How to Feel Like You Again After or During Breast Cancer Treatment
October is breast cancer awareness month, where we bring awareness to this health condition that is the second leading cause of death in women.
Statistics: One in eight women will get diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. One woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every 2 minutes and one woman succumbs to cancer every 13 minutes. These numbers equate to more than 250,000 women being diagnosed with breast cancer each year. It is a cause worth fighting for and we would like to do our part to bring awareness this month.
Each woman’s journey through breast cancer treatment is different. One’s thoughts and emotions throughout her breast cancer treatment are unique. There is no single remedy in helping one cope with her symptoms during treatment or finding herself or feeling like herself after successfully beating breast cancer.
Whether you’re one of the one in eight who has been diagnosed with breast cancer and is currently undergoing treatment or you’re one of the thousands of women who made it through treatment and beat the disease, it can be difficult to establish a “normal” routine and feel like your old self.
The chemotherapy, office visits, and possible surgical and other medical procedures can easily take away the comfort of your daily routine and take away your personal identity. Even after beating breast cancer, it can be hard to redefine one’s self and enjoy life.
Focus on the positive.
Cancer treatment isn’t fun. In fact, it is often painful and draining.
However, it can help to make the daily choice to be happy and focus on the positive.
Various psychology studies have shown that a positive attitude, smiling, and laughing reduces pain and discomfort and helps one to feel better.
In addition to less discomfort, your smile and happiness can pass on to others nearby, possibly brightening their day.
Acknowledge and understand cancer. Talking to your doctor and doing your own research about breast cancer, its treatments, and what to expect during the course of your treatment will better help you to prepare and better handle what is ahead.
Whether your cancer is in remission or you’re in the middle of treatment, acknowledging your cancer and the current situation can help you better handle not only the physical challenges but also all your mixed thoughts and feelings.
Coming to grip with your cancer will better equip you to move forward and persevere.
Don’t be afraid to show how you really feel. Some women think they need to put on a strong front when going through treatment or while recovering.
While it is okay to be strong for family and friends, being vulnerable and expressing or voicing your fears, anger, and sadness to a spouse, close friend, cancer survivor support group, church group or counselor can help one relinquish those negative feelings and be free to go about the self-defining process in a healthy way.
Establish a support system of people to talk to and get involved with. Having a few close friends who encourage you, are willing to walk with you through your cancer journey, who listen to you and offer an unbiased, outsider’s perspective of your situation are invaluable and can help shift your perspective.
Look for opportunities to serve and help others. With breast cancer affecting so many women, chances are you won’t have to look far to find someone who is going through what you did. Your experience can encourage and motivate others.
Volunteering can also be a great channel whereby you can meet others and learn about their own struggles.
Establish a healthy lifestyle of adequate rest, nutritious meals, and regular exercise. When your body feels good and is healthy, you will feel better and be able to think more clearly.
Pursue relationships and the things you love.
Getting out and about and doing fun things either by yourself or with a group of friends can be a great way to once again rediscover who you really are apart from your cancer.
Fun outings and socializing makes life fun and can be a way for some women to move on from the disease.
Don’t be afraid to be alone in your thoughts. Some women who have beaten breast cancer may be tempted to get busy to avoid processing all that they went through and how the experience has changed their life and outlook.
Spending some alone time processing and mourning can be freeing.
Transform and enhance your look.
Cancer treatment greatly alters one’s physical appearance. Many breast cancer patients lose weight and hair.
Some even lose breasts. It can be hard to look past your cancer when all you see in the mirror are sunken eyes and a hairless scalp.
Besides a healthy diet and exercise, getting your teeth whitened or fixed up, getting nails done, and getting a great comfortable, natural-looking medical wig will help transform your appearance and renew a sense of purpose and love for yourself.
Every woman’s breast cancer journey is unique and each one has a different technique in how to feel like herself during and after breast cancer treatment.
Regardless of your personality, or whether you’re in the midst of cancer treatment or have successfully beaten cancer, it’s important to acknowledge where you’re at and do your best to push forward and try and do things that help you feel like you.
If you have gone through chemotherapy for your breast cancer and you want a renewed look to establish your new post-cancer identity, Best Wig Outlet has a variety of medical wigs available in different styles and colors. Contact us or browse our wig selection to find the perfect one for your new look.
