PowerPoint - Mary K Hughes - Coping with the Fear of ... · Coping with the Fear of Recurrence...

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1 PowerPoint Slides English Text Spanish Translation Coping with the Fear of Recurrence Video Transcript Lidiando con el miedo a la recurrencia Transcripción del video Professional Oncology Education Coping with the Fear of Recurrence Time: 14:29 Educación Oncológica Profesional Lidiando con el miedo a la recurrencia Duración: 14:29 Mary K. Hughes MS, RN, CNS, CT Advanced Practice Nurse Psychiatry The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Mary K. Hughes MS, RN, CNS, CT Enfermera de Práctica Avanzada Departamento de Psiquiatría MD Anderson Cancer Center, Universidad de Texas Coping with the Fear of Recurrence Coping with the Fear of Recurrence Coping with the Fear of Recurrence Coping with the Fear of Recurrence M. D. Anderson Cancer Center • Houston, Texas Coping with the Fear of Recurrence Mary K. Hughes MS, RN, CNS, CT Advanced Practice Nurse Psychiatry Good morning. I’m Mary Hughes and this morning we will be talking about coping with the fear of recurrence. Buenos días. Soy Mary Hughes y hoy hablaremos sobre cómo lidiar con el miedo a la recurrencia.

Transcript of PowerPoint - Mary K Hughes - Coping with the Fear of ... · Coping with the Fear of Recurrence...

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PowerPoint Slides English Text Spanish Translation

Coping with the Fear of Recurrence Video Transcript

Lidiando con el miedo a la recurrencia Transcripción del video

Professional Oncology Education Coping with the Fear of Recurrence Time: 14:29

Educación Oncológica Profesional Lidiando con el miedo a la recurrencia Duración: 14:29

Mary K. Hughes MS, RN, CNS, CT Advanced Practice Nurse Psychiatry The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Mary K. Hughes MS, RN, CNS, CT Enfermera de Práctica Avanzada Departamento de Psiquiatría MD Anderson Cancer Center, Universidad de Texas

Coping with the Fear of RecurrenceCoping with the Fear of RecurrenceCoping with the Fear of RecurrenceCoping with the Fear of Recurrence

M. D. Anderson Cancer Center • Houston, Texas

Coping with the

Fear of Recurrence

Mary K. Hughes MS, RN, CNS, CT

Advanced Practice Nurse

Psychiatry

Good morning. I’m Mary Hughes and this morning we will be talking about coping with the fear of recurrence.

Buenos días. Soy Mary Hughes y hoy hablaremos sobre cómo lidiar con el miedo a la recurrencia.

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“To conquer fear is the

beginning of wisdom.”Bertrand Russell, 1950

Bertrand Russell said, “To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.”

Bertrand Russell dijo: “Vencer el miedo es el principio de la sabiduría”.

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What is fear? ¿Qué es el miedo?

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“The only thing we have to fear

is fear itself”Franklin D. Roosevelt 1941

You remember, Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

Roosevelt dijo: “A lo único que debemos temer es al miedo mismo”.

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What is fear?What is fear?What is fear?What is fear?

• An instinctive emotion

• To be afraid of some

expected evil

• To suspect

• To doubt

“The Scream” (Munch, E)

Fear is an instinctive emotion. You wouldn’t go into a fire or touch something hot. That’s instinctual because it would hurt you. To be afraid of some expected evil and for many people they see cancer as evil. It’s to suspect and to doubt, that’s fear.

El miedo es una emoción instintiva. No entraríamos en un incendio ni tocaríamos algo caliente: es instintivo, porque nos haría daño. Tenemos miedo a los males que anticipamos y muchos ven al cáncer como un mal. El miedo nos hace sospechar y dudar.

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“My biggest fear in life is fear”Sheryl Lee

Sheryl Lee said, “My biggest fear in life is fear.” Sheryl Lee dijo: “Mi mayor temor en la vida es el miedo”.

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What is your biggest fear?

What is your biggest fear? [Pause] Your biggest fear may have nothing to do with cancer. But for many people who have survived cancer that is one of their biggest fears that cancer will return.

¿Cuál es su mayor temor? Es posible que no tenga nada que ver con el cáncer, pero, para muchos sobrevivientes del cáncer, volver a enfermarse es uno de sus más grandes temores.

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• An unpleasant agitation

• A perception of danger

• Desire to hide or escape

• An uninvited guest

(Lerner)

FearFearFearFear

Fear is also an unpleasant agitation. Sometimes people call it a gut feeling. They think that something terrible is going to happen and sometimes they don’t go with that feeling and then they wish they had. It’s also a desire to hide or escape. Lerner said fear was an “uninvited guest.” No one invites fear into their life because it is very unpleasant and it’s unsettling.

El miedo también es una agitación desagradable; algunos lo llaman “presentimiento”. Creen que algo terrible sucederá; a veces rechazan ese sentimiento y luego se arrepienten. También hay un deseo de esconderse o escapar. Lerner dijo que el miedo era un “huésped no invitado”. Nadie invita el miedo a su vida, porque es muy desagradable e inquietante.

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“The only permanent emotion of

man is fear---fear of the unknown,

the complex, the inexplicable.”H. L. Mencken, 1919

Mencken said, “The only permanent emotion of man is fear, fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable.” Fear is not about what you know. Fear is about what you don’t know and about letting your imagination take you to the dark place.

Mencken dijo: “La única emoción permanente en el hombre es el miedo: miedo a lo desconocido, lo complejo, lo inexplicable”. El miedo no se trata de lo que conocemos, sino de lo que no conocemos y de permitir que nuestra imaginación nos lleve a un lugar oscuro.

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Purpose of FearPurpose of FearPurpose of FearPurpose of Fear

• Protects permanently

• Protects until you can deal

with the reality of

the situation

• Paralyzes

• Heightens imagination

But fear has a purpose. It’s not a negative thing. It does protect you permanently. You wouldn’t walk out into the middle of a busy highway. Fear, remember when you were first diagnosed with cancer, you might have been afraid, “Oh no, does this mean I’m going to die?” And so it kind of, you kind of shut down, so it protects you until you can deal with the reality of the situation. Fear may also paralyze you and keep you from doing anything. And like I said awhile ago, it heightens the imagination. People with good imaginations have and when they have fear their imagination always goes to the worst place. They go down the dark path.

El miedo tiene un propósito; no es algo negativo. Nos protege permanentemente. No caminaríamos en medio de una carretera muy transitada. Recuerde cuando le diagnosticaron cáncer por primera vez. Posiblemente haya sentido miedo y haya pensado: “¿Significa que voy morir?”. Usted se aisló y así se protegió hasta que pudo enfrentar la realidad de la situación. El miedo también puede paralizarnos e impedirnos hacer cosas. Aumenta la imaginación: Cuando una persona con mucha imaginación tiene miedo, su imaginación siempre la lleva al peor lugar; atraviesa un camino oscuro.

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“It is not death that a man should

fear, but he should fear never

beginning to live”Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius said, “It’s not death that man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.” Look what fear does to you. Think about, if you get cancer back in five years and you’ve worried the whole five years that you were going to have cancer; then you’ve lost the good time. Fear robbed you of the good time. If you have fear of having cancer back then you’re living like you already have cancer.

Marco Aurelio dijo: “No es a la muerte a lo que el hombre debería temer, sino a nunca haber comenzado a vivir”. Eso es lo que el miedo provoca. Si el cáncer retorna cinco años después y durante ese tiempo usted estuvo preocupado por volver a enfermarse, habrá desperdiciado su tiempo por culpa del miedo. Si usted tiene miedo de volver a tener cáncer, estará viviendo como si ya lo tuviera.

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Fear Presents in Multiple WaysFear Presents in Multiple WaysFear Presents in Multiple WaysFear Presents in Multiple Ways

• Anxiety, irritability, anger

• Sadness, depression

• Fatigue

• Physical illness

• Distancing

• Crying

Fear presents in multiple ways. For some people they’re very anxious or irritable or angry; and that’s fear. Some other people may be sad and depressed. Fear takes a lot of energy so you may be very tired because you’re so fearful all the time. It may present in physical illness. Some people who are afraid distance themselves. They don’t want to be around anybody. Other people cry easily and the crying may interfere with their life.

El miedo se presenta de diferentes maneras. Algunas personas se ponen muy ansiosas, irritables o enojadas; eso es miedo. Otras personas se entristecen y se deprimen. El miedo absorbe mucha energía, y uno podría sentirse muy cansado a causa de temer todo el tiempo. El miedo puede manifestarse como una enfermedad física. Las personas temerosas se distancian y no quieren estar con nadie. Otras lloran fácilmente y el llanto interfiere en su vida.

