Beware of the Snake Oil Salesmen!

One of the aspects of the cancer experience that seriously burns my butt is the con men that come out of the woodwork with their “miracle” cures to cash in on your misfortune. These nut cases actually believe the nonsense they spew and offer hope for something simple to make everything “right” again.

It blows me away how some talk as if cancer is one disease… The “butt wipes” are so ignorant that they are a menace and danger to others! I didn’t like radiation any better than anyone else, but there was proof that it worked and that has strength, at least for me. No one knows what causes my cancer, so how the heck will they know that some crazy diet will make everything better?

Sadly, there are many that are grasping for hope and getting taken advantage of by these fools and you need to beware of the so called “miracles.”

Just don’t throw away what has the best chance of working for something that has no proven results, just because someone is making promises. This is cancer and as much as we want promises, there are no guarantees. The best of doctors won’t make those sort of promises and no one should. If someone does, walk away. They are likely after your money and don’t care about your health.

My thinking is that bad things do happen to good people and we can spend all of our time wondering what we could change or do to get through it easier or we can dive into the battle. Life is about balance. Eat better, exercise and do what it takes to get better…

For me, a little ice cream made the battle easier… But it didn’t cure me (insanity did that).

Have a wonderful week and be better…

Cheers!

Another year has arrived and I have to admit that though I’m looking forward to it, I know that there are monumental challenges ahead, but with the events of the last couple weeks… All I can say is “Wow!”

I’m always blown away by how busy I tend to get between Christmas and New Year, but this year I wasn’t even trying or looking for more to think about. It just happened.

I’ve been approached about consulting, being a blogging ambassador, and speaking, again. I haven’t said much about these because I haven’t wanted to jinx anything (and basically, my head is still spinning at it all). I’ve had to apply for one of these, but they did approach me, so that is a good thing. There are a couple of other opportunities that I’m still looking at to decide if they are as good as they sound and will announce them as I know more.

Blown away is an understatement, as well as a little gun shy about all of this, but excited at the possibilities. It’s hard not to jump on them all, but in this day and age, you have to check things out before making any sort of decision. I still believe that surviving cancer has put me in a position that I feel I have a responsibility to help others with cancer and these could be a wonderful way to do more of this.

So, I’m sorry for not posting sooner, but have been trying to show self-control with my excitement. One of these opportunities could allow me to share new advances in treatments and this just blows me away! I want to offer hope to those of you that need it.

Over the next week I’ll be posting a couple times to catch up a bit on hope and fun.

Hope everyone has had a lovely New Year and holiday season!

See you soon! 🙂

Filtering the Information

When you’re first diagnosed with cancer you want answers… You want hope. So you jump online and start searching for information on your diagnosis, but instead of finding hope, you find every worst case scenario out there. I remember actually about passing out from looking up pictures of the surgery, I was about to face. Was white as a sheet and wouldn’t have dared trying to stand up.

The internet is a great thing, but it’s also your worst enemy, at times. You seek out support, but you may also be finding people that are dealing with advanced stages of the disease and that can be hard when you’re newly diagnosed and uncertain about what to expect.

One thing you need to remember is that a lot of people that get through the tunnel and survive it well, don’t always stay active in support groups (which is unfortunate). They try to move away from everything to do with cancer, they want to forget.

This isn’t necessary bad, but for those that are seeking positive stories, it makes it hard. The people most likely to give you hope, have moved on. So when you are seeking answers, you often are hearing some of the worst stories possible and in turn being scared to death. I found this, so I try to be available for newly diagnosed individuals whenever possible.

The challenge this creates is knowing what to tune in and what to tune out. It’s impossible to turn out everything, but you need to keep a level head (which is hard enough in the beginning). As great as support groups are, they often have a lot of individuals that feel it their responsibility to “warn” others about EVERY worst possible outcome and I can tell you from personal experience, that doesn’t help when you’re first diagnosed.

When we’re first diagnosed we need to know that the battle can be won, that though it will be a challenge, it is doable. Worst case scenarios are easy to find, we need hope. So choose your quest for knowledge carefully. Know that being positive is important and finding a great team includes finding people that have gone through the battle and won. We are out there and we want to help.

That being said, I’m always willing to help survivors see the brighter side of the battle and the light at the end of the tunnel.

Have a great week!

“Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.”  ~Christopher Reeve