The date's marked on your calendar, and the anticipation begins:

You speculate the outcomes, Dwell on the worst-case scenarios, Analyze every gesture, comment, and expression from the technician, Hold your breath, waiting for results, Feel like time has stopped until you know.

Welcome to the world of scanxiety.

In this episode, I delve into the emotional whirlwind that is scanxiety and offer strategies to help you maintain your equilibrium during scan season. Your peace of mind is precious; let's protect it together.

 

Referred to in this episode: 

Scanxiety 

 

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Read Full Transcript Below:

0:00
This is Laura Lummer, the breast cancer recovery coach. I'm a healthy lifestyle coach, a clinical Ayurveda specialist, a personal trainer, and I'm also a breast cancer survivor. In this podcast, we talk about healthy thinking and mindfulness practices, eating well, moving your body for health and longevity. And we'll also hear from other breast cancer survivors who have re engaged with life and have incredible stories to share. This podcast is your go to resource for getting back to life after breast cancer.

0:37
Hello, and welcome to another episode of the breast cancer recovery coach Podcast. I am your host, Laura Lummer. And I want to welcome you to the show.

0:45
Thank you for being here. Thank you for coming back week after week and supporting this podcast. It means the world to me.

0:54
And I also want to give a big thank you to marilynjm.

0:59
Marilyn, thank you so much for taking the time to leave a rating and review for the breast cancer recovery coach podcast, I read that review. And you know I talked about on the show how important reviews are in terms of making the show more easy for other people to find other people who maybe you are going through breast cancer and need to hear the information on the show. But when I read this, I and I've shared this before and I just want to share it again. So you know how much I appreciate you taking the time out of what I'm sure is your busy schedule to leave this review because it means the world to me.

1:36
And these messages, I feel like they're like little love letters. They're just messages that warms my heart. And help me understand that what I'm putting in this podcast is meaningful and doing what I started at years ago to do.

1:48
Which is to support other breast cancer survivors who are struggling as much as I was trying to figure out how you move on with life after breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, and now with living with breast cancer. How do you live your best, most amazing life with cancer?

2:06
So when I see things like this, it just it means the world to me, and I just want to thank you so much.

2:12
And if you are a regular listener or a new listener, and you haven't left a rating or review for the show, I would love it, if you would take the time to do that. Just click some stars down at the bottom. If you're listening to it on smartphone, you should be able to see ratings and review right at the bottom of the app where you listen to it. And it just means the world to me to the show, and to other survivors out there who may be struggling with the same thing you were that brought you here to this show. And it helps them to find it. And I love it as Marilyn even said in hers that she's not even sure how she found the podcast. And I hear that often I'll receive messages from people who say, you know what, I don't even remember how I got to your podcast.

2:53
But I was struggling with fill in the blank. And I looked for something and there it was.

2:59
That's just a beautiful thing, right? We're always right where we should be. And so when you leave a rating or review, it might help someone else who needs to hear what you had to say. And is going through what you're going through to relate to it and realize that there is help and support out there for her.

3:15
Okay, we are going to get right into the show today is September 13.

3:20
It is the day that I am doing CT scans, follow up scans, the last time I had scans done was April of this year. And it was really weighing heavy on my mind and my heart to talk about scanxiety.

3:36
And if you are a breast cancer survivor, you know exactly what I'm talking about. And if you're someone who loves or supports a survivor, I'm going to help you understand it if you're not aware of that term.

3:48
So scanxiety is basically the anxiety that comes up when a cancer survivor is going in for scans. And I want to talk about scanxiety because it's very real. And it has a huge impact on the quality of our life for the time leading up to the scans, for the time between the scans and receiving the results of the scans, and for some of us it's more of an impact than others. And so I think it's a very important thing to address. And something that was a catalyst actually in in wanting to do the show not only because my scans are today, but because I saw someone posting the breast cancer recovery group. And she said that she had had some scans and she was waiting for results and she was in limbo.

4:38
And this is a very common message and thread of thought that I hear and see all the time all the time for those of us who are getting scans or waiting for scan results totally normal and I get it.