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• Change in sleep pattern

• Racing heart

• Muscle tension

• Headaches

• Shoulder pain

Physical ChangesPhysical ChangesPhysical ChangesPhysical Changes

Physically, what happens when you’re afraid, you may not be able to sleep because you’re lying there worrying about what’s going to happen. Or you sleep to protect yourself. You sleep to hide. It’s a good hiding place is to sleep. You may notice you have a racing heart. A lot of people if they fear they have muscle tension and usually it’s in their shoulders or the back of their head which causes headaches and that’s physical changes from fear.

Físicamente, cuando se tiene miedo, es posible que uno no pueda dormir, preocupado por lo que va a suceder. También se puede dormir para protegerse o esconderse; es una buena forma de ocultarse. Podemos notar que el corazón se acelera. Muchas personas, cuando tienen miedo, sufren tensión muscular, generalmente en los hombros o la nuca, lo que causa dolores de cabeza. Todos esos cambios físicos son causados por el miedo.

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Fears IncreaseFears IncreaseFears IncreaseFears Increase

• Suspicious symptom

• Workup

• Waiting

• Change in treatment modality

• End of treatment

NCCN v. 1.2004

Now, when do your fears increase? It’s very normal for people to notice, when they notice a new symptom that they get more afraid. Say you have headaches that you haven’t had before or you have backaches that you haven’t had before. So you’re wondering, “Oh no, is my cancer in my head or is it in my back?” So then you get more afraid. Also, when you’re waiting for them to work up these new symptoms. For instance, you’re waiting for a scan, you’ve had a scan and waiting makes you more fearful. Anytime there’s a change in your treatment, say you were getting chemotherapy and now your treatment is changed into radiation. There’s a fear because you don’t know what radiation’s going to be like. And, of course, at the end of treatment, what are people afraid of, that nobody’s watching me now, I’m not getting any treatment so the cancer has an opportunity to grow. So it’s not surprising that fears increase at this time.

¿Cuándo aumenta el miedo? Cuando una persona nota un nuevo síntoma, es normal que se asuste más. Si tiene dolores de cabeza o de espalda que no ha tenido antes, se pregunta: “¿Tengo cáncer en la cabeza o en la espalda?”, y siente más miedo. También ocurre mientras espera el diagnóstico de nuevos síntomas. Por ejemplo, al aguardar los resultados de una prueba, la espera lo vuelve más temeroso. Cada vez que hay un cambio en su tratamiento —si estaba recibiendo quimioterapia y cambian su tratamiento a radiación— tiene miedo, porque no sabe cómo será la radiación. Las personas también sienten miedo al finalizar el tratamiento porque nadie las está vigilando, y como no están recibiendo tratamiento, el cáncer tiene la oportunidad de crecer. No es de extrañar que en ese momento aumenten los temores.

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“No passion so effectually robs the

mind of all its powers of acting and

reasoning as fear”Edmund Burke

On The Sublime and Beautiful (1757)

Edmund Burke said, “No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its power of acting and reasoning as fear.”

Edmund Burke dijo: “Ninguna pasión roba tan eficazmente a la mente todo su poder para actuar y razonar como el miedo”.

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Fears IncreaseFears IncreaseFears IncreaseFears Increase

• Anniversary of diagnosis

• When someone else gets diagnosed with cancer

or gets more cancer or dies with it

Now, another time that fears increase is the anniversary of the diagnosis. Now, there’s many of you in here that have no idea when your wedding anniversary or birthdays are, but you can tell me the day you were diagnosed with cancer. So every year at that time you might not be cognitively aware but some level you are, that today, three years ago, I was diagnosed with cancer and you may be a little more anxious. Or when somebody you know or someone famous gets the same kind of cancer that you have or someone dies from that cancer. For instance, when [pause] anybody famous dies, Peter Jennings died of lung cancer, Farrah Fawcett died of colon cancer. So when that happens, if you have that particular kind, you may think, “Oh no, look what happened to them. That might happen to me too.”

Otra ocasión en la que el miedo aumenta es en el aniversario del diagnóstico. Muchas personas olvidan su aniversario de bodas o un cumpleaños, pero recuerdan el día en que fueron diagnosticadas con cáncer. Es posible que cada año en esa época no sean cognitivamente conscientes, pero en cierto nivel saben que hace tres años fueron diagnosticadas con cáncer y se sienten un poco más ansiosas. También sucede cuando alguien famoso o un conocido tienen el mismo tipo de cáncer o mueren a causa de la enfermedad. Por ejemplo, Peter Jennings murió de cáncer de pulmón, Farrah Fawcett murió de cáncer de colon, y si alguien tiene ese tipo de cáncer, puede pensar: “Lo que les pasó a ellos también puede pasarme a mí”.

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“Courage is resistance to fear,

mastery of fear—NOT absence

of fear.”Mark Twain

Mark Twain said, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” So it’s how you control your fear; how you master it.

Mark Twain dijo: “El coraje es la resistencia al miedo, el dominio del miedo, no la ausencia del miedo”. Así es como se controla el miedo, cómo se lo domina.

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CopingCopingCopingCoping

• A way to handle stress

• Overt behaviors

• Internal thought processes

• Anything done to reduce

the demands of stressful

circumstance

• Temporary

Coping is a short term way to handle stress. Coping is not for the long term. It is overt behaviors. It’s things that you do. It’s things that you talk to yourself and how you manage internally. And it’s anything done to reduce the demands of the success--stressful circumstance, such as the end of treatment and wonder if I’m getting--going to get cancer back.

El afrontamiento es una manera de manejar el estrés a corto plazo, no a largo plazo. Son conductas manifiestas, cosas que uno hace, que discute y maneja internamente, y es cualquier actividad que reduce las demandas de las circunstancias estresantes, como finalizar el tratamiento y preguntarse si volverá a enfermarse.

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“Not everything that if faced can be

changed, but nothing can be

changed until it is faced”James A. Baldwin

Baldwin said, “Not everything that if faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it’s faced.”So for you to say, “Oh no, I’m not afraid I’m gonna get my cancer back,” but you’re not sleeping well, you’re thinking about cancer all the time, you’re wondering if you’re going to die from this, you’re not facing it. So when you face the fact that you do have fear about this, then it can help you. Then you can deal with the fear and find out what you need to do.

Baldwin dijo: “No todo lo que se enfrenta puede cambiarse, pero nada puede cambiarse si no se lo enfrenta”. Si usted dice: “No tengo miedo de enfermarme de nuevo”, pero luego no duerme bien, piensa continuamente en el cáncer y se pregunta si va a morir, no lo está enfrentando. Para ayudarse, debe enfrentar el hecho de tener miedo. De allí en adelante podrá lidiar con el miedo y averiguar qué debe hacer.

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“If you don’t like something, change it.

If you can’t change it, change your

attitude about it. Don’t complain.”

Maya Angleu

Maya Angelou said, in her typical manner, “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude about it. Don’t complain.” So you can’t change the fact that you had cancer, that all of you are cancer survivors. But what you can change is how you feel about surviving cancer and how you’re going to live your life as a cancer survivor.

Maya Angelou dijo: “Si no te gusta algo, cámbialo. Si no puedes cambiarlo, cambia tu actitud. No te quejes”. Usted no puede cambiar el hecho de que tuvo cáncer y es un sobreviviente de la enfermedad. Lo que sí puede cambiar es cómo se siente con respecto a la supervivencia al cáncer y cómo vivirá su vida como sobreviviente.

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CopingCopingCopingCoping

• Behavior which facilitates adjustment of the

environment for the purpose of attaining some

goal (Stern, 2004)

• Multifaceted problem-solving behavior intended

to bring relief, reward, and equilibrium

Coping also is, according to Stern, is “behavior that helps you adjust to the environment for the purpose of attaining some goal.” So the goal is to cope with your cancer and to not be fearful about it coming back. It’s a multifaceted problem-solving behavior. It’s intended to bring relief, reward and equilibrium.

Según Stern, lidiar también es “el comportamiento que le ayuda a adaptarse al entorno con el fin de alcanzar alguna meta”. El objetivo es lidiar con su cáncer y no tener miedo de que regrese. Es un comportamiento multifacético de resolución de problemas que tiene como intención traer alivio, recompensa y equilibrio.

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“Parents learn a lot from their

children about coping with life.”Muriel Spark

Muriel Spark said, “Parents learn a lot from their children about coping with life.” Look at children when they fall down and they jump back up and they play--and start playing again. They may have a little fight with a friend but, you know, next five minutes they’re pals again. So they don’t hold on to the negative things. They just go on.

Muriel Spark dijo: “Los padres aprenden mucho de sus hijos sobre cómo lidiar con la vida”. Observe a los niños cuando se caen y vuelven a pararse para seguir jugando. Pueden pelearse con un amigo, pero a los cinco minutos son amigos nuevamente. No se aferran a las cosas negativas, simplemente siguen adelante.

