I have cancer brain. No, not brain cancer but cancer brain. Many people who have had cancer will relate to this concept. As you know I had breast cancer the summer of 2022. Long story short (you can read my blog post and get the WHOLE story by clicking here) I had a stage 2 diagnosis of breast cancer and my prognosis was very good. I had the best kind of cancer I could get, non-aggressive and treatable. I did not have it in my lymph nodes, and I didn’t have chemo therapy. I did go through a round of radiation which was nothing. So now I’m on a regimen of preventative drugs. These have their side effects and my joints hurt a lot, but I guess that is better than getting cancer again.
But now that I’m out of the woods, so to speak, I have this lingering thing called cancer brain. In other words, when anything goes wrong with my body such as I get a cough, I have a headache, my stomach hurts, or any other bodily ailment, my first thought is “OH NO I’VE GOT SO-AND-SO CANCER” (put any word in for so-and-so such as brain, stomach, throat, you name it, I fear I have it). So now there is more worry and fear that goes along with a post-cancer diagnosis. So I try and combat it. I TRY (and the operative word is “try” here) to eat better, exercise more or think more positive. But I’m not a purist. I don’t eat well all the time, I exercise more but I slack off too and sometimes my brain can come up with the more angry, nasty superlatives to describe a really mundane event.
So what do I do? I just let it happen. The fear comes into my thoughts and before I know it, it does exit and leave my mind. I do many things to calm my worried, fearful brain. One of the things I do is listen to uplifting, positive music. I even sing it at night when I can’t sleep. Have you ever heard of Michael Franti. He’s great to listen to when I’m fearful. I also listen to a song by Anthem Lights called a No Worries (Medley). This is very good to brighten my spirits. I also listen the Three Little Birds by BobMarley where he sings, “every little things is going to be alright.” This has become my signature statement. I also tell myself over and over that everything is going to be ok. And also I tell myself that all my needs are met. Then I remember the great adage of live each day as if it was your last. Heck, I could get run over by a bus and then the cancer won’t get me. So there, ha.
And when talking to my friends who have had cancer, this cancer brain doesn’t go away. It is always there, lurking in the back of my mind read to spring at any moment when I have a runny nose. But maybe it will subside a bit. I hope so.
So how do you combat cancer brain, or worry and fear?