WHY?

Why? Why would God allow this to happen?

Why?

Why this? Why now?

Almost without exception, when diagnosed with cancer, all people are haunted by two questions. The first question is “why?” The next is, “what can I do to participate in my healing?” Until answered, both of these questions cause deep anxiety and stress. Stress is a major suppressor of the immune system; and, the immune system is the body’s weapon against cancer formation and growth.

Many medical experts believe that stress, caused by emotional suffering and feelings of helplessness, is the key factor in the formation of many chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

To quell this stress you need to find the answer to the question “why?” Why me? This is a two-pronged question. One prong deals strictly with the physical aspect. What is the physical reason that the DNA in one of my cells mutated?

The second prong of the question “why?” is spiritual. Why would God allow this? This is particularly puzzling to those who have made a serious effort to maintain a healthy lifestyle – proper diet, exercise, etc.

Good-Bye To Feeling Down

Do Not Accept a Wilted Spirit as a New Normal

Depression is a normal part of cancer and it can go on many months and even years after treatment has ended. Depression is a normal part of cancer; however, it can be overcome and even sidestepped by following a few crucial steps.

A low or dark mood after treatment has ended is one of the most common side effects of cancer. It seems counterintuitive that a cancer survivor who has completed treatment would become depressed. Why would this be? You would expect to feel elated after completing treatment.

In their book, Picking Up the Pieces, Sherry Magee, Ph.D and Kathy Scalzo, M.S.O.D. report that all cancer survivors express three idealistic wants, regardless of the severity of their cancer or the intensity of their treatment. They want:
• A guarantee that the cancer is gone and won’t come back.
• Reassurance that they are doing the right things to keep the cancer away.
• A definite deadline by which they will feel normal again.

The reassurance that cancer survivors seek comes by understanding how a healthy immune system has the ability to detect, track down, and destroy every cancer cell in their body; and then, by taking the steps to restore the health of their immune system.

Depression suppresses the immune system. It is analogous to driving your car with the emergency brake engaged.

When cancer survivors speak of the desire to feel normal again, they are usually speaking of the lingering fatigue, lack of interest, and loss of concentration that subdues them. We all expect serious injury or illness to have physical effects that need a period of rehabilitation. But this longing to feel normal has more to do with the emotional part of life – the desire to get over the emotional fatigue that takes away the “spark” of daily life. It takes away the joy and hope that should be a part of each day. There is no reason to justify accepting low mood and depression as part of the “new normal.”

Fatigued? Has Your Immune System Been Ambushed?

Ambushed by Depression

The majority of people, understandably, experience significant emotional distress after learning they have cancer. This emotional distress is more than just the initial shock. Cancer pulls you out of your life. Cancer sets your schedule. Cancer is the harbinger of change. Change and uncertainty and the rigor of treatment wear on a person – not just physically, but also on their soul. This is where cancer ambushes you and your immune system. Cancer and depression go hand in hand and depression suppresses your immune system.

“Chemo brain” is a common term used by cancer survivors to describe their loss of concentration and memory problems. Chemotherapy, and other cancer treatments, are also blamed for the lingering fatigue that daunts cancer patients – sometimes for months or even years after they have finished treatment.

Many of the symptoms of depression such as fatigue, lack of energy, memory impairment, sleep changes, and loss of interest in previously pleasurable activities already strike cancer patients because of the disease and its treatment. It can be very difficult to spot depression. Under-recognition of depression in cancer patients is common. The American Cancer Society estimates that three of every four people suffering from “chemo brain” symptoms can actually attribute these symptoms to depression and other medication side effects. Chemotherapy is taking the rap for the effects of depression.

Can Positive Thinking Stop Cancer?

What is your why?
What is it that gives your life purpose and meaning?

If you have been diagnosed with cancer, then what you need in order to stop cancer is the very latest of Western medical treatment and a healthy immune system.

There is a vast amount of research that proves a healthy immune system fights cancer and is capable of stopping it in its tracks. Your immune system is the ultimate arbiter in your fight against cancer.

There is conclusive research that chronic stress suppresses your immune system. Stress causes the hormone cortisol to be released into your bloodstream. Cortisol then sets off other stress hormones that cascade throughout your body. One of the functions of these stress hormones is to curtail or suppress your immune function. [For further explanation. click here]

In most cases, the diagnosis of cancer brings with it feelings of shock, fear, anger, guilt, dismay, and often depression. This is not uncommon. All of these are stressful emotions that suppress your immune system.

