Strategies for Healing after Cancer

When treatment ends many people expect to feel triumphant and ready to get back to their old lives as soon as possible. The problem is when the ‘old life’ is what made them sick. Stress, poor nutrition, lack of sleep, dehydration, sedentary lifestyle can all contribute to health problems.
I believe that all my life I had put everybody else first. I was a wife, mother, leader and employee amongst other roles, and always thought that meant that I had to sacrifice my own needs to be a good person. My cancer diagnosis was a chance to press pause, and re evaluate how I wanted my life to be, the problem was I wasn’t sure how to care for myself, emotionally or physically, to make sure I had a happy and healthy life going forward.
After a brutal childhood, I threw myself into a corporate career, I worked and studied hard, I was the busiest person I knew, which gave me status and a good lifestyle. However when I got a rare and aggressive cancer diagnosis (Inflammatory Breast Cancer) when I was aged 44, after the gruelling treatments ended, I was cancer free but didn’t feel like celebrating.
I was lost and unsure how to rebuild my life.
My diagnosis was a chance to reflect on how I was living, the threat of a cancer recurrence motivated me to make the changes I needed to. I acted as if my life depended on making those changes, because spoiler alert – it really did! The way I see it, it’s not where you’ve come from that matters, it’s where you are going to.
The big question I kept asking was - Was the lifestyle I had before cancer was the cause of my illness?
So many cancer survivors tell me that they were extremely stressed prior to their diagnosis, is there a link? I am not here to judge, or draw conclusions from that, I just want to share my own experiences.
I believe my my past mistakes were a lesson I needed to learn in order to really heal, and start living a happy and healthy life.
What I learned when my treatment ended:
You have to learn to put YOU first, I really started to heal when I learned that self-care is not selfish. It’s an essential part of recovery. If setting boundaries has always been a problem, then learning how to set them must be part of your recovery. Many of us have behaviours that we learned years ago, that no longer serve us, it’s time to let them go. Life gets busy; doing, giving, helping, teaching, showing up, loving, caring, working. It’s easy to get used to running on fumes. But you must remember to fuel your own heart.
Your dreams, your passions, your health, your soul.
Because you cannot give if you are empty, as the saying goes you cannot pour from an empty cup.
2.You have to have a plan, I studied nutrition, and many healing modalities. For a while I was in overwhelm, there is so much conflicting advice. I qualified as a coach and learned how to live by some simple principles and routines and I have incorporated easy rituals that nurture me, they have become my new healthy habits. A plan helps you to find your inner strength, and become unstoppable, not because you don’t have moments of weakness or doubts, but because you continue on despite them. A plan give you hope and clarity when you feel stuck.
3. Improving your energy levels, should be your first goal, once you have this you can really start to look at all other areas of your life that you want to improve. For many years you may have been chronically stressed, living in ‘fight, flight or freeze’ mode. Once you learn how to release that stress, you will be amazed at how wonderful it feels to start enjoying life. The cells of your body aren’t old, they constantly keep regenerating, they are new. Your body has the potential of being as young and as vital as it has ever been, you don’t have old cells, your just have an old attitude about your new self, and you can change that.
4. Asking for help is not weak, this is unchartered territory you are entering, you need a guide, someone who has walked this path before, and can show you the way. You may be used to being the ‘strong one’, the one who everyone else relies on, but at this time in your life you must learn to accept help. This decision is life changing. Admitting your vulnerability can be challenging but is also a sign of great inner strength. And you have that inside you.
Gabby Mottershead
Thanks for reading it means a lot to me, Gabby x
You can download my ebook here if you want some simple steps to improve your confidence today
https://www.confidenceaftercancer.co.uk/page/262093
Information on keeping safe by managing your exposure to toxins – click here
Toxins information PDF - Gabrielle Mottershead (confidenceaftercancer.co.uk)
If you want to know more about a plan for healing mind, body and spirit when treatment ends - check out my online course – you can reclaim your health and happiness here: https://www.confidenceaftercancer.co.uk/page/264158-confidence-after-cancer
To get help with Scanxiety – fear of hospital checkups – click here Overcoming Scanxiety - Confidence After Cancer
If you are ready to lose the fear and start living again – we need to talk - book a call with me here:
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