4:52
I want to unravel it a little bit here in this show. Because it is so impactful. And because we do have to deal with it.

5:01
We are dealing with scans, when we get diagnosed, we deal with follow up scans while we're going through treatment, and then we deal with scans for years after the chemotherapy surgeries or radiation have ended, right?

5:14
We're always on watch.

5:16
And there was a time when my scans were coming up in my brain would go straight to what happened with my brother, and what if there's cancer again, and all the things because once our brain starts taking off on the story of what happens if we get cancer, again, where the story of what's going to happen, when we die from cancer, there, there's no good path after that, right.

5:40
So I look at it very differently now, and I want to share that with you. But I also want to share kind of the process, get a better understanding of scanxiety from my own experience, and from the experience of other women that I work with, to help you if this is something that you struggle with, to be able to approach future scans, wait for results of scans, and still enjoy your life at the same time.

6:10
Because that's really what this is all about what I do, is not about curing cancer, right is nothing about medicine, is about living a healthy, happy life, about learning to love your body, about treating your body with loving kindness and compassion, and doing everything that you have control over when it comes to your life and your body and your wellness.

6:34
And we do have many, many things we can control.

6:37
And they all start right between the ears, right? They start with our brain, they start with the way we think. And that is what the snowball effect. That's where we start getting our feelings. And we take actions based on those feelings, and then we create results in our life. And it always comes back to the way that we're thinking.

6:55
So if we're going into a scan, and we're in a lot of fear, and we're thinking worst case scenario, what will happen? What am I going to have to go through? And I know firsthand, one of the biggest fears is what if they tell me I have to do chemo again. And we go down that road way before we even have results of a scan. So how can we approach managing what can be a chronic disease, managing our healing, our health, our treatment, living with cancer, moving beyond cancer, while preserving our peace of mind and the quality of our life?

7:38
And that's what we're going to talk about today.

7:40
Okay, so I want to break this down into four specific sections. Because I think we go through a different emotional process in each of these, at least I do, I'm going to share with you my thoughts and offer some alternative ways of thinking that may help reduce the power of scanxiety in your life.

8:00
So first, I'm going to give you an official definition. Because scanxiety is a real thing, as I said just a minute ago.

8:07
If you Google it as I did, you'll find a lot of articles on it, you'll find podcasts on it, you'll find a lot of support for scanxiety.

8:14
And in the urban dictionary, the definition phrase, scanxiety that I found is anxiety and worry that accompanies the period of time before undergoing or receiving the results of a medical examination, such as an MRI or CT scan.

8:30
And I just feel it's important to share that definition with you. Because so often when we're going through breast cancer treatment and the follow up and living with it, we tell ourselves a story of I'm alone or I'm crazy, or I'm over the top, and you're not.

8:47
And I just always want to continually reinforce that with you. You are not alone.

8:53
Scanxiety is not because you can't control yourself. It's very real. And there are good reasons for it.

8:59
And I found this article in Time Magazine, which I will link to in the show notes for this episode. You can find those at thebreastcancerrecoverycoach.com/156.

9:10
And this was an article that is titled scanxiety cancer in the crosshairs.

9:15
And I love what he said here, because when we're coming up for scans, you think, you know, we can rationalize it right? We can rationalize scans and say what is this scan? It's data. It's a picture of what is happening inside of our body and it's data. But that doesn't necessarily let go of the fear and sometimes we don't know where the fear even comes from.

9:36
And the scan isn't a scary thing.

9:40
The scan is triggering the fear because how did you find out you had cancer, probably from the scan. Right?

9:47
And so we have that fear attached to it, that thought of it that cancer was found in the scan. You may have found it by a lump, right we we find it in a lump or feel or something but we get the diagnosis when we get that biopsy, or we get that scan.

10:02
We even get the biopsy, and then that's just the first of like, Okay, yeah, it's cancer. Now let's see how much you have. Let's see what's going on in your body...

10:09
So that scan triggers fear, understandably, right.