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CopingCopingCopingCoping

• Type of cancer

• Stage of cancer

• Treatments

• Symptoms

• Clinical course

• Prognosis

Coping depends on a lot of different things. One is the type of cancer you have. If you have a particularly aggressive cancer and it’s been hard to control, it may be more difficult to cope because it was harder to get rid of the cancer. It depends on the stage of cancer, what kind of treatment you have. If you have surgery and that was it. For the short term you have to cope with healing from surgery. But if you have chemotherapy, that goes on for several months and you’re coping along the way. If you have radiation, radiation is pretty intense for a number of weeks. Afterwards you continue to feel fatigue and coping may be particularly difficult during that time. Depending on what symptoms you have, fatigue is a very long lasting symptom from any kind of cancer treatment and it makes it very hard to think of anything else and makes you vulnerable. The clinical course is how your disease progressed, how your disease is responding to cancer and what your prognosis is, what the doctor said you’re going to--how they expect

El afrontamiento depende de muchas cosas diferentes. Una es el tipo de cáncer que se tiene. Si tiene un cáncer particularmente agresivo y ha sido difícil controlarlo, puede ser más difícil sobrellevarlo porque fue más difícil librarse de él. Todo depende de la etapa del cáncer y del tipo de tratamiento recibido. Si solamente le hicieron una operación, a corto plazo debe lidiar con la recuperación de la cirugía; pero si recibe tratamiento de quimioterapia que se prolonga durante varios meses, debe sobrellevarlo. Los tratamientos de radiación son muy intensos durante algunas semanas. Luego se sentirá fatigado y lidiar puede ser especialmente difícil en esa etapa. Dependiendo de qué síntomas tenga, la fatiga es un síntoma persistente de cualquier tipo de tratamiento contra el cáncer. Se hace muy difícil pensar en otra cosa y eso lo vuelve vulnerable. El curso clínico determina cómo progresó su enfermedad, cómo responde al tratamiento y cuál es su pronóstico, cuánto se

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you to live. That this cancer usually doesn’t come back or it might come back sooner than others, that’s the prognosis.

espera que viva. El pronóstico indica si es probable que el cáncer no reaparezca o si puede volver a manifestarse.

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“Culture is a way of coping with the

world by defining it”Malcolm Bradbury

Malcolm Bradbury said, “Culture is a way of coping with the world by defining it.” So depending on the culture that you grew up in, that’s how you cope with things. Some Germanic people are more stoic. Asian people are more stoic. They don’t show their feelings as much. Whereas Hispanic, Italian are more-they are more open with their feelings. And that’s what they learn from their culture; that’s what they learn growing up.

Malcolm Bradbury dijo: “La cultura lidia con el mundo definiéndolo”. La cultura en la que nos desarrollamos define el modo en que lidiamos con las cosas. Algunos pueblos germánicos y asiáticos son más estoicos y no muestran tanto sus sentimientos, mientras que los hispanos y los italianos son más abiertos con sus sentimientos. Eso es lo que aprenden de su cultura; eso es lo que aprenden desde niños.

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CopingCopingCopingCoping

• Prior level of adjustment

• Personality

• Coping style

• Prior experience with loss

So coping depends on how you adjusted before. Maybe you’ve never had many crises in your life and this--you didn’t know how to adjust. Other people have had a lot of crises and had lot of tragedy in their life and were able to adjust and this is just another tragedy, cancer is. What kind of personality you have? Also what your coping style is? For some people they want to talk about what they have and that helps them to cope. Other people are very private and they don’t want to talk about it, that’s their coping style. And prior experience with loss, because as you know, because you’ve all had cancer, is, cancer is a great loss of health for you. And you grieve and that’s a very normal thing to do, to grieve for what you’ve lost as a result of cancer. Temporarily, you’ve lost your health. You may have lost choices about things that you can do and that you used to do. And how you coped in the

El afrontamiento depende de cómo uno se ha adaptado antes. Quizás no haya tenido muchas crisis en su vida y no sepa adaptarse. Otras personas han tenido muchas crisis y tragedias, y pueden hacer frente al cáncer, pues es tan solo otra tragedia. ¿Qué tipo de personalidad tiene usted? ¿Cómo enfrenta sus problemas? Algunas personas hablan sobre su enfermedad y eso les ayuda a sobrellevar la situación. Otras son más reservadas y prefieren no hablar de ella, y ese es su estilo de afrontamiento. Tener experiencia previa con pérdidas le permite lidiar con su condición, ya que el cáncer involucra una gran pérdida de salud para usted. Es normal lamentarse por lo que ha perdido debido al cáncer. Ha perdido la salud temporalmente y puede haber perdido opciones en actividades que hace y solía hacer. La manera en

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past with loss will predict how you’re going to cope with cancer and its losses.

que lidió con la pérdida en el pasado determinará la manera en que sobrellevará el cáncer y sus pérdidas.

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Cancer is a Threat to AttainingCancer is a Threat to AttainingCancer is a Threat to AttainingCancer is a Threat to Attaining

• Education

• Marriage

• Pregnancy

• Child rearing

• Career

• Retirement

So the thing that makes cancer difficult, one of the many things, is socially, it’s a threat to attaining education. If you’re 18, 20, you’ve gone back to school or you’re back to school in your 40’s, it’s a threat to attaining education because for the time being while you’re taking treatment you can’t get an education. You have to focus on your treatment. It may be a threat to attaining marriage. There are some people in relationships that thought they were going to marry. Once they get cancer they’re wondering, “Well, you know, I don’t want to strap my partner with this financial burden.” Sometimes people who aren’t married and don’t have a partner, they’re wondering, “How do I tell anybody I’ve had cancer when I start dating again?” It’s also a threat to attaining pregnancy. Many women are delaying pregnancy until their late 30’s and if they get cancer then, then their pregnant--their fertility is threatened and they might not be able to get pregnant. If they’re young mothers or fathers and they have children and they’re trying to, you know, raise the children, it takes a lot of energy to raise children. And when you’re dealing with side-effects from treatment, that’s very difficult. It may be a threat to your career. You may be on the fast track and you have a lot of plans for what you’re going to do with your career but that’s temporarily on hold when you’re dealing with cancer. And then some people when they retire and saved all the money that [they] were going to travel. And now they have cancer, they had to use that money to pay for the cancer treatments and may have to come out of retirement so that they have enough money to live.

Una de las numerosas desventajas de tener cáncer es que, socialmente, constituye un obstáculo para la educación. Si el paciente tiene 18 o 20 años, o ha retomado sus estudios a los 40 años, es una amenaza, porque durante el tiempo de tratamiento no puede estudiar, sino que debe concentrarse en su tratamiento. Puede ser una amenaza para el matrimonio. Muchas personas que han formado una relación piensan en casarse, pero una vez que tienen cáncer dicen: “No quiero atar a mi pareja a esta carga financiera”. A veces, las personas que no están casadas y no tienen pareja piensan: “Cuando comience a salir de nuevo, ¿cómo digo que he tenido cáncer?”. También puede afectar el embarazo. Muchas mujeres retrasan sus embarazos hasta cerca de los 40 años y, si tienen cáncer en ese momento, su fertilidad se ve afectada y es posible que no puedan quedar embarazadas. Si son padres o madres jóvenes con hijos en plena crianza, les absorbe mucha energía, y cuando está lidiando con los efectos secundarios del tratamiento, se hace mucho más difícil. También puede afectar su carrera profesional. Es posible que esté progresando económicamente y tenga muchos planes para el futuro, pero debe ponerlos temporalmente en espera cuando está lidiando con cáncer. Algunas personas ahorran toda su vida para viajar luego de jubilarse, pero ahora tienen cáncer y deben usar ese dinero para pagar los tratamientos, y es posible que deban volver a trabajar para ganar dinero suficiente para vivir.

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CopingCopingCopingCoping

• Attitudes:

– Cultural

– Spiritual

– Religious

– Presence of emotionally supportive persons

– Potential for rehabilitation

Coping has to do with attitude. So I talked about cultural attitudes and spiritual attitudes. What you believe about a higher being. Some people don’t believe there is one, but it’s a very personal belief, your spiritual is your relationship, vertical relationship with a higher being. Your religious attitude, religion has to do with a horizontal relationship with people that are of like belief, spiritual belief that you have. And if there’s people in your life who are emotionally supportive. Or are you by yourself that you don’t have anybody who helps, then it’s going to be very difficult to cope. And what potential you have for rehabilitation. Temporarily, you might not be able to lift your arm or you might have lost a limb, but there’s great potential for rehabilitation. And how you participate in that also helps with you coping.

Lidiar tiene que ver con la actitud. Ya me he referido a las actitudes culturales. Las actitudes espirituales se refieren a las creencias sobre un ser superior. Algunas personas no creen que exista, pero la relación vertical con un ser superior es una creencia espiritual muy personal. La actitud religiosa es una relación horizontal con personas que comparten sus creencias espirituales, y con gente en su vida que le brinda apoyo emocional. Tal vez no tenga a nadie que ayude y todo será difícil de afrontar. ¿Qué potencial tiene para la rehabilitación? Por lo pronto, es posible que no pueda levantar el brazo o que haya perdido una extremidad, pero hay un gran potencial para la rehabilitación, y la forma en que participe en la misma también ayuda a hacerle frente.

