Managing Stress When the Diagnosis is Cancer

In a person’s life, one of the most stressful experiences is probably cancer. When you need to deal with a challenge such as this, it is almost too much to deal with all the other life stresses such as financial concerns, family and work. Stress that you experience daily can also make it hard to cope with a diagnosis such as cancer.

In short, you will need stress management techniques more than ever before. Making tiny changes in your life might help in stress reduction.

Manage your days – lower stress levels by going on half hour walks many times each week. Begin a new schedule for exercise after you talk to your health care practitioner. Schedule a few book groups or similar social activities to socialize. Get enough sleep and maintain a healthful diet. Writing in a journal and joining a support group composed of people who are going through a similar situation is a good idea as well.

Tackle your finances – Talk to a financial advisor or a social worker for oncology related financial matters and insurance benefits. It can be overwhelming to prolong debt and bill paying. Instead, manage the cost of the care you will need to get for cancer as soon as you can.

Focus on what is controllable – you may feel helpless in the face of cancer. Try and keep your feelings under control by focusing on the stuff that you can control such as your health habits and keeping regular appointments. Remain flexible and keep your levels of stress under control.

Chunk every task – big tasks can be chunked into smaller chunks. For example, a general house cleaning can be done in two or three days rather than in one full day.

Know your priorities – Rank your chores and work according to importance. If you can’t seem to do everything, knowing which ones should go first will help you get important things done.

Ask for assistance – co-workers, friends and family are around you and will most likely offer support if you ask them. If you need certain tasks done, ask for assistance. This can be to help pick up a child at school or help with grocery shopping.

Learn to say no – saying a polite no when people ask you to do too many things to do is not offensive. You will need to learn how to say no when you don’t have energy or time. When you are at your workplace, don’t keep volunteering for one project or another. It might feel hard to say an outright no at first. If this is the case, give the person who is asking you to do stuff other alternatives or options instead.

Keep a schedule – using an electronic calendar or a daily planner to help keep track of activities and appointments will give you plenty of planning time from one activity to the next. Your weeks and days should not have too many activities scheduled particularly the ones you need to prepare for.

Keep your stress under control after getting diagnosed with cancer is part of cancer treatment success.

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