Why Keeping Hope Alive Is Critical

These days, with more advances in cancer treatments, survival rates have improved. But there is often a price to pay. Side effects can be brutal. Complications can be devastating.

Cancer attacks more than just the human body. It crushes the human spirit. The most confident person can be devastated by the loss of hope.

Doctors and nurses often treat the cancer patient's body, but not necessarily the mind. And yet, the mind is one of the greatest tools available in cancer management. How a patient perceives his or her cancer really does matter.

If a patient feels there is nothing to gain from treatment, it's unlikely that he or she will bother to:

-- Take medications appropriately
-- Eat as healthy as possible under the circumstances
-- Get enough rest
-- Avoid unnecessary risks to the immune system

Cancer is stressful. And when that stress builds up and becomes overwhelming, patients often surrender to the sense that it's futile to even try. It's easy to throw in the towel when you are in pain and unable to handle all of the horrible side effects. Patients often presume it's all about the cancer. But sometimes that can be a mistake.

There are so many issues that can crop up in advanced cancer management, when the options are fewer and the regimen is rougher. If a patient is undergoing chemotherapy on an ongoing basis, dehydration, infection, neuropathy, and steroids are just some of the complications that can wreak havoc with the human body. After a while, it's hard to tell whether it's the cancer causing the problem or the treatment.

If a patient loses hope and gives up, the battle is over. People who are pessimistic about their chances won't bother to look for solutions. They won't tell their oncologists about new symptoms because they don't want to know their cancer has advanced. But what if it isn't the cancer?

What if the side effects are manageable with the right diagnosis? What if there are options if the oncologist recognizes what is really causing the problem?

I remember sitting in an oncologist's office with a loved one who had just been given the prognosis about cancer. How many people survived this kind of cancer? What were the chances she could come out on the winning side of the equation? The doctor's response was simple. While many people didn't survive it, there were people who did. Why couldn't she be one of the people who survived it?

That little sliver of hope at the right moment in time made a difference. She lived much longer than the majority of patients with the same diagnosis. We learned to manage the symptoms, to address them as they came up, to focus on comfort in order to maximize quality of life. Cancer patients need to feel they still have a reason to get up in the morning. They need to believe there is something worth doing. They need to believe they still have a chance to grab the brass ring.

I have been blessed over the last couple of years in unusual ways. I lost two family members to cancers that were aggressive. But as I grieved, a friend of mine beat the odds, and in doing so, she taught me that hope is a critical component of any good cancer management program. After such a struggle with pain and debilitating side effects, she is still here. She teaches me what courage, fortitude, and perseverance are all about. And above all, she has shown me that we should never turn our backs on hope. Because she believed, she searched for answers. She stayed on top on the issues. She fought for what she needed. She is the new advanced cancer survivor, using cutting edge treatments that have kept her alive against all odds. It hasn't been easy. This isn't some kind of cake walk for her. She fought tooth and nail to keep going. She believes that she still has something to achieve on this planet, so she finds a way to get it done. We've come to understand the power of love, faith, and hope in this life touched by cancer. Cancer didn't make her a superhero. Her reaction to cancer did that. And because she did the hard work, we are inspired. We have learned that hope matters in everything we do. Love connects us. She's told us so many times that our being there for her banishes the loneliness and isolation that cancer creates. Hope pushes us to try harder to help her, to lift her over the obstacles that stand in her way. It feeds our faith that there is something good for her on the other side of that wall.

This is how new cancer treatments come to bear fruit. Those extraordinary people who endure against all odds teach cancer specialists that those baby steps forward can become giant steps. It's not enough to have strong medicines or powerful machines to attack cancer cells. Hope is the elixir for the soul and it opens the door to even the smallest little bit of opportunity. It is what creates quality of life for those survivors who believe they have a chance. And because they believe, more and more people are surviving what was once not survivable. Someday, cancer will be a thing of the past. Who's to say my friend won't be there to march in that parade?