I fight cancer in the long term

From when I was first diagnosed with bone cancer, to the darkest points when I was given a survival rate of less than 10%, and even after I managed to turn my health around, the The fight against cancer has been a continuous marathon and of high urgency.

The urgency is clear; it’s in your face: the symptoms, the statistics, the risk of spread, the scary conversations with your medical team, and the simple knowledge that cancer doesn’t take days off.

I did my best to keep my feet on the ground by focusing on process over results and staying locked in my ultimate destination: long-term sustainable wellness. It really is a disciplined approach, one day at a time. My to-do list is filled with all types of diets and healing protocols, which is my version of “earning my health” every day.

The tricky part is when there’s no definite sign that what you’re doing is actually paying off. After a year of harsh chemo and multiple surgeries failed to stop my cancer, for example, I opted out of continuing conventional treatment in favor of more natural alternative healing approaches. This meant that every day I pushed based solely on what I learned from research and following my intuition. But let’s call it what it was: I was basically running on blind faith.

It reminds me of a conversation I once had with an ultra-marathoner. I was curious how she held up during times when the destination can seem so endlessly out of sight. “What do you tell yourself every step of the way?” I asked.

She explained that she kept repeating “You’re fine…you’ve got this…” over and over on repeat.

While she used self-talk, I found similar results by breaking down each day and doing whatever I could. I went through my to-do list and continued to check on myself. “OK great, done. What else can I do to give myself the best possible chance?” Both techniques redirect attention to something more productive than worrying about the magnitude of this which may seem like an impossible task.

The reality with cancer is that there are no guarantees, and every situation is different. In my opinion, the best approach is to just accept that and save your energy for what you can control. If any cancer fighters have any questions, send me a note at [email protected] and I am happy to help the community as other cancer thrivers have done for me.

At the same time, and here comes the marathon aspect, I learned the importance of managing my endurance. During those very uncertain years, my perfectionist tendencies drove me to such discipline that I started to drive myself crazy. I finally learned that the added stress of being obsessed with healing can actually offset the benefits.

Today, part of my approach is to check in with myself and note when it’s time to relax. I make sure to give myself time to recover — mentally, emotionally, and physically — in order to maintain long-term consistency. Because even though there’s always urgency when you’ve been diagnosed with the C-word, that way I can continue to do whatever I can to earn my health, again and again…for the long haul.

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