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“I choose not to think of my life as

surviving, but coping.”

Lorna Luft

Lorna Luft said, “I choose not to think of my life as surviving but as coping.” As you remember she was Judy Garland--is Judy Garland’s daughter.

Lorna Luft, la hija de Judy Garland, dijo: “Elijo pensar en mi vida como una forma de lidiar en lugar de sobrevivir”.

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Coping TasksCoping TasksCoping TasksCoping Tasks

• Integrate diagnosis

• Tolerate stress

• Adjust to health care system

• Make treatment decisions

• Communicate diagnosis and implications

to others

Now, what are coping tasks? One of the tasks of coping is to integrate the diagnosis. Number one, you have to believe that you had cancer or that you have cancer and that that’s part of your life. It doesn’t have to be overtaking your life, but it’s a part of your life. So if you think of your life as a tapestry and interwoven in that tapestry is cancer because it’s part of your life. And once you integrate the diagnosis, then that helps you to cope with what’s going on. You’re going to have to be able to tolerate stress. There’s an unbelievable amount of stress with treatment as most of you know. And stress of other people, sometimes people are not very thoughtful and they’ll say, “You know, I had an uncle that had the cancer just like you and he had a horrible death. It was so horrible for him and I’m so sorry you have that kind of cancer.” Well, those people are well-meaning but it’s still very stressful. To be able to tolerate the stress of your hair falling out. And for most women, it’s very traumatic when their hair falls out, and they feel guilty because they think, “Well, my hair will grow back,” but it’s a very traumatic thing. So there’s a lot of stress that goes on with different treatments. Trying to adjust to the healthcare system, trying to figure out what they’re telling you because you have to learn a whole new language. And learn how to get to your appointments, where to go, don’t forget to go, and making treatment decisions. And you don’t know anything about cancer and now you’re asked to make a decision. They’ve given you a couple of choices and you’re thinking, “I don’t know what to do.” And the hard part that many people tell me, it’s very hard to communicate the diagnosis and tell other people what they have. For a parent, it’s hard to tell their children, it doesn’t matter how old their children are. It’s hard to tell them, “Well, you know, I just found out I had cancer.” And for many

¿Cuáles son las tareas que nos ayudan a lidiar? Una de ellas es integrar el diagnóstico. Usted debe creer que tiene o tuvo cáncer y que ya forma parte de su vida, pero que no por eso debe apoderarse de ella. Puede pensar en su vida como un tapiz y que una de sus hebras es el cáncer. Una vez que haya integrado el diagnóstico, podrá lidiar mejor con la situación. Tendrá que tolerar el estrés pues, como todos sabemos, el tratamiento conlleva una increíble cantidad de estrés. Esto se refleja en otras personas, que pueden incluso ser desconsideradas y decir: “Tuve un tío con cáncer, como tú, y murió horriblemente. Fue terrible para él y siento mucho que tengas ese tipo de cáncer”. Son bienintencionados, pero no deja de ser estresante. Usted debe ser capaz de tolerar el estrés causado por la caída del cabello. Para la mayoría de las mujeres, esto resulta muy traumático y se sienten culpables cuando piensan: “Bueno, mi cabello volverá a crecer”. Hay mucho estrés relacionado con los diversos tratamientos. Hay que tratar de ajustarse al sistema de cuidado de la salud, aprender un lenguaje enteramente nuevo para averiguar qué nos dicen los médicos, aprender cómo llegar a los consultorios, no olvidar horarios o direcciones, y tomar decisiones sobre el tratamiento. Una persona sabe poco acerca del cáncer y de repente se le pide que tome una decisión. Le han dado un par de opciones y piensa: “No sé qué hacer”. Muchos pacientes dicen que la parte más difícil es comunicar su diagnóstico y contarles a otras personas lo que tienen. Para un padre es difícil decirles a sus hijos, sin importar la edad que tengan: “Acaban de decirme que tengo cáncer”. Muchas personas no les cuentan a sus hijos o amigos hasta que tienen un plan, y lo que

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people they don’t tell their children until, or tell friends, until they have a plan. And what it means, to have to tell somebody what it means. If you have metastatic disease, people don’t understand that the treatment is not going to be over. The treatment is going to continue as long as it works. And what people think about is, “Well, they had a cousin that had cancer and she took treatment and she worked the whole time.” Well, you know, everybody reacts differently to treatment and it’s very important to communicate that.

eso significa. Si hay una enfermedad metastásica, mucha gente no entiende que el tratamiento nunca terminará y que continuará mientras esté dando resultado. La gente dice: “Tengo una prima con cáncer que se hizo ese tratamiento y nunca dejó de trabajar”. Todo el mundo reacciona de manera diferente al tratamiento, y es muy importante comunicar esa distinción.

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EmotionEmotionEmotionEmotion----Focused CopingFocused CopingFocused CopingFocused Coping

• Something done specifically to make oneself

feel better

• In situations that can’t be changed or seem

that way

There’s emotion-focused coping. This is something that you do to make you feel better. It’s in situations that can’t be changed. For instance, you have cancer. The fact you have cancer is not going to be changed. We can’t erase it. It’s not going to ever go away. It’s a chronic illness just like heart disease. If you’ve had a hard attack then you’re always going to have to be checked [to] make sure that you’re heart-healthy. And so, here you have something that you didn’t ask for. You know, people tell me, “I didn’t ask for this.” Nobody asked for cancer. But it’s something that you have, it’s part of your life but it doesn’t have to rule your life.

Existe el afrontamiento centrado en las emociones, que es algo que uno hace para sentirse mejor en situaciones que no pueden cambiarse. Por ejemplo, usted tiene cáncer y este hecho no puede cambiarse o borrarse, nunca va a desaparecer. Es una enfermedad crónica al igual que las enfermedades cardíacas; si uno ha tenido un ataque cardíaco, siempre deberá hacerse exámenes para asegurarse de tener un corazón sano. Es algo que nadie ha pedido. La gente me dice: “Yo no pedí esto”. Nadie pide tener cáncer, pero es algo que ocurre; es parte de su vida, pero no por ello debe gobernarla.

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ProblemProblemProblemProblem----Focused CopingFocused CopingFocused CopingFocused Coping

• Finding out the facts

• Making a plan

• Reviewing how similar situations have been

handled by others

• Used when something can be done to improve or

at least mitigate a stressful situation

• Directed internally

Problem-focused coping, you find out the facts. So you find out what type of cancer you have. There are some people that go to the computer and read all about their cancer and then they’re really “bummed-out,” as they say, because they found out too much information. So usually your physician gives you information about your disease and treatment options and then you make a plan, what you need to do to get through this. And then find out how other people coped and how they handle this. You know, in the waiting room you talk to other people. “You know when you had nausea, what did you do? What helped?” And you know somebody may say, “Well, gingersnaps help me.” And so you find out little tips from other people; how they coped. And problem-focused coping is used when something can be done to improve or at least change a stressful situation. It’s usually directed internally.

En cuanto al afrontamiento centrado en los problemas, primero se averiguan los hechos: uno averigua qué tipo de cáncer tiene. Hay personas que se sientan frente a la computadora, leen acerca de su tipo de cáncer y se deprimen porque se han informado demasiado. Normalmente el médico ofrece información y opciones de tratamiento de la enfermedad, y luego prepara un plan para enfrentarla. El paciente se entera de cómo otras personas lidiaron con esa situación y cómo la manejan. En la sala de espera habla con otras personas: “Cuando usted tiene náuseas, ¿qué hace? ¿Qué le ayuda?”. Y alguien podría responder: “Bueno, las galletas de jengibre me ayudan”. De esa manera uno recibe pequeños consejos de otros, de cómo superaron una situación. El afrontamiento centrado en los problemas se utiliza cuando se puede hacer algo para mejorar o al menos cambiar una situación estresante. Por lo general, es manejado internamente.

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Optimistic Coping BehaviorsOptimistic Coping BehaviorsOptimistic Coping BehaviorsOptimistic Coping Behaviors

• Positive thinking

• Maintaining a positive outlook

• Comparing oneself to others in a similar situation

Now, optimistic coping behavior, this has to do with positive thinking. Now, there’s a lot of books out there about thinking positive- and you have to have a positive outlook and then your cancer won’t come back. And your cancer will go away if you have a positive outlook. That can help you get through cancer. Sometime people come to see me because they’re afraid they have some negative thoughts. And they’re afraid their cancer will come back because of those negative thoughts. Your body is not that fragile that a negative thought or crying or being upset about something is going to make your cancer come back. But a positive outlook helps you get through this situation better. Also, it helps people want to be around you. If you’re negative and pessimistic, nobody wants to be around you. Also, comparing yourself to others, a lot of times people say, “Well, you know, I don’t have it as bad as I’ve seen other people.” and that helps them. That helps them think there’s always going to be somebody that doesn’t have it as good as you do. And that is optimistic coping.

