Surviving Cancer’s “Knock-On” Effects

I just read a thoughtful article about surviving survivorship by Laura Landro, assistant managing editor of The Wall Street Journal. Her December 9^th article, entitled “The Next Front in Cancer Care” is nicely summarized in the sub-head: “As More Patients Survive, Cancer Centers Handle Disease's Knock-On Effects” - http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303330204579248400281496142  

Ok, so what are “Knock-On” effects? 

Landro says “For cancer patients, getting through the rigors of treatment is the first hurdle. Then, life as a cancer survivor poses its own daunting physical and emotional challenges.”

Depressingly, she notes that these challenges are “Chemotherapy and radiation can damage vital organs such as the heart and liver, possibly causing secondary diseases years later. The body can be debilitated, cognitive functions impaired and emotions distressed, making return to normal life and work difficult. Some 70% of cancer survivors experience depression at some point. Patients have higher levels of anxiety years after the disease is cured. And there is always the chance that cancer will return.”

Arrggghhh! That’s scary. I’ve read about all the meningioma brain tumor victims panicking about their 6 month post-surgery MRI on ABTA’s Inspire website, so this feels both true and upsetting: https://www.inspire.com/groups/american-brain-tumor-association/discussion/meningioma-6-month-postoperative-mri/

Some cancer centers are starting to address this according to Landro, “A growing number of hospitals and community cancer centers, which treat the majority of the nation's cancer patients, are launching survivorship-care programs. These include treatment follow-up plans, physical rehabilitation and emotional assistance, such as counseling and support groups. They resemble programs currently offered by big urban cancer centers like MD Anderson in Houston and Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York.”

Laurence Gonzales has written an entire book on this entitled Surviving Survival, which is neatly summarized in the Amazon.com description, “You have survived the crisis—trauma, disease, accident, or war—now how do you get your life back?” And while he doesn’t focus on surviving brain cancer, I believe the emotional landscape for “getting your life back” is the same.

If you’re interested, here’s a link:  http://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Survival-Art-Science-Resilience-ebook/dp/B007Q6XJ5O/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387220473&sr=1-1&keywords=surviving+survival 

Image credit: <a href='http://www.123rf.com/photo_23646158_fight-cancer-and-treatment-for-cancerous-tumors-health-care-symbol-with-a-medical-metaphor-of-hope-w.html'>lightwise / 123RF Stock Photo</a>

Deep Survival

I just finished reading Laurence Gonzales’ book entitled Deep Survival. If you read the jack cover, you’ll read the following description: 

“In Deep Survival, Laurence Gonzales pulls readers to the boundary region between life and death, where they peer into the hearts, minds and souls of those who have survived seemingly impossible situations and those who have given in to death. Through careful dissection of case studies, he illuminates the essence of the true survivor – the internal battles that are waged between fear and hope, reason and emotion, despair and correct action.”

And while Gonzales’ book is about folks who have been lost in jungles, at sea and on mountain tops, the essence of his findings is relevant, I believe, for brain tumor victims as I often felt lost during my illnesses and operations. At the end of his book, he distills his findings into 12 key points. Some of the points are only for victims stranded at sea, and others are surprisingly relevant to cancer and brain tumor victims.

I heard Gonzales speak at an event hosted by a local book store and was found him to be articulate, insightful and wonderfully grounded...much like his book.

I’m waiting for his latest book, Surviving Survival: The Art and Science of Resilience, to be acquired by my local library so I can read that book, too.