10:14
And in this article in Time Magazine, I thought this was just a perfect way to phrase it, I want to share this quote with you. He says:

10:22
"We first learn we have cancer from scans, then learn from them if that cancer has shrunk or disappeared, then learn if it has come back. Scans are like revolving doors, emotional roulette wheels that spin us around for a few days and spit us out the other side. Land on red, we're in for another trip to Cancerland; land on black, we have a few more months of freedom."

10:46
End of quote.

10:47
And I loved that analogy of a scan, right? You feel as if there's no control. It's a very powerless feeling, if you're in fear, if you're rooted in fear. And so what do you do about that?

11:03
Scans are, thank God, we have them right an important part of managing cancer, an important part of our diagnostics and treatment and management.

11:13
So let's talk about what happens in the mind. Because really, the only thing you can do is look at your thoughts and your feelings behind this. And this is so important. And I'll tell you, as I said a minute ago, you can look and find all kinds of articles on scanxiety. And the one thing that I'm going to talk about which I was thrilled to find in every article that I looked at was, you got to come back to looking at the way you're managing your mind. And it is in the managing of the mind that we can reduce scans it because it's all in us, right?

11:46
It's the fear, the feeling of fear is coming up from a lot of things we're thinking, mostly of what I just talked about the fear that is triggered by going into a scan.

11:55
But most of the time, when we make an appointment for a scan, it's probably about a month ahead of time, right a couple weeks to a month ahead ahead of time. And I'll often talk with women who tell me that they are just in a blur, just it numb for that entire time between making the appointment for the scan and going to the scan, that there is either a tremendous amount of anxiety, that there's maybe even depression, that there's withdrawal from life. And that is just a very scary time.

12:27
And I completely understand that because I've been there.

12:30
And I want to share with you a mindset shift that I have used for myself that's really helped in the before period.

12:39
So the brain is gonna offer you what it offers, right? We call that unintentional thoughts. And again, those unintentional thoughts are triggered by past experiences by stories that we've heard from wherever about the thing that we're afraid of, in this case, breast cancer.

12:54
So something that I focus on a lot before going into a scan, or once I've made that appointment for this scan is this question, what am I doing to support my health?

13:07
And I even kind of create this sense of urgency is similar to what you would have you had a wedding coming up a big date, you're like, Oh, I want to get in shape, I want to lose weight, I want to look magnificent in that dress that I got, and you have this date.

13:20
So for me, I look at the CT scan as that date. As like, Okay, I'm going to do everything that I can to just live my healthiest life and be really happy and you know, work on my stuff. And leading up to that date to see the impact that that has. Now of course, I trust my oncologist, I take my meds, I believe in that treatment as well. But to me, there's two parts, right? There's the traditional oncological approach and the medications, which I 100% believe in. And then there is the all complimentary approach, not alternative but complementary approach supporting my body's immune system supporting my own wellness. And that also I am a 100% believer in.

14:06
So I've got the date. I've got the CT scan date coming up. And I say to myself every day. All right, Laura, let's do this. Let's see how good it can get, what are we going to do to support your health? What are we doing today? I use that as a filter. Am I exercising regularly? Am I getting enough sleep? What am I putting in my body? Am I consuming alcohol, sugar or flour, whatever the things are, that I've decided to have in my lifestyle that I've decided to leave out or to eliminate or to avoid.

14:37
And so that's really my focus, and that helps me get into this mindset of Okay, I'm gonna do all these things. Because when I get that scan, what is that scan? To me it's just data, because whatever is happening in my body is happening in my body. Right?

14:52
I can just be the judge of that from the way I feel. Am I feeling fatigued? Am I feeling energetic? Am I feeling whatever? Right, looking at yourself, how you're feeling how you're getting through the day, how your digestive system is acting, and just getting in tune with yourself and in touch with yourself.

15:09
So whatever's happening in the body is happening. And then the scan is just a picture of that, right?

15:14
So there, there's the rational side of it. And I get my mindset in that, I'm going to take over this part that I can control, I'm going to take my meds, and I'm going to do everything I can to support my health leading up to this, to see basically what my report card is going to look like, right?

