Thank you for reading Part One, Part Two,  Part Three and Part Four of my ABCs Of Cancer.

Here’s Part Five!

A is for anti-fragile. Cancer makes you vulnerable and you might as well walk around with a T-shirt that says, ‘Fragile – Handle With Care’. But then again, cancer can do the opposite – what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. It’s hard to comprehend when you are in the thick of it but disorder, stress, chaos and upheaval can make you a better person through post-traumatic growth.

B is for bread and cheese friend. This is someone who will stick with you through thick and thin. They don’t walk away at the first sign of trouble or break the relationship. A staunch, devoted and trusted friend is everything in the fog and panic of a serious illness.

C is for cancer citizenship. This is an active acceptance of your situation, being positive and pro-active and leading a meaningful and full life. It is being mentally alive, being physically active and carving out relevancy. Good cancer citizenship is saying to ourselves that despite the chaos and uncertainty cancer can bring, we can still live a life with meaning, a life with purpose and it can still be populated with lots of happy moments.

D is for dandelion. Cancer patients are dandelions. The dandelion is a symbol of strength, hope, resilience, healing and transformation. It is also a powerful symbol of overcoming adversity and embracing change, of resilience, perseverance, and the ability to thrive in difficult conditions. If that’s not what we are about then I don’t know what is!

E is for eunoia. We might not have a well body but we can still have a healthy mind and blessed with beautiful thinking. There is a 5 letter word that is made up of all the vowels to describe this state of being and it is eunoia. As part of our self-care and manifesting happiness then we can devote serious time to developing this concept.

F is for footprints. Wherever we go we leave our footprints and so this comes with a high level of responsibility. As patients, we can act as role models for each other and make a visible difference by leaving distinctive footprints for others to follow.

G is for gallus. This is a Scottish word that means courageous, cheeky, and brilliant. It describes an act of boldness or daring. There’s nothing wrong with developing a gallus streak at any stage in our cancer journey. If you want to be audacious, fire-eating or like an explosion in a paint factory then go for it, no one can stop you.

H is for hugs. Hugs feel good and they have many health benefits. When the arms of a friend or loved one envelop us then we get a burst of well-being and pleasure that can last much longer than the hug itself. Hugs release endorphins, make us feel wanted and valued and can help maintain relationships. They make us feel safe and trusted. They can fight off stress, lessen negative thoughts, increase our self-esteem and help the body fight infections. As Winnie the Pooh says, “A hug is always the right size.”

I is for ikigai. A Japanese word made up of two words: iki, which means life and gai, that describes value or worth. You might feel like you have lost your sense of purpose because of cancer but we all need a reason for waking up in the morning. Our reason for being might have been our job but you may have had to give that up. It’s essential therefore to replace that with a different life force for your self-actualisation so you can feel alive beyond survival.

J is for jingle. Music has the power to make us feel on top of the world. It can also do the opposite so we need to tread carefully. Find and play the music that uplifts you and play it to keep your spirits high. Go with the music that makes you feel great.

K is for kintsugi. Kintsugi is the Japanese art or repair related to ceramics and it is also a really useful metaphor for how to handle the broken bits of ourselves and improve our sense of self and wellbeing. The Japanese art of nourishing mind, body, and spirit celebrates the fault lines. It embraces the flaws and imperfections and makes a stronger object by revitalising it with a new look and giving it a second life.   

L is for laugh. Is it possible to still laugh when you have cancer? Of course it is, there are lots of laughs to be had. Patients with a sense of humour are able to cope with the challenges and stresses of cancer. We get our laughs where we can and we smile a lot.

M is for Micawberian optimism. When you have cancer then it’s important to adopt a positive outlook. It helps to be stubborn. It helps to be a contrarian and an outlier. It helps to have a soupçon of Micawberian optimism. In Charles Dickens’s novel, David Copperfield, there is a character called Wilkins Micawber, an eternal optimist known for saying that “something will turn up”. With cancer, there has to be a Micawberian streak within us that says something will turn up, something extraordinary.

N is for Newbolt. Fighting for survival, the rallying cry that inspires us to keep fighting and to keep on going when things get tough is “Play up! play up! and play the game!” written by Sir Henry Newbolt in “Vitaï Lampada” which means the torch of life, something that gets passed on from one generation to the next. The Newbolt man or woman is honourable, stoic, brave, loyal, courteous, resilient and never gives up. That’s you.

O is for opportunity.

OPPORTUNITYISNOWHERE

Did you read:

• Opportunity is nowhere?
• Opportunity is snow here?
• Opportunity is now here?

Your response will be an interesting one and could be an indicator of how you see the world. As cancer patients we might feel like our opportunities have all but evaporated. But think again!

P is for Panglossian. Dr. Pangloss, an old, incurably optimistic tutor in Voltaire’s philosophical satire Candide  believed that this world is “the best of all possible worlds.” Adopting a doctrine of optimism is something worth doing. Things might not be good but that doesn’t mean we have to give up and sink with the ship. Being Panglossian is good for your wellbeing and for everyone around you.

Q is for question. Question everything about your condition and your treatment. Asking the right questions is key to discovering the right answers.

R is for rest. There are 7 types of rest we all need: 1. Physical 2. Mental 3. Social 4. Creative 5. Emotional 6. Spiritual 7. Sensory. Sleep does help us to rest but not necessarily in all of the types identified. Sometimes, resting doesn’t involve sleep at all and our chronic lack of energy needs addressing in other ways. For cancer patients, rest is important but which one do we mostly focus on?

S is for ‘stick-to-itiveness’. This is a another way of saying an unwavering pertinacity to stick with something, no matter what. It’s what allows you to continue to do a task or go through an experience even though it is difficult or unpleasant. As cancer patients we have to stick to it, stick with it and stick at it.

T is for Thank God Its Today (TGIT). You might once have been one of those TGIFers, you know the Thank God Its Friday people and lived for the weekend. Well, all that changes with cancer because you milk each day for it is and say Thank God Its Today.

U is for uncertainty. This goes with the territory. If you have a low threshold for uncertainty then you are going to engage in excessive and maladaptive worry. It takes a while to accept hat the pursuit of certainty is not the track you should be taking and is a waste of energy. Life is uncertain with or without a serious illness and we cannot expect a smooth ride.

V is for victorious. We all know that feeling associated with a victory. Celebrate the little wins and the bigger wins in your day and feel victorious.

W is for willpower. If you say it often enough then you will become it. Exercising willpower can be energising, rather than exhausting.

X is for eXperiment. Cancer should not stop us from learning, personally growing, and embracing new experiences. Live you life as if it was an experiment, take risks and see what happens. You will experience failure and success but you won’t go through either if you don’t experiment.

Y is for yet. Cancer is disabling and you can be physically immobilised because of surgery and treatment. It is in these incredibly tough situations that it all gets too much and you might find yourself saying you can’t do this and you can’t do that. This is where you have to find your inner Yeti because one of the most powerful words in our arsenal is the adverb ‘yet’. All we have to do is stick it on the end of what we are saying. I can’t do it… YET.

Z is for zerenity. There will be days when you feel like and look like a zombie and the world we feel chaotic. That’s to be expected. But these days will pass and be replaced with calm and peace. Zerenity will be yours.