El comportamiento de afrontamiento optimista se refiere a los pensamientos positivos. Hay muchos libros que describen el pensamiento positivo y cómo adoptar una actitud positiva para que el cáncer no vuelva, y se irá si se adopta un enfoque positivo. Una actitud positiva puede ayudar a superar el cáncer. A veces los pacientes me consultan porque están teniendo pensamientos negativos y temen que el cáncer vuelva. El cuerpo no es tan frágil como para que el cáncer vuelva luego de tener pensamientos negativos, llorar o deprimirse, pero una perspectiva positiva ayuda a superar la situación y a que otros quieran acompañarnos. Nadie querrá estar junto a usted si es negativo y pesimista. Muchas veces uno se compara con otras personas y dice: “Sí, hay otros que están peor” y eso les ayuda. Se benefician sabiendo que siempre habrá alguien en peor situación que uno mismo. Eso es el afrontamiento optimista.

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Optimistic Coping BehaviorsOptimistic Coping BehaviorsOptimistic Coping BehaviorsOptimistic Coping Behaviors

• Humor

• Distraction

• Social Support

• Can look like denial

Also, humor, and I’m sure you found that your humor has changed. That you have darker humor and you laugh about things that you didn’t laugh about before. And other people with cancer get it, but sometimes your family doesn’t get it. Using distraction, for instance, when you have a negative thought, you’re thinking, “Oh no, what about if my cancer comes back.” Then, you know, instead of dwelling on that, some people sew, some people read, other people go to movies, watch movies, work in the garden. So they’re using distractions so they’re not focused on negative things. Social support is very important, your friends or your family or people that you’ve met while you’re getting treatment. Those people become part of your social support. It can look like denial, optimistic coping behavior, but because you are positive and you are focusing on the positive outcome. But it’s not denial because you know that you have cancer and you are dealing with it.

El humor también ayuda y usted seguramente habrá descubierto que su humor ha cambiado. Ahora tal vez tenga un humor más oscuro y se ría de cosas que antes no le causaban gracia. Las personas con cáncer lo entienden, pero su familia, no siempre. La distracción también es útil cuando, por ejemplo, se tiene un pensamiento negativo: “Oh no, ¿qué me ocurrirá si el cáncer regresa?”. En lugar de pensar en eso, algunas personas cosen, otras leen, van al cine, miran películas o trabajan en el jardín… usan distracciones para no concentrarse en los pensamientos negativos. El apoyo social de los amigos, familiares o personas que conoció durante su tratamiento es muy importante; ellos forman parte de su apoyo social. El comportamiento de afrontamiento optimista puede parecer una negación, pero no lo es porque usted permanece positivo y se concentra en los resultados positivos. No es una negación, pues usted sabe que tiene cáncer y ha decidido enfrentarlo.

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Coping ActivitiesCoping ActivitiesCoping ActivitiesCoping Activities

• Making short and long-range goals

• Locate and access resources

• Identify strengths and weaknesses

• Remember you always have a choice

Coping activities- making short- and long- range goals. Sometimes for some people their short-term goal is to be able to get up in the morning and put their clothes on. And for some people that’s very difficult. So that’s that’s a goal. You got up, you took a shower, you put your clothes on and that’s it. Then you sit in the chair. Well, you have fatigue you can’t do anymore. Long-range goals- sometime people plan to go back to school. Maybe they’re going to get married. They’re going to take a trip but that gives them something to look forward to. Sometimes people have children that are getting married or that are graduating and this gives them long-range goals. Find out what resources you have available. There’s resources and find out where you can find them. Identify what strengths and weaknesses you have. Not everybody needs to be in a group. There are some people that if they’re in a group and somebody is having troubles and they’re crying and their cancer’s back, then that bothers the person. They go home and they’re upset and they’re worried. So maybe, that’s not the person that should be in group. Maybe you need to see someone one-on-one. That maybe, that’s just a weakness, it just is. Other people, the strength they have is to go to group, to help other people. They also get help from the group. And one of the things that’s hard to remember when you have cancer [is] that you have a choice. It doesn’t feel like you have a choice because you have cancer and you didn’t choose to have cancer. But you can choose how to deal with it. You can choose the treatments and the treatments that you have, and how you get through the treatments. The fact that you may have nausea, that your hair falls out, that happens but you have a choice on how you are going to cope with that.

Como actividades de afrontamiento también pueden establecerse metas a corto y a largo plazo. Algunas personas se fijan como objetivo a corto plazo levantarse por la mañana y vestirse. Para ellos es muy difícil y esa es su meta. Se levantan, se dan un baño, se visten y listo. Luego se sientan en una silla y, como están fatigados, no puede hacer nada más. En las metas a largo plazo, algunas personas vuelven a estudiar, se casan o se van de viaje, y eso les da algo que esperar con ansias. A veces tienen hijos que se casan o se gradúan, y esto les da metas a largo plazo. Averigüe qué recursos tiene disponibles y dónde puede encontrarlos. Identifique sus fortalezas y sus debilidades. No todos necesitan estar en un grupo. A algunos les resulta molesto ser parte de un grupo donde hay una persona que tiene problemas y llora porque su cáncer volvió, y luego vuelven a casa molestos y preocupados. Tal vez no deban unirse a un grupo y quizás se sentirían mejor consultando a un profesional individualmente, porque esa es su debilidad particular. Otras personas obtienen fortaleza de esos grupos, ayudando a otros y a su vez recibiendo ayuda. Cuando se tiene cáncer es difícil recordar que existen otras alternativas. No parece ser así, pero es porque usted tiene cáncer y no eligió enfermarse, aunque sí puede elegir cómo afrontarlo. Puede elegir sus tratamientos y cómo enfrentarlos. Las náuseas y la caída del cabello son simplemente cosas que ocurren, y usted es quien decide cómo sobrellevarlas.

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“Sometimes even to live is an act

of courage.”Seneca (d. A.D. 65)

Seneca said, “Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.” And you know when you--just a lot of people tell me, they don’t like it when people them, “Oh you’re so brave. I can never do that.” But you know, you do what you have to do. It doesn’t feel brave to go through chemo or to go through radiation or to have surgery. You do that because you want to live. And it doesn’t feel like an act of courage but to other people that’s what it seems like.

Séneca dijo: “Algunas veces, incluso vivir es un acto de coraje”. Muchas personas reprueban que otros les digan: “Eres tan valiente. Yo no podría hacer eso”. Uno hace lo que debe hacer. Uno no se siente valiente por recibir quimioterapia o radiación, o por someterse a una operación: lo hace porque quiere vivir. Usted no lo considera un acto de coraje, pero otras personas lo ven de ese modo.

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DepressionDepressionDepressionDepression

• Main cause of decreased libido

• Frequently undiagnosed

• 25% rate in cancer survivors

Massie, Holland &Straker (1990)

Ferrell, et al (1995)

Now what is depression? Depression is the main cause of decreased libido. So if you’re not interested in sex, besides all the cancer treatment that can cause that, it may be depression also. It’s frequently undiagnosed because some people say, “Well, of course, you have depression. You have cancer.” But depression is a treatable condition, like cancer is a treatable condition. And it needs to be treated. 25 --average 25 % of cancer survivors have depression. So it’s very important to have it treated.

¿Qué es la depresión? Es la causa principal de la disminución de la libido. Si usted ha perdido interés en el sexo, puede deberse al tratamiento del cáncer, pero también podría ser depresión. Con frecuencia no se la diagnostica porque algunos dicen: “Pues claro que estás deprimido, es que tienes cáncer”. La depresión es una condición tratable y, al igual que el cáncer, debe ser tratada. En promedio, el 25% de los sobrevivientes del cáncer tienen depresión y tratarla es muy importante.

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DepressionDepressionDepressionDepression

• Slow onset (at least 2 weeks)

• Alterations in sleep pattern

• Withdrawal from outside interests

• Irritability

• Crying

• Sadness

• Alterations in eating

• Erectile dysfunction

• Alibido

So depression, what are the symptoms? Two weeks, you just don’t wake up one morning and go, “I’m depressed, I need something.” Two weeks, it’s a slow onset. You might not be sleeping. Or you might sleep well until three in the morning and you wake up and can’t go back to sleep. You may want to sleep all the time. You may not want to get out of bed. You might not want to get dressed. You don’t want to take a shower. You just want to lie around. You might not go out with anybody or not let anybody come to see you.-- Not answering the phone. You may be irritable and grouchy. You may have crying spells. You may feel sad.-- Alterations in eating. Unfortunately, women like to feed their feelings so they may gain weight when they have depression because they are eating to feel better. Guys don’t. Some of these look like side-effects of treatment, but in erectile dysfunction and alibido, which is no interest in sex.