15:31
That really helps me and I'll tell you why.

15:33
Because distracting our brain is a powerful tool. It's a powerful skill to have in that toolbox of wellness for you. It isn't denial, because it's distraction is two different things. Whatever is happening is already happening. And the CT scan is going to show you the picture. You're not in denial. I'm not in denial, I'm not in denial of the fact that I have widespread stage four cancer that I'm working on healing from I'm not in denial of that.

16:00
But I know that just focusing on that obsessing on it, thinking about it constantly is not going to serve as healing, what's my objective, to heal.

16:09
So when you have that distraction, that something constructive, and something that there's actually a lot of work you can do on there a lot of things you could manage in that. And it gives you something to work towards, and it gives you something to inspire motivate you. Here's the thing, staying in that place, what can I do everyday to support my health? What am I doing now to support my wellness without being attached to the expectation, if I'm doing this, my CT scan is going to look like that?

16:41
Right?

16:42
I have no idea what my CT scan is going to look like, I know what I want it to look like 100% I could describe that to you. But I am going to do the things that I do in this moment today. Because they make me feel good today. And because they helped me keep my brain in a good place today. They helped me enjoy life today without being worried about or attached to anything beyond this. And that's the objective here live my best life. Right?

17:10
So coming up with that something before to distract the brain. And when the brain pops up and says, Hey, hey, hey, remember, Laura, you got that scan coming up? You should really be scared. This is not going to be good.

17:21
You go no No, no, not today, brain, I've got something else to worry about.

17:25
I'm going to go do some food prep.

17:27
I'm going to go take a walk on the beach.

17:29
I'm going to go for a spin class, right?

17:31
I'm going to go to yoga.

17:32
I'm going to practice some meditation.

17:34
I have all kinds of things that I can do, that are way better than listening to the random thought my brain sends to me.

17:41
So that's just a little tip for before scans, looking for something that you have some power over, looking at the way you support your health, and then working towards that. So you feel good today. And each day.

17:56
Alright, so let's talk about during, so today.

18:00
Scan day for me, right.

18:02
And I think that's something that is really important on scan day is to plan a very fun day. Right? The scan itself, especially if you're really just starting to work on this, you have a lot of fear or anxiety or worry about the scan, plan some fun into that day.

18:22
Again, this is not only a distraction for our brain, but a reminder for our brain. There's so much more life than just cancer. It helps to keep cancer and cancer treatment and diagnostics in perspective. They're a part of our life, but they're not life. And I'll share with you today like I woke up to a great surprise, I got an email for this company that I work. It's kind of like a social media kind of educational company. And it's really beneficial if you have an online business. And I woke up to an email that said, Hey, you get a free and it was a product they have that's really awesome. And you get a free one because you've been with us so long. And I thought oh, oh, that's so awesome. I was very excited about that. It's really valuable giveaway.

19:08
Then my daughter called me out of the blue. And she says Hey, can I join you for your walk on the beach today? Oh, of course. Wonderful. That was so awesome. And we went and we stopped and we got a coffee at my favorite coffee shop down the street. And when I put my card in to buy the coffee, it said you got a free coffee today. Here's your reward. Oh, wonderful. Awesome, right?

19:28
And I said to her this is so cool. Look at this, this is my lucky day. It's not even seven o'clock in the morning and look at all the great things are happening.

19:36
Acknowledging the beauty, the fun, the rest of life.

19:42
After my scan today, I am going to check out a brand new plant based restaurant that opened real close to here with a good friend of mine and my son. And I think it's so important that we do this. That we just don't go Okay, I gotta get this scan. Let me go to work, or let me sit at home in the morning just thinking about this scan and what is this scan is going to do? Offer yourself something more, offer yourself a totality of life around that scan, take the time to plan it and do something fun and go to a movie or go get a facial or go to a spa day, and remember and remind your brain, there's so much more to life.

20:22
I find that to be really, really helpful.

20:25
Then there is also on this day, that moment when you're in the scan, right, and it's worrying around you. What do you do with your brain during that time.

