Hope

[gibbo41]

I know maintaining hope to be important and put together the following a couple of years ago. It was prepared from the text of a well respected medical practitioner Dr Jerome Groopman. I see it as important to keep hope alive and my hope is that some might find the following useful. Best wishes to all on the PCa Journey. 

KEY POINTS FROM THE ANATOMY OF HOPE

by Jerome Groopman MD

2005 Random House

“Unlike much of the New Age pap that passes for wisdom in many self-help books, this book about hope is based on scientific research by someone who knows what he is doing. New Haven Register

Because they [patients] held on to hope even when I could not, they survived

For all my patients hope, true hope, has proved as important as any medication I might prescribe

Belief and expectation are cardinal components of hope

Hope helps us overcome hurdles that we otherwise could not scale, and it moves us forward to a place where healing can occur.

Even small reductions in fatigue can have a major effect on a patient’s hope

Patients who are hopeful have a more rapid return to health and a higher rate of survival

True hope takes into account the real threats and seeks to navigate a path around them

Hope tempers fear so we can recognize dangers and then bypass or endure them

The state of mind might be important in contributing to the immune response

‘Hope, I have come to believe, is as vital to our lives as the very oxygen that we breathe’

For a physician to effectively impart hope he has to believe in it himself

Hope is at the very heart of healing. For those who have hope, it may help some to live longer, and it will help all to live better

Gibbo41

December 2013

[CERICWIN]

I have hope and faith, but sometimes it's unavoidable to fall into periods of depression and despair, especially with hormonal disturbances from treatments and the very nature of our prostate cancer.

For the most part, though, I have hope, with the new treatments, the immunotherapies that are getting better all of the time.     

But living with Stage IV advanced PCa is a challenge for anyone, and even the strongest of us waivers from time to time.

I've been called a "warrior," and it's not a role that I chose, but was thrust upon me by circumstance.      I didn't even feel at all like I had real courage until I had to face the decision to have a bilateral orchiectomy.      It's not major surgery, but it is an irrevokable step, and so final---we males are very attached to them---even if they aren't functional anymore.       It was the most courageous decision I've ever made, and hope and courage go hand in hand.

CERICWIN

[Neal-Snyder]

I've always thought of it in terms of optimism, but hope is another good word for it. I really like & agree with the final comment. And they're interactive: if you live better, you're likely to live longer.

As far as the state of mind contributing to the immune response, there seems to be widespread agreement that if you can reduce your stress hormones & increase your pleasure hormones, you'll live longer--& that's intimately tied to your state of mind.. I was advised to retire sooner than I'd planned, & have more fun! I think it's why I'm still here, enjoying life, in my 12th year after taking that advice. 

Of course I'm benefiting from a treatment that wasn't even available back then, with other new treatments ahead, but having hope helped me keep going for a long time on preexisting treatments. 

[20PeteG16]

I would submit that faith in your advocate, your medical team, test results, treatments and medications develops a hope and a relationship. Dare call it respect and love.

Personally my religious faith is also a factor when in balance with the successful experience I have been fortunate to have enjoyed over the last nine years.

Creator God care for us all,

PeteG