¿Cuáles son los síntomas de la depresión? Pueden tardar dos semanas en aparecer. Nadie se despierta un día pensando: “Estoy deprimido, necesito ayuda”. Hay un inicio lento de al menos dos semanas. Es posible que duerma mal o que se despierte a las tres de la mañana y no pueda volver a dormirse. Puede sentirse cansado todo el tiempo, o no tener ganas de salir de la cama, vestirse o ducharse. Tal vez sólo quiera recostarse, o no tenga ganas de salir, de que lo visiten o de atender el teléfono. Puede estar irritable o de mal humor, o tener ataques de llanto. Puede sentirse triste o sufrir alteraciones en la alimentación. Las mujeres alimentan sus sentimientos y pueden subir de peso cuando están deprimidas porque comen para sentirse mejor; los hombres, no. Algunos de estos síntomas parecen efectos secundarios del tratamiento. También puede haber disfunción eréctil y alibido, que es falta de interés en el sexo.

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DepressionDepressionDepressionDepression

• Difficulty focusing or concentrating

• Feelings of worthlessness

• Racing thoughts

• Feeling depressed

• Hopelessness

• Anhedonia

• Suicidal thoughts

--Difficulty focusing and concentrating. -- Feelings of worthlessness. You feel like you are not worth anything. Why would anybody care about you or come to see you? --Racing thoughts, it may be hard to focus and hard to stay on task. You may feel depressed. And these are real red flags. These are real indications of depression.-- Hopelessness. You don’t have any hope. You’re not making any plans for the future. --Anhedonia, you don’t enjoy anything. You may go out to eat with your family but you feel like you’re watching yourself go through the motions of life. --And suicidal thoughts, of course, are a red flag. And it is very important to treat depression.

Dificultad para concentrarse, sentimientos de desvalorización —uno siente que no vale nada, ¿por qué preocuparse por usted o venir a visitarlo?—, pensamientos acelerados, que hacen difícil concentrarse en una tarea, o sentirse sin ánimos. Todas estas son señales de advertencia, indicios reales de depresión. La desesperanza —no tener expectativas, no hacer planes para el futuro—, la anhedonia, es decir, no disfrutar de nada —si sale a comer con su familia, siente que su vida simplemente transcurre—; y, por supuesto, los pensamientos suicidas son señales de advertencia. Es muy importante tratar la depresión.

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Treatment of DepressionTreatment of DepressionTreatment of DepressionTreatment of Depression

• Supportive psychotherapy

• Cognitive-behavioral techniques

• Antidepressants

• Combination

Anti-depressants work but they don’t work right away. It may take two to three weeks or four weeks for them to work. And some people are so depressed they can’t participate in therapy. Once the antidepressants work, then they can be more active in therapy. --Supportive therapy or cognitive behavioral techniques. Learn to do things. It doesn’t change what is, but it changes how you see something. Combination is the most effective way to treat depression.

Los antidepresivos dan resultado, pero no inmediatamente y pueden tardar de dos a cuatro semanas en hacer efecto. Algunas personas están tan deprimidas que no pueden participar en la terapia, pero una vez que los antidepresivos empiezan a funcionar, pueden participar más activamente. Tenemos la terapia de apoyo y las técnicas cognitivo-conductuales: aprender a hacer cosas. Eso no cambia la situación, pero sí su punto de vista. La combinación de terapias es el enfoque más efectivo.

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“Cowardice,[FEAR] as distinguished from panic, is

almost always simply a lack of ability to suspend

the functions of the imagination.”

(Picasso)

Ernest Hemingway, (Men at War 1942)

Now Ernest Hemingway said, “Cowardice,” and I like to insert the word fear, “as distinguished from panic is almost always simply a lack of ability to suspend the functions of the imagination.” So like I said earlier, the more imaginative you are, and if you have fear, then your fear --your imagination feeds into that fear. “What if this headache is my cancer back? And what if they can’t find where it is? What if there is no treatment available and then what if I die?” That’s all of your imagination. That’s not real. A fear is about the future, it is not about right now.

Ernest Hemingway dijo: “La cobardía [y aquí yo también mencionaría el miedo], a diferencia del pánico, es casi siempre sencillamente la falta de habilidad para suspender el funcionamiento de la imaginación”. Si uno tiene miedo, cuanto más imaginativo se es, más se lo alimenta. “¿Y si este dolor de cabeza significa que otra vez tengo cáncer? ¿Y si no pueden encontrar dónde está? ¿Qué pasa si no hay ningún tratamiento y me muero?”. Es su imaginación, no es real. Se teme al futuro, no al presente.

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AnxietyAnxietyAnxietyAnxiety

• Acute onset

• Signs and symptoms

• Feeling agitated

• Poor concentration

• Increased worry

• Insomnia

• Rumination

• Difficulty staying on task

• Rapid pressured speech

• Hard to make decisions

Valentine, 2006

I Now anxiety can happen right away; acute onset, that’s means right away. You may feel agitated, poor concentration, maybe worry. If you’re a worrier, you’re probably an anxious person and then when you get cancer your worry is going to go up even more. You’re not able to sleep, that’s insomnia. Rumination, you keep thinking about the same thing over and over and over. It may be very hard for you to stay on task. Your speech may be rapid and pressured. You just talked very fast and people can’t talk very much because you’re talking. It may be very difficult to make decisions if you’re anxious.

La ansiedad puede ocurrir repentinamente. Tiene un inicio agudo, es decir, inmediato. Usted puede sentir agitación, falta de concentración y preocupación. Si suele preocuparse, probablemente sea una persona ansiosa, y si le diagnostican cáncer, se preocupará aún más. El insomnio es la imposibilidad de dormir. “Rumiación” significa que se sigue pensando lo mismo una y otra vez. Puede ser muy difícil concentrarse en las tareas. Puede hablar de manera acelerada e imperativa, y lo hace tan rápido que los demás no pueden conversar porque usted está hablando. Si usted está ansioso, puede ser muy difícil tomar decisiones.

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AnxietyAnxietyAnxietyAnxiety

• Treatment depends on cause

• Pain management

• Anti-anxiety drugs

• Antidepressants

• Antihistamines

• Supportive psychotherapy

• Cognitive-behavioral techniques

Treatment depends on the cause. Now people that are anxious, they don’t live in the present. Anxious people are always thinking about. “What if? What if I can’t sleep and then what if I can’t sleep tomorrow night too?” Well, you know, people don’t usually die from lack of sleep. You miss one night of sleep you will sleep the next night ‘cause you will be very tired. “What if my cancer comes back and then what am I going to do?” So, it’s all about the future, or “If only… If only I haven’t had that divorce then I wouldn’t get cancer. If only my children weren’t so bad and drug users, then I wouldn’t have got cancer. If only.” Both the past and the future can’t be changed. The only time you have is right now. And if you’re one of those people that jump ahead to “what if?”, then focus on right now. If you’re getting treatment, when you wake up in the morning, you say, “Right now I know, today I know my cancer is being treated.” Or if your treatment is over, “Today I know I don’t have cancer,” and that’s true. As far as you know, today you don’t have cancer.

El tratamiento depende de la causa. Las personas ansiosas no viven el presente y siempre están pensando: “¿Qué sucederá... si no puedo dormir hoy y mañana tampoco?”. Nadie se ha muerto por no dormir. Si usted pierde una noche de sueño, al día siguiente estará tan cansado que deberá dormir. “Si mi cáncer regresa ¿qué voy a hacer?”. Todo se refiere al futuro, o piensa: “Si tan sólo… no me hubiera divorciado, no tendría cáncer. Si tan sólo… mis hijos no fueran drogadictos y malas personas, yo no tendría cáncer. Si tan solo…”. Ni el pasado ni el futuro pueden cambiarse; el único tiempo que usted tiene es el presente. Si usted es una de esas personas que se adelantan en el tiempo pensando: “¿Qué sucederá si ocurre tal cosa?”, concéntrese en el presente. Si está recibiendo tratamiento, al despertarse por la mañana diga: “En este momento están tratando mi cáncer”. Si su tratamiento ha finalizado, diga: “Hoy sé que no tengo cáncer”, y eso es cierto: en lo que a usted respecta, hoy no

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If it comes back you’ll deal with it then. But you don’t have to deal with it now ‘cause you don’t have it. Some people look anxious because they are in pain and they don’t have very good pain management. So it’s very important for you to let your practitioner know about your pain. Anti-anxiety drugs can help like