20:36
And I'll offer you this, what I tried to do is say hey, this is exciting. This is data about my body. Because whatever data I get with this, it's going to go a couple of ways, right?

20:48
It's going to be your stable, good job.

20:52
It's going to be the cancer is spreading. Yikes.

21:05
Today, nothing's gonna change between the time I record this podcast, and the time I get to the hospital and do a CT scan, the only thing is going to change is I'm going to know I'm going to have some knowledge. And I like to look at that knowledge as something else in my toolbox. So it's not something to fear or be afraid of. For me, it's something that helps me get understanding of Okay, if it's stable, wonderful, I must be doing some good things. Could I do more things? Is there potential that I could have some kind of influence because I want a scan one day that says you have no evidence of disease.

21:05
So what else can I do to get better than just stable? And if it is, oh, wow, your cancer is really regressing. Your treatments are working. And I in my head to have that oh your new lifestyle is working. I'm like, heck yeah, keep doing what you're doing. Good job. Right.

21:58
And if it's news that I don't want to hear that is okay, the cancer is spreading, then that for me is just another like kind of a back to the drawing board. Okay, okay. It's spreading. What does that mean to me? Are there more things I can do to support this treatment? Of course, speaking with my oncologist, what about medications? And then also looking at my life? Can I be stricter on somethings? Can I change up somethings? Can I be more consistent on somethings? If I know that those opportunities are there for me.

22:27
So when I'm doing the scan, that's where I try to focus about Oh, I can't wait to see what happens. And here's, here's a little tip for you. Don't ask questions of the radiology tech. Because ask yourself while you're doing that, I will meet women, you know, the radiology tech cannot give you information about your scan. You know, this, right? We know this. And yet we try to pry what do you think, what did you see? And then they are as enigmatic as possible, right? They want to be as vague as they want to because they're not allowed by law to give you any information. So then when they're vague, or if they say good luck to you, and you walk out the door. And you are like Oh My God, good luck. Good luck. What does that mean? Did he see cancer all through my body and we freak out, right?

23:15
So something to keep in mind when you're going into that scan is this person is just doing their job. Their job is to run this scan and give the information to a physician, who will then analyze it and give my oncologist a report and talk to them Hi, how are you? How's your day, but don't try to get little tidbits of information and then read into the things that they said. And then you go home and you freak yourself out over words that were never spoken and that you never heard, right.

23:47
So there's a tip, they're just friendly. How are you doing a great job? And don't try to dig for information that you know, you're not going to get an even if you did get it? That person is not a radiologist. Right. So wait to get it from the expert.

24:02
All right, little tip for you.

24:05
So what about the after you had the scan? You had the fun day, and your brain is going? What is happening? When will I hear? When is the next phone call? Did they call yet? What time is it? Is the office open? When am I going to hear? And you do you create that feeling as I said just a few minutes ago of being in limbo. And I hear this a lot. My life is on hold for a week. My life is on hold for three days for whatever the amount of time it is that you're waiting.

24:40
And so this, my friends I want to offer you is something we create in our own brain. All right.

24:49
Your life is not on hold. You are waiting for information about the status of cancer in your body. You're waiting for information. But while you're waiting for that information, you get to live. You get to give yourself permission to live your life. And when your brain offers you, what time is it? Two o'clock? I haven't heard anything yet. This can't be good. Then you get to say...

25:16
You know what right now I'm enjoying dinner with my spouse...

25:20
Right now I'm walking in the park with my kid...

25:23
Right now, whatever it is that you're enjoying doing...

25:26
Right now I'm working and I need to focus.

25:29
And I can't change anything today, right?

25:31
So we really need to look at what our brain is offering us. And we need to remember, we have power over that, we get to control that we get to say that that is not serving me right now, I choose to redirect the way that I'm thinking. Because let's think about this, I use myself as an example I go, I get the CT scan today. And let's say it takes it's normally three or four days before I get the results. I have a pretty busy week, three or four days of a lot of stuff that I'm doing and a lot of stuff that I'm working on.

