Doing this once doesn't make me an expert, but I think it gives me some first hand insight.
The purpose here is not brag about what I've done to share knowledge. I wasn't doing it to "fight" the cancer
simply to help survive under stree, pain and get some quclity of life back.
The results for me were fevy powerfull and it did just that
I'm sure I'll have some fear of dying again nearer to my death bed, but that is to be expected.
However I'll have got there feeling good with my life to that point. Impossible to quantify but I think will have
helped me live a bit longer also
I think this
article sums up will to live quite well in a medical context
General principles to regain and stenghten will to live
- Rebase your priorities where needed - For me that meant focusing more time and memories with loved ones.
They are who I want most to see before I go
- Helping broader society - For me feeling of making a difference regardless of size is very rewarding #emotional wealth
Not just cancer related but in other ways also
- Getting a goood support network - For me , this too much to suffer with alone. over time I have lost some friendships
but gained new ones and strengthended existing ones.
- Re-engaging with society - For me , at it's worse I couldn't see speak to people, watch TV or find any joy in life.
With support of my local concellor she taught me to enjoy the little things. Like getting into the garden to have a coffee,
the feeling of being able to eat again, walk again and then onto normal tasks like food shopping.
- Re-discovering a passions - For me after 2 being twice concust, having 6 fractures and other hand foot problems meant I didn't think
I'd get back on my race biked. I also had a PICC line in at the time. I asked though for the PICC line to be removed
in preference of QoL. I then carefully got back onto a bike. within a couple of weeks, I went from a few hundred metres on a mountain bike
to 20 miles on a road bike and then longer on my race bike.
Average speed got to be 18 to 20mph and I got another summer season to enjoy biking outdoors. Helped alot with will to live
- Re-invent yourself - For me , focus on what you can do and lifes peasures, so biking with adjustments.
Elevating my joy of coffee. I was making mcahine coffee before but upped it by sourcing frashly roasted beans
for some lovely espressos and cortados to savor
- Getting back engagement with my children - For me , it degraded with multiple traumas. At one stage I couldn't talk
or move much( mostly bed bound), I also couldn't write or cuddle due to state of my fingers. As I recovered i looked
for what I could do, i.e. most previous things such as playing switch, anything physical not possible at that stage. However
I could play chess, over time table football, guess who etc..
- Getting setting mini milestones - For me , this meant some family goals in next couple months
. Small term short term enough to be reasonably acheiveable.
Getting support to get back a strong will to live
- A good local councellor - For me someone with experience of people with chronic illness
- A good holistic clinical phsycologist - For me someone who can tkae a holistic approch
and distill it in a way I can understand
- A local pasture for end of life support - For me it really helped both spiritually and religiously. The
later not being a route thst I needed to go down, flexibiliy in service to focus on spiritiual aspects only which were also key for me
- Starting sooner rather than later - For me getting the items mentioned earlier into place and the end of term planning pieces
I talked through in those sections into place. So head already starts to get filled of no regrets early on.
