Recently Diagnosed Stomach Cancer

[shaggy3812]

Hi

Recently diagnosed stage 4 and feeling a bit down , can`t wait for treatment to begin.Just need to connect with people to hear some positive stories.

[Jody2]

Shaggy,

Having a cancer diagnosis stinks, but it does not mean that you can not continue to live your life fully and happily. I have been diagnosed and treated for 5 different cancers. My treatments have included six surgeries, multiple biopsies and chemotherapy, yet I still thrive on my life. Yes, my life has changed, but some of the changes have been positive. I very much am much more appreciative of being alive. I greet each morning with a thrill and if I were a dog a huge wag of my tail! We all have bumps in our personal road, each of us has a different journey. Your journey and my journey happens to include cancer.

It is now your job to learn as much as you can about stomach cancer. You should become the captain of your medical team, make sure that you take personal responsibility for your own healthcare decisions. Ask questions and then ask more questions, get 2nd and 3rd opinions and then ask questions.

Don't let anyone else make your decisions, only you, with consultation with your medical team and your family, should decide on what treatments you should or should not take. Keep living your life.

If you get depressed find a counselor and if you need don't be afraid to take some medications, cancer does suck.

Joel

[Data-nerd in reply to Jody2]

Great advice from Joel that I can only second by saying Amen

In my case, I have found the timeless wisdom of the Serenity Prayer to be helpful and I have adapted it to focus on my Prostate Cancer.

Some people are reluctant to acknowledge the potential benefits of Prayer for a condition like cancer, either because they don’t believe in a personal god or because the can’t imagine how Prayer could affect a physical disease like cancer.

I deal with the first problem by praying to a Higher Power of my understanding.

In the case of my prostate cancer, that Higher Power is the community of others with cancer that includes my oncologist and the scientific literature he helps me access, as well as other healers who use complementary and alternative medicine principles to treat cancer, as well as my family and other supportive people in my life.

The second objection to the usefulness of Prayer comes from the realization that cancer affects not only our body, but our mind, emotions, and spirit as well.

Even though cancer may ravage our body, we can get some relief from its devastating effects in these other areas of our life through prayer.

Contrary to the advice Joel gives, I have learned to turn my care over to that Higher Power and to recognize my personal powerless over my cancer.

However, the Serenity Prayer reminds us to ask not only for Serenity to Accept what we cannot change, but Coursge to Change those aspects of our cancer that we can, and the Wisdom to know when it is appropriate to adopt each attitude.

Right now, you have an opportunity to accept what you cannot change about your new cancer, while at the same time as you gather the courage to change what you can.

As Joel suggests, seeking Wisdom requires you to learn as much as you can about your cancer.

However, you also have an opportunity to strengthen your connections to whatever you recognize as Higher Powers in your life

During my 5 years in dealing with my aggressive prostate cancer which has survived surgery, salvage radiation, and other aggressive treatments, I have learned that I cannot defeat it in an all out war on myself.

I must accept it for what it is and move on to living my life one day at a time

However, I cannot become complacent about ignoring emerging treatment possibilities or become resigned to dying From it

I still hope and plan to die With it as I live my life to its fullest

I hope some of this is helpful to you

There are many resources available that approach cancer from this perspective if you are interested in learning more about them

Good luck on your journey