26:02
And as I said a minute ago, whatever is happening in my body is already happening. And all the things that I do to support myself, I will continue to do. And when the results are bad, I will get data that helps me decide what direction I want to do as far as treating and managing this illness.

26:20
But between then and now I get to choose, do I want to put my life on hold? Because my brain is saying there's a potential you might need more cancer treatment? Or do I just want to live my life to the fullest today?

26:35
You know, it just seems like such a simple concept to say be present, be here now. And when I talk to people about that, or writing down their thoughts, or noticing the way you really are creating awareness of your thoughts, so that you can then choose to change them. It seems so simple that we often just poopoo it we often just like Yeah, right, right. Like that's gonna work. My friends, it works. I'm telling you, it works. I'm sitting here doing this podcast for you today. Because I've spent a lot of time, a lot of time learning how to manage my thoughts, which is why I'm not nervous about this CT scan. And I already know, of course, a CT scan is going to show cancer body, I have cancer in my hips and my femur and my spine and my shoulder and my forehead. I mean, there's a lot of cancer, there's cancer around my lungs. But I have made a conscious choice to direct my energy into healing that cancer and enjoying my life as I go through that process.

27:38
So my thoughts today are how long is the CT scan going to take because I'm really excited to get to this new restaurant and see my friend and my son and have a great time. So you see, this is the incredible power that we have, we have the power to decide to choose life. That doesn't mean we're in denial. That doesn't mean that I'm not going to manage what is happening now. But I am going to manage how much energy and what kind of energy, I'm going to direct into this, versus what I'm going to direct into living my best life.

28:14
So let's go on to stage four of what happens with scanxiety. In stage four is the outcome. stage four is the results. So I said a few minutes ago, there are a few results that we can look forward to getting and that's your stable, your worst or your better. Right. And for those of you who are in remission, who have no evidence of disease, right, stable is continued no evidence of disease.

28:39
Now, here's the interesting thing. I have seen many, many and heard many women say to me, I don't want to believe that. I don't want to celebrate that. I don't want to be so hopeful, because then I'm afraid I'll be let down.

28:56
And if that resonates with you, I just want to offer this. I want you to really think about that. I want you to think those thoughts and recognize if that is your thought pattern, think those thoughts and notice how they make your body feel. I want you to really notice when I'm thinking I don't want to celebrate having no evidence of disease, because someday I may not. Someday they may tell me I have cancer again. And ask yourself, how does that make me feel? How does that physically make me feel?

21:05
Whereas if you have no evidence of disease right now, and switching that thought to Holy shit, I have no evidence of disease. How awesome is that? How amazing is that? My body had cancer and it is now healed and has no cancer. And think about notice how your body feels when you think that way because when you get Choose that thought both are true. Both are true. You have no evidence of disease right now. And someday you may have it. You have evidence, no evidence of disease right now. And you may never have it again. Both can be true because we don't know the future.

21:05
But where do you choose to direct your energy?

29:34
It's going to be the cancer is regressing. Woohoo, fabulous, right?

29:57
And why do you choose that this is an important thing to really write down, take a piece of paper right at the top of it, I have no evidence of disease and write every single thought that comes up for you. And then ask yourself for those ones that don't allow you to celebrate the don't bring joy to your heart and your life and your loved ones. Ask yourself, is that serving me? Do I want to keep that thought?

30:44
So I don't know, I know, whatever is in me is in me today.

30:48
And now let's talk about what happens if the test result isn't what you want it? What happens if the test result is there's more it has spread, it's treatments not working? What happens then?

30:57
And you know, I want to be really careful here because I want I don't want this to come across as if don't experience fear or sadness or discouragement or disappointment in that moment, because you will and you should when normal people trust me if I get the CT scan results this weekend, right? Dang, Laura, it has spread even more, I'm not gonna be happy about that. That's gonna suck. That's not what I want to hear. And I will allow myself to feel that, I will 100% allow myself to feel that. And I will allow myself to make decisions in my life based on that result. Like, is there anything I need to do to set up my family for safety? And for future? I will because it's reality, right?

