Managing Anxiety After a Mesothelioma Diagnosis

Having a new diagnosis of cancer is anxiety provoking for the patient, for the patient's family, for the patient's loved ones. And a lot of times anxiety comes from the unknown, from having a loss of control, where things are thrusted upon us. No one was expecting to get a cancer. No one expects to get bad news. So when it comes on to us, we feel lost. We feel that we've lost control. That leads to anxiety. So one of the ways I found through my twenty years of being a thoracic surgeon dealing with mesothelioma and lung cancer is when a patient is able to get just a little bit of control and control can come in different forms. A big thing is knowledge. The more you know about your cancer, the more you know about the treatment options, the more you know about the prognosis, the more you'll feel confident and you'll feel less anxiety. So knowledge is key. Get information. Another way of gaining control and having less anxiety when diagnosed with a new cancer is to seek out the right specialist to feel that you have the right team in your corner. Of course, it's important to have good support through family, through friends, through support network, but also having the right doctors with you. Seeking the specialist that is specialized in that tumor. Somebody who is compassionate, somebody has knowledge and somebody who is willing to listen to you and tell you the truth about the tumor. Sometimes family members don't want their loved ones to hear about their cancer or about their prognosis because they think they can't handle it. But in fact, the truth is that when you're not told the truth about your cancer, you start imagining things and you start creating your reality. And it's usually grimmer than what it actually is in the vast majority of time. So that's why it's important to be able to deliver the physician, your oncologist, your thoracic surgeon, to deliver an honest opinion about the cancer, go through all the options and then work with you to come to the right treatment option that's right for you and that's specific to your cancer. The third way to gain control and decrease anxiety when faced with a cancer is start doing things that will help your prognosis. Eating right, high protein diet, exercising, and keeping your mind busy. I would say that's the number one thing you can do. If you keep your mind busy, you do things that you enjoy, whether it could be work, it could be sports, it could be leisurely activities, it could be going to church, it could be seeing your friends, it could be playing cards, but you need to keep your mind busy and not keep thinking about that cancer. And you can't start thinking, well, what's going to happen in six months? What's going to happen in a year from now? No, you live day by day, you wake up that morning and you tell yourself, what am I going to do today to make today a good day? And then today's going to be a good day. And then tomorrow's going to be a good day. And then good days are going to become weeks, which are going to become months and hopefully years. And that's how you can get a grasp on this cancer diagnosis.