One of my nurses told me that she and her colleagues had seen a pattern: those who kept positive and felt self-empowered during treatment tended to have better outcomes and withstood chemo better.
Here are 5 things that helped me emotionally during chemo:
1. FEELING THE FEELS
Don’t bypass anger and fear: acknowledge these feelings. And have healthy emotional outlets for them. Find the catharthis that works for you. For me, personally, it was writing, screaming into pillows and/or balling my eyes out during a particular chant practice that gets me every. single. time. It’s so important to energetically exorcise the heavy emotions that are so present during this time – in whatever way works for you. Having tools to process and release emotions really helped me keep grounded. And NOT take them out on family members and friends !!
2. DOGGY LOVE
Getting a brand new – and very large – puppy during chemo maybe wasn’t the the most sensible idea in and amongst a very hectic time, but boy did she bring great distraction and a lot of laughter. Puppy cuddles & giggles really make everything better.
3. LOOKING FORWARD TO THINGS
Treatment is monotonous, it’s sludgy, it can sometimes feel like Groundhog Day and there are times where it can all feel unbearable and that it will never end. Rather than counting down the days until THE FINAL DAY OF TREATMENT – which may be many moons away – I found it helpful to breakdown the months into smaller chunk of times by having regular little milestones to look forward to. Booking in stuff – eg a nice meal out, or a weekend away – really helped keep the despair at bay and the time go faster. There’s a lovely charity I found that shares the same ethos.
4. RADICAL REST
I got pretty overwhelmed, especially at the beginning of treatment, when I was trying desperately to “be productive” with my time in between infusions (hello toxic hustle culture, even cancer can’t keep you away apparently…) I had to intentionally force myself to untangle myself from that #girlboss #selfdeveloplment mentality I was fully entrenched in at the time of diagnosis – and chill the fuck out. I need to rest my body and nervous system, not up-level myself, my business or whatever else I thought I needed to improve. Embarrassingly – but maybe relatable-y – it took me a long time to give myself permission to let go and surrender to slowing right down & rehabilitation. Rest is indeed a radical act.
5. THERAPY
Forever grateful for therapy & emotional processing.