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

Use the survival odds to inspire you rather than to fill you with dread. If only 3 out of 5 patients survive with your particular type of tumor, then someone has to be number 4 or 5! Decide that you will be on the good side of those odds.

You will spend a lot of time surrounded by masked strangers who are speaking a language you do not understand (probably Greek or Latin). You will shuffle along cold hallways in a paper dress and slippers. While everyone around you stands, you will be flat on your back or with your tail in the air. Remember that all these people work for YOU. They are part of YOUR personal medical team. They are completely focused on getting you through this.

SEEK HELP

Unless you have a medical degree, you are understandably out of your element. Ask questions and keep asking until you understand the answers. Write down the answers. No, they will not think you are stupid. They work for you, remember?

GIVE HELP

You will feel better when you help others feel better. You have important experience and unique wisdom to share with a support group, even from day one of your treatment. No one can quite understand what you are going through like others who are struggling through the same challenge. Participate in any studies that are pertinent to your condition. These studies are usually nothing more than a brief phone interview. Your efforts will contribute to saving others from going through this same experience.

KEEP RECORDS

It’s a bad idea to keep all pertinent phone numbers, chemo schedule, and various medications on scraps of paper. It is astonishing how quickly you will gather up important information. Buy a three-ring binder. Divide it into “lab reports,” “calendar,” “phone numbers,” “questions,” etc. Stick a funny cover or cartoon on it. When you are all well again, file it.

FIND YOUR CENTER

If you have practiced meditation, breathing exercises, Tai Chi or yoga in the past, stay with the practice so long as your doctors approve. Continue anything you do that absorbs you completely like playing a musical instrument, needlework or painting.

RE-THINK YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR BODY

Your body is only part of who you are and your cancer is only a tiny part of your body. Think of your body as something you wear rather than the totality of who you are.

NURTURE YOUR MIND, BODY AND SPIRIT

After all, it will take all of them to win this battle. Eat and sleep well. Allow quiet time to yourself. Don't allow yourself to get so bogged down in medical stuff that you lose sight of coming out of this stronger and wiser than before your diagnosis. Envision a healthy new you after chemo, after radiation, after surgery.