31:39
But I will also say, Okay, well sucks. That's not what I wanted to hear. But it's valuable data. So now what are my options, because I want to live as long as I can, in a happy, joyful, wonderful life experience with loving the people spending the time with the people, I love doing all the things that bring me joy.

32:04
So if the CT scan shows me that that time is going to be potentially shorter than I want it to be. Okay, I'm going to deal with that. But I am still going to make sure I enjoy every damn day. I'm going to have moments where I think, oh, that's discouraging. And then I'm going to say to myself, yeah, it is discouraging. But wait, are there more things you could be doing to support your health? And are there more things that aren't my doctor or my medical team can be doing? Are there more options medically? Are there other trials medically? Right, I'm going to open my brain to options.

32:37
Because as I've said before, we are always doing two things. I think that was the Oprah I'm pretty sure that was Oprah Winfrey, quote, I always give her credit. So I hope that I need to Google that and remember, and she said, "We are always moving towards love, or we are moving towards fear." And no matter what the circumstances in our life, I have a CT scan, I have bad results from a CT scan, I have neutral results from a CT scan, I have excellent results from a CT scan.

33:07
We get to choose, are we going to move towards fear?

33:11
Fear is going to come up automatically, no doubt about that. I didn't not some kind of a Yoda, who never feels fear, fears gonna come up automatically, sadness may come up, grieving may come up, and it may have to be processed. But then I get to decide how long I want that to affect my life.

33:29
I want you to know that you are so powerful, you have so much power in your mind to make a decision on the quality of life that you want to have, regardless of our circumstances. And I feel really comfortable saying that because I have pretty much all of the circumstances when it comes to cancer, right? But I get to choose and I do this podcast because I want you to know that if I can figure out that I can get to choose a happy and fulfilling and wonderful life without anger and resentment and bitterness and fear, then anyone can.

34:06
And you know, I live my life knowing that if I can read stories about people whose bodies have healed completely from stage four cancer, then I want to believe anyone can including me. So when it comes to things like scanxiety and other aspects of cancer treatment and cancer management that bring up a lot of fear, and you find yourself putting life on hold. Or you find yourself feeling sick in a dark place in a spin out, I want you to remind yourself, you do have the power to pull yourself out.

34:40
Now I'm also going to give a little caveat here. There are some times when this is too much, when it's so much that we may need medical support and medical help from our physician to allow our brains to get into a place where we can start managing our thoughts. All right, that kind of depression. That kind of anxiety, if it is that extreme and you need support, please get the support that you need. Because sometimes we have to have that if we notice, well, I just can't get ahold of these thoughts. I have tried, I want to, and it's just not working for me, then please reach out to a medical professional get help and support on that level first.

35:20
It's just like me with cancer right now or any you listening, right?

35:24
You find out you have cancer, you make a decision on how you want to handle it. For me, it is with complimentary medicine, both traditional and you know, alternative sources. But I first needed to turn to radiation, chemotherapy, hormone treatments, get them in my body to get this cancer under control before so that I could start working with all of the other parts of my lifestyle and thinking about it and working on the way that I was handling my healing, right/

35:55
I needed both. And sometimes we need both just to deal not only just with cancer, but with life, right?

36:02
So make sure that you give yourself that permission to take what you need. And to give yourself the love and support. You know, I think it was a couple podcast episodes ago that it was called be here for you. And in times like that in times when you need a little extra support. I hope that you give yourself permission not to be ashamed of that and to reach out and get the help you need. Because you deserve it my friend.

36:32
Alright.

36:33
So I hope that that helps somebody if you're waiting for a scan, if you got a scan, read along with me today. And any future scans you have coming up, come back to the show. And remember, it's not about not being afraid. But having an awareness of when your brain is offering you fear and choosing to intentionally think something else to bring more relief into your life, more peace into your mind, and more happiness into your day.

37:05
Alright, my friends, I will talk to you again next week and until then, please be good to yourself.

37:10
I'll talk to you soon.