Ativan which is Lorazepam or Clonazepam which is

Klonopin. Those are two anti-anxiety drugs that we use a lot and can be very helpful. Antidepressants with same strength. There is a class of

antidepressants like Zoloft, Prozac, Lexapro,

Paxil, Celexa, they’re SSRIs. They’re also indicated for anxiety. And antihistamines, if you are having a

drug reaction, certain types of drugs like Reglan,

Compazine, or Phenergan can cause something that makes you look real agitated and anxious when, indeed, you are not. It’s a side-effect from the drug. And antihistamines can take that away, and then you stop taking that drug. Supportive psychotherapy can be very helpful, as well as cognitive behavioral techniques. For instance, when you wake up every morning and you tell yourself, “Today I know I don’t have cancer.”

tiene cáncer. Si el cáncer vuelve, lo enfrentará cuando eso suceda. No es necesario preocuparse ahora, porque usted no tiene cáncer. Algunas personas se sienten ansiosas porque están doloridas y no reciben un buen tratamiento del dolor. Si usted siente dolor, es muy importante que se lo haga saber a su médico. Pueden ayudarlo los ansiolíticos, como Ativan

®, que es lorazepam, o

Klonopin®, que es clonazepam. Estos ansiolíticos se

utilizan frecuentemente y pueden ser útiles, al igual que los antidepresivos con la misma concentración. Hay una clase de antidepresivos como Zoloft

®,

Prozac®, Lexapro

®, Paxil

® y Celexa

® que son

inhibidores selectivos, pero que se recetan para la ansiedad. También están los antihistamínicos. Si usted tiene una reacción adversa a algún fármaco, ciertos medicamentos como Reglan

®,

Compazine® y Phenergan

® pueden hacerlo parecer

agitado o ansioso, cuando en realidad no lo está. Son efectos secundarios que los antihistamínicos pueden aliviar. Luego debe dejar de tomarlos. La psicoterapia de apoyo y las técnicas cognitivo-conductuales pueden ser muy útiles. Por ejemplo, despertarse cada mañana y decir: “Hoy sé que no tengo cáncer”.

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“When you worry, you live it 3

times. Once, before it happens;

when it happens, and reliving it

after it happens.”Eileen Donavan, 1993

Now Eileen Donovan, who was an occupational therapist here at MD Anderson, said, “When you worry, you live it three times: once before it happens, when it happens, and then, of course, you have to relive it after it happens.”

Eileen Donovan, una terapeuta ocupacional del MD Anderson, dijo: “Cuando usted se preocupa, experimenta el hecho tres veces: antes de que suceda, cuando sucede y al recordarlo, una vez que sucedió”.

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ResourcesResourcesResourcesResources

• Self-help

• Distraction

• Visual imagery

• Meditation

• Relaxation exercises

Now what resources do you have? Self help, you know, you can look on the computer. You can gather information. You can use distraction. You can go to the Place of Wellness here at MD Anderson and learn meditation, use visual imagery. Visual imagery takes you to a place in your mind. And you can be there and it would give you a little break from where you actually are. Learning relaxation exercises can be very helpful.

¿Qué recursos tiene disponibles? La autoayuda: puede realizar búsquedas en la computadora, reunir información, distraerse, visitar El lugar de bienestar en el MD Anderson y aprender a meditar utilizando la visualización de imágenes. Eso le permitirá crear lugares en su mente que podrá visitar para tomarse un descanso en cualquier sitio. También es útil aprender ejercicios de relajación.

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Building your Support TeamBuilding your Support TeamBuilding your Support TeamBuilding your Support Team

• Caregivers

• Family and Friends

• Support Groups

• Physicians and healthcare team

• Spiritual support

• Psychosocial clinicians

Build your support team. That’s very important to have a support team. Who are your caregivers? Who are the people there for you? In the middle of the night, if you need to go to the emergency room, who could you call? Family, friends, your support groups, your physicians, and your healthcare team: the nurses, the occupational, physical therapists, different--other kinds of therapists, speech therapists. Those are part of your support team. What spiritual support do you have? Sometimes people tell me they’re disappointed that their minister didn’t come to see them when they were at the hospital or hadn’t called but they found spiritual support elsewhere. And psychosocial clinicians like your social workers and people in psychiatry, those are part of your support team.

Arme su equipo de apoyo. Tener un equipo de apoyo es muy importante. ¿Quiénes cuidan de usted? ¿Quiénes le brindan apoyo? Si en medio de la noche necesita ir a la sala de emergencias, ¿a quién llama? Puede llamar a sus familiares, amigos, grupos de apoyo, médicos y a su equipo de cuidado de la salud, como enfermeras, terapeutas ocupacionales o físicos, y fonoaudiólogos. Ellos son parte de su equipo de apoyo. ¿Qué apoyo espiritual tiene? A veces un paciente se decepciona porque su pastor no fue de visita al hospital o no lo llamó, pero luego encuentra apoyo espiritual en otros lugares. Los clínicos psicosociales, como los trabajadores sociales y otros profesionales en el área de psiquiatría, también son parte de su equipo de apoyo.

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Who is your support team?

So who is your support team? Think about it, write it down. But think about who’s part of your support team right now. Maybe it’s changed. Maybe when you were dealing with active cancer your support team was different. And people that are in remission, don’t have cancer right now, their support team is different.

¿Quién es su equipo de apoyo? Considérelo y haga una lista. Piense en quiénes forman parte de él en este momento, pues quizás haya cambiado. Tal vez cuando el cáncer estaba en la etapa activa, su equipo de apoyo era diferente. Los pacientes en remisión o que se han curado tienen un equipo de apoyo diferente.

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ResourcesResourcesResourcesResources

• Support Systems

• CanCare

• Cancer Counseling, Inc.

• Professional Staff

• Private counseling

• Religious organizations

Other resources are support systems: CanCare, Cancer Counseling Inc., professional staff from your institution, private counseling in the community, religious organizations. Some of the larger religious organizations provide counseling and that can be very helpful. There’s a website you can go to, it’s www.apos-society.org and you can find psycho-oncologists, people who specialize in counseling people with cancer in your area.

Otros recursos son los sistemas de apoyo como CanCare, Cancer Counseling Inc., los profesionales de su institución, los servicios de asesoramiento privado en la comunidad y las organizaciones religiosas. Algunas de las más grandes proporcionan asesoramiento muy útil. Visite la página web www.apos-society.org para encontrar psicooncólogos en su área. Estos profesionales se especializan en asesorar a personas con cáncer.

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Benefits of a Support TeamBenefits of a Support TeamBenefits of a Support TeamBenefits of a Support Team

• Increased sense of security

• Decreased sense of isolation

• Decreased vulnerability to depression

• Better information processing and management

• Physical/logistical support

• Increased likelihood of successful coping

And why do you need a support team? Well, it makes you feel more secure, that you don’t feel like you’re out there doing it all alone and thinking, “Well why am I doing this if nobody’s there for me and nobody cares.” It decreases your sense of isolation. You feel like people are there for you and you’re not as vulnerable to depression if you have a support team. It also gives you better information processing and management. When you take someone to your appointments with you and they hear something differently than you hear, they may be taking notes. They may ask questions that you forgot about so that can help you. It gives you physical and logistical support. It can drive you here for your treatments and for your appointments. And having a support team gives you better likelihood of successful coping with your cancer.

¿Por qué necesita un equipo de apoyo? Porque lo hará sentirse más seguro, en lugar de creer que está solo en el mundo y pensar: “¿Para qué hago esto, si a nadie le importa?”. Un equipo reduce la sensación de aislamiento. Usted sabrá que otros lo apoyan y no será tan vulnerable a la depresión. También le permitirá procesar y administrar mejor la información. Si alguien lo acompaña a sus citas, tal vez entienda las cosas de otra manera o quizás pueda tomar notas. Puede preguntar cosas si usted olvida hacerlo, brindarle apoyo físico y logístico, o llevarlo a sus tratamientos y citas. Contar con un equipo de apoyo aumenta su probabilidad de tener éxito al lidiar con el cáncer.

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“Courage is being scared to

death…and saddling up anyway”

John Wayne

John Wayne said, “Courage is being scared to death... and saddling up anyway.”

John Wayne dijo: “Valentía es estar muerto de miedo… y aun así subirse al caballo”.

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ResourcesResourcesResourcesResources

• Library

• Computer

• National Cancer Institute

• American Cancer Society

Other resources are the library. Find out what information you can find there if this is a kind of thing that you like to do. Computers, but be very careful about the websites you go to. The National Cancer Institute, which is part of the National Health Institute, has good information. The American Cancer Society, which is cancer.org, has good information. Some of the information is specifically for particular types of cancer. For instance, phoenix.com is for men with prostate cancer. And there are all sorts of websites for women with breast cancer and different kinds of breast cancer. Sarcoma, pancreatic cancer, any kind of cancer that you have, there’s a website. And there’s also chat rooms you can go to. Now, always remember that sometimes people that go to chat rooms are very negative. And you know, you just kind of watch and see what information you’re getting from chat rooms. If it feels negative, maybe that’s not anything you want to be a part of.

