Things to avoid when you have cancer that can save you from different mistakes. (Learn from my experience)

Aside from food, there are things to avoid when you have cancer. I wrote this journal to raise awareness about the unnecessary things if you are diagnosed with this dreaded disease. You cannot understand what is going on if you haven’t through it. Reading in someone- else’s experience may help you understand cancer. But please do not overthink and worry too much. It will not help you and may cause stress and anxiety. 

You can ask your doctor about your health status and collaborate with them to understand the situation. Consider them as your best allies to help you fight this battle. I assure you, it will help you to stay calm and think positively. In this article, I will discuss some ways to avoid when you have cancer. 

You may want to read about my breast cancer journey

What are things to avoid when you have cancer?

After I learned that I have breast cancer, there are things that I did which do not help, and worst, point me out to overthinking.

1. Don’t panic, stay calm

After you realized that you have cancer the best thing to do is to stay calm. Knowing that you have cancer may cause you to panic that can give you stress and anxiety. Chronic stress can be a cancer growth factor and help your cancer to spread in several ways.

Stress hormones can be the cause stop the process of anoikis which kills and prevent the spreading of diseased cells. 

In this hard time, it is better to stop in a while and be calm, for you to be able to think positively. It may help you plan your next move to treat your cancer.

2. Limit your internet information.

There’s so much information on the internet that make you troubled in making your decision. I read and search for breast cancer and I found out that there are so many GURU’s that teach how to manage cancer at home, or making your tumor disappear through herbal or alternative medicines.

I’m not against them. What I’m saying is, just limit the information that you absorbed and sort them out who’s reliable or not.

I found them not so helpful with my situation and I lost time and money on following them. Cancer is deadly if mishandled and discovered in late stages. So it’s better to rely on a sure process or with scientific evidence to prevent your cancer to metastasize. 

3. Do not listen to hearsay.

There are so many gurus or adviser regarding cancer or tumor. When someone heard that you are suffering from cancer, they will reach you and tell you stories of someone that somehow was cured by eating this or that. And then, later on, you need to buy their products. I was once a victim of their bait that resulted in my lumps to increase its size and let me spend money without a certain result.

4. Do not practice self-medication

Self-medication can’t help you treat your cancer. Cancer is cancer and one of the most reliable persons to ask is your doctor. They know what to do and had their experience in treating cancer. Remember that little knowledge is dangerous, so why you apply it to yourself and risk your life? Let your doctor treat you in scientific ways. 

In my experience, I lost money through self-medication. I came out to different ultrasound to monitor the progress of my lump which is not required by my doctors. I also did lab tests like CA 15.3 to monitor the cancer actigen in my blood which is unnecessary and even not a helpful one. 

5. Do not compare your side effects with other cancer patients. 

Every patient has different side effects caused by chemotherapy. Chemo drugs and your body can react differently than any other patient. Comparing what you experienced makes you frustrated and confused. It is better to search and look for ways that can help you to lessen the side effect of chemotherapy.

As of my experience, I always focused on how to increase my WBC. If your wbc remains low for a long time, it’s easy to catch pneumonia, fever, cough, and cold that eventually cause you of serious illness.

Making myself hydrated, catching sunlight and exercises are my main recipe for this crucial time. I find it very effective in fighting the unwanted side effects of chemotherapy.

You may want to read common lab procedures before chemotherapy.

6. Do not take food supplements while having chemotherapy.

One of the worst that you can do while doing chemotherapy is to take food supplements. If you can eat natural food you don’t need the help of supplements. Natural food can give you a sufficient supply of nutrients that you are needed. I took food supplements while having my chemo and I found out that these supplements are the cause of the spike of my creatinine. This is alarming because I have to maintain the normal range of creatinine to continue the chemo session. And to correct these imbalances, the doctors would add medicine to help the creatinine back to its normal range. 

The Bottom line

Though it’s hard to accept that we/ you have cancer, still we have to move on and plan what’s our next thing to do. We can survive in cancer and live a normal life if we are focused on looking for the right cure. Listen to your doctor and follow what they recommend can lessen the worries of metastatic cancer. A key to surviving in cancer is to listen to your body and know how it reacted to chemo drugs.

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