It is faulty logic to assume that positive thinking creates the opposite effect – that positive thinking fortifies your immune system.

Be Aware or Beware – Immune Cell Health or Cancer

You Were Knit Together In Your Mother’s Womb

It is your immune system that stops cancer in its tracks.

It is the job of your immune system to keep you healthy.

It is your job to keep your immune system healthy.

In order to keep your immune system healthy, it helps to know the basics of how your (immune) cells function.

I once won a lamb at a charity silent auction. That was an experience because I didn’t know the first thing about how to take care of a lamb. It would have helped if I had known at least a few basics. After a few weeks, I gave the lamb to a local 4-H club. The point in mentioning this incident is to illustrate the importance of knowing at least a few fundamentals about how your cells operate.

The starting point is to be aware of three key facts about all of the cells in your body. First, all of your cells are packed with intelligence – your DNA contains all of the instructions (genes) for what that cell is supposed to do. Second, each cell has thousands of receptor sites on the outside of its cell membrane. Through these receptor sites the cell receives messages from other cells. Third, each cell is acutely aware of its environment, which includes your every thought.

The genes in each cell tell that cell what to do. However, all the cells in its environment tell each cell what to do next. The wonder of this is demonstrated in the development of a single “first” cell into a complete living human body.

Cancer Healing and Your Core Beliefs

“Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe – a spirit vastly superior to that of man.” ~ Albert Einstein

Every cell in your body is packed with intelligence.

At the center of each cell is a nucleus. The nucleus contains your body’s chromosomes. Your chromosomes contain your DNA. Your DNA contains all of your genes – the specific set of instructions for making you; for keeping you going; and for living in community with all of the other cells in your body.

The complexity of a single human cell is staggering. The evidence of the mark of intelligence within a cell is undeniable. The most important question you can ask yourself is: “How did it get there?”

How to Get Rid of the Winter Blues

“I am the light of the world ” John 9:5

The feelings at this time of year that leave many of us with a sense of sadness, emptiness, loneliness, and even depression are referred to as the “winter blues” – but they are also called the “holiday blues.”

These winter/holiday blues suppress the immune system. As you will see, to cure the winter/holiday blues and restore the health of your immune system, it is important to realize they are actually two different phenomena.

Winter Blues – Caused by Lack of Physical Light

Technically, and physiologically, the saddest day of the year is December 21, winter solstice, the day with the least amount of daylight hours. It is a scientific fact that when sunlight shines in your eyes, it transmits a signal in the brain to make serotonin, a hormone that affects your mood. Serotonin is known as the “feel-good” hormone. Less sunlight in each day results in lower levels of serotonin in the brain, this correlates with feelings of sadness, isolation, and irritability – a blue mood. Sunlight is also needed for the production of Vitamin D, which is produced by the action of sunlight on the skin.

Holiday Blues – Caused by a Lack of Spiritual Light

Many people claim that mid January is actually the saddest time of the year. This is the result of the holiday blues – an emotional letdown that follows the holidays. Margaret Stump, a licensed family and marriage counselor with the Mayo Clinic health system, says that holiday blues are a result of people’s exceedingly high expectations of what Christmas should be. “With such high expectations,” Stump says, “it is easy to feel we are not meeting them, and this involves a great cost to one’s emotional well-being.” People seek the perfect Christmas of childhood dreams.

‘Tis the Season to be Sad!

A Bleak Winter Day

This is not humbug. It is true. Winter season is the saddest season of the year. It is also the darkest season of the year. It is a time of the year when the number of daylight hours in the light–day cycle of each day has decreased the most. Winter is a time when the serotonin level in the brain is lowered.

Serotonin is a hormone that is most commonly known to affect mood. It is a neurotransmitter – a chemical substance that transmits impulses that cross the spaces between nerve cells (synapses). Serotonin is known as the “feel good” hormone. But, low levels of serotonin in the brain cause sadness and depression.

When sunlight shines on our eyes, it transmits a signal from the eye to the brain to make more serotonin. In winter months, with less sunlight and dark overcast days, our brain is making less serotonin. Lower levels of serotonin cause us to have feelings of sadness, irritability, depression, and headaches.

According to research, lower levels of serotonin are correlated with higher levels of irritability, impulsiveness, and aggression. Scientists know that increasing serotonin levels in the brain helps relieve symptoms of depression.

Promises to Keep

December 21 is the winter solstice – the shortest, hence the darkest, day of the year. Robert Frost wrote about this day in his poem, “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening.”