Otro recurso es la biblioteca. Averigüe qué información puede encontrar allí, si es que disfruta hacer ese tipo de cosas. Las computadoras ayudan, pero preste atención a qué sitios web visita. El Instituto Nacional del Cáncer, que es parte de los Institutos Nacionales de Salud, y la Sociedad Americana del Cáncer en cancer.org, tienen buena información. Parte de ella está orientada específicamente a determinados tipos de cáncer. Por ejemplo, phoenix.com es para hombres con cáncer de próstata. Hay toda clase de sitios web para mujeres con diferentes tipos de cáncer de mama. Existe un sitio web para cada tipo de cáncer, sea sarcoma, cáncer de páncreas, etc. También hay salas de chateo que puede visitar, pero recuerde que la gente que las frecuenta suele ser muy negativa. Fíjese qué tipo de información le proporcionan estas salas, porque si siente que es negativa, tal vez no le convenga participar.

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“Cowards die many times before their

deaths; The valiant never taste of

death but once.”William ShakespeareJulius Caesar (1599)

William Shakespeare said, “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.” So the fear that you have, of getting cancer back, and of dying, you’re dying many times because you’re thinking about dying instead of focusing on living. People--I did a group with--for people with metastatic cancer and their focus was on living with cancer, not dying with cancer but living with cancer, living as good as they could.

William Shakespeare dijo: “Los cobardes mueren muchas veces antes de su verdadera muerte; los valientes saborean la muerte solo una vez”. El temor que pueda tener de contraer cáncer nuevamente y de morir lo lleva a fallecer muchas veces, porque piensa en eso en lugar de concentrarse en sobrevivir. Yo participé en un grupo de pacientes con cáncer metastásico cuyo enfoque no era morir de cáncer, sino vivir con él de la mejor manera posible.

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“Nothing valuable can be lost by

taking time.”Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln said, “Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time.” You know, time is the one thing that we all have the same amount of. It doesn’t matter how rich, how poor, where you live, what gender you are, what ethnicity you are, what culture you’re from, we all have the same 24 hours in our life. And time can’t be saved. We can’t regain the time that we’ve lost. Time is very precious. That’s why some people would rather give money to charity than volunteer their time. So time is very precious and you don’t want to waste your time worrying about your cancer coming back.

Lincoln dijo: “Nada valioso se pierde si uno se da el tiempo necesario”. El tiempo es algo de lo cual todos tenemos la misma cantidad. No importan el dinero, el lugar de residencia, el género, el origen étnico o la cultura: en la vida, todos compartimos las mismas 24 horas. El tiempo no se puede preservar, pues no podemos recuperar el tiempo perdido. Es algo muy preciado, y por eso algunas personas prefieren donar dinero a una organización de beneficencia antes que dedicar tiempo como voluntarios. No pierda el tiempo preocupándose por la reaparición de su cáncer.

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“In three words I can sum up

everything I learned about life:

It goes on”Robert Frost

Frost said, “In three words I can sum up everything I learned about life; it goes on.” Right? I’m sure you found that since your cancer diagnosis, it doesn’t matter what you’re going through with your cancer, life goes on. Life goes on all around you. And those of you who are through with treatment, and you don’t have active disease, it still goes on. So your challenge is how it goes on.

Frost dijo: “Puedo resumir en tres palabras cuanto he aprendido acerca de la vida: debes seguir adelante”. Estoy segura de que, desde que usted recibió su diagnóstico, ha descubierto que a pesar de la situación causada por el cáncer, la vida continúa a su alrededor, particularmente para aquellos que hayan finalizado su tratamiento y cuya enfermedad ya no está activa. El desafío es cómo continuar su vida.

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“You gain strength, courage and

confidence by every experience in

which you stop to look fear in the face.

You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have

lived through this horror I can take the

next thing that comes along.”Eleanor Roosevelt, 1960

Eleanor Roosevelt said, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you stop to look fear in the face. You’re able to say, “I’ve lived through this horror, I can take the next thing that comes along.” So when you think about your cancer diagnosis, your first diagnosis, you lived through that, you lived through chemotherapy. I’ve had many people say, “Hey, I’ve gone through chemotherapy, I can go through anything.” Whatever comes along next, you can take it. But you don’t have to deal with it until it actually comes along.

Eleanor Roosevelt dijo: “Ganamos fuerza, coraje y confianza con cada experiencia en la que realmente hacemos una pausa para mirar el miedo en la cara. Podrás decirte: ‘He sobrevivido a este horror y ahora puedo enfrentarme a cualquier cosa’”. Si usted piensa en el momento en que le diagnosticaron cáncer, se dará cuenta de que sobrevivió y superó la quimioterapia. Mucha gente me ha dicho: “He superado la quimioterapia y puedo enfrentarme a cualquier cosa”. Sí, pueden hacerlo, pero no antes de lo necesario.

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You cannot choose to have

recurrence, but you CAN choose

how to control the fear of it.

You can’t choose to have recurrence. But you can choose how to control the fear of it.

Uno no decide sobre la recurrencia, pero puede elegir cómo controlar el miedo.

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“I must not fear. Fear is a mind-killer. Fear is

the little death that brings total obliteration. I

will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over

me and through me. And when it has gone

past me I will turn to see fear’s path. Where

the fear has gone, there will be nothing.

Only I will remain.” Frank Herbert, “Dune”

The Litany Against Fear

Now, Frank Herbert, who wrote Dune, wrote, “I must not fear. Fear is a mind killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn to see fear’s path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” So it’s very important that you face fear and you don’t let it rule you. And you don’t let it control your mind. And you get rid of it so that you remain, so that you can enjoy your life.

Frank Herbert, autor de Dune, escribió: “No debo temer. El miedo es el asesino de la mente. El miedo es la pequeña muerte que trae la destrucción total. Enfrentaré mi miedo. Le permitiré pasar sobre mí y a través de mí. Y cuando haya pasado, miraré hacia atrás para ver su camino. Donde el miedo se haya ido no quedará nada. Solo yo permaneceré”. Es muy importante enfrentar el miedo y no dejar que nos controle ni que domine nuestra mente. Debemos deshacernos de él para poder permanecer y disfrutar de la vida.

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HappinessHappinessHappinessHappiness

• Find happiness where

you can…it is not a

destination, but a way of

traveling and a choice

Find happiness where you can. It’s not a destination... but it’s a way of traveling and a choice. You look around you and you see four people that had cancer. One person is grouchy and negative. The others may be happy. They’ve chosen to be happy. It’s a choice that you make. And it’s not like, “When I get through with my cancer then I’m going to do this.” It’s a matter of how do you attain that goal while you’re getting cancer. How do you live while you’re dealing with cancer. And more importantly, once your cancer has gone away, don’t let the cancer control you. Don’t let the fear control you. Live, so that if it does come back, you look back and say, “Oh, I had--I lived, I enjoyed my time.”

Encuentre la felicidad donde pueda. No es un destino, sino una decisión y una forma de viajar. Al mirar en derredor vemos a cuatro personas que tuvieron cáncer. Una es negativa y protesta. Las otras son felices, han elegido serlo. Es una decisión que cada una ha tomado. Y no hay que pensar: “Cuando supere mi cáncer voy a hacer esto”. Es una cuestión de cómo alcanzar esa meta teniendo cáncer, cómo vivir cuando se padece esta enfermedad. Más importante aún, una vez que el cáncer haya quedado atrás, no deje que lo controle. No permita que el miedo lo controle. Viva, y si la enfermedad vuelve, podrá mirar atrás y decir: “He vivido, he disfrutado del tiempo que me fue concedido”.

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“Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial

and error, change- this is the rhythm of

life. Out of our over-confidence, fear;

out of fear, clearer vision, fresh hope.

And out of hope, progress.”Bruce Barton

Bruce Barton said, “Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change - this is the rhythm of life. Out of our over-confidence, fear; out of fear, clear vision, fresh hope. And out of hope, progress.”

Bruce Barton dijo: “Acción y reacción, flujo y reflujo, ensayo y error, cambio: ese es el ritmo de la vida. De nuestra zona de confianza, surge el miedo; del miedo, una visión más clara; de ella, una nueva esperanza. Y de la esperanza, el progreso”.

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“He that lives in hope

danceth without music”George Herbert

Outlandish Proverbs (1640)

George Herbert said, “He that lives in hope danceth without music.” So remember, you don’t have to hear the music to have hope. The hope you have is every day, that today you will live the best you can and without cancer. And if your cancer comes back, you still have hope that it will be controlled.

George Herbert dijo: “Quien vive con esperanza, baila sin música”. No es necesario escuchar la música para tener esperanza. La esperanza que usted tiene diariamente es la de vivir todos los días lo mejor posible y sin cáncer, y si este regresa, aún queda la esperanza de controlarlo.