Sacrificing for Healthy Survivorship

In some situations, your best choice is one that still involves some hardship, loss and/or pain. Perceiving such difficulties as a sacrifice can help patients on the road to Healthy Survivorship.

In general, when you sacrifice something you are losing it, surrendering it, giving it up or destroying it for a higher good. A dramatic example is the young, healthy soldier who fights for his or her country, willingly putting himself or herself in harm's way that may lead to their making the ultimate sacrifice. A mundane example is a patient who takes the time and effort to go for a medical check-up.

In the context of Healthy Survivorship, sacrifices may be temporary, such as when patients receive chemotherapy that causes baldness. Or they may be permanent, such as when patients lose a body part (e.g., a limb) or a function (e.g., fertility). Their sacrifice may be obvious, such as when I closed my medical practice, or subtle, such as my tiring easily.

For me, the notion of sacrificing helps me live as fully as possible. It suggests I made a choice -- even if my choice was not the option I really wanted but knew was impossible. As I see it, cancer didn't destroy my practice and steal my energy. Rather, I willingly sacrificed my clinical work and my go-go-go lifestyle to enable my remarkable survival.

Healthy Survivors often make great sacrifices for a higher good. And they find peace in their sacrifices.

Comments

[Finn]

What an interesting idea. I think I'll try looking at my chronic insomnia as sacrificing the ability to get a good night's sleep for the sake of surviving my cancer instead of as a long-term side effect of chemo and see if that change in perspective makes it less distressing for me.

[Wendy S. Harpham, M.D.]

Dear Finn,
Reframing losses as sacrifices is healing. But also make sure the sacrifice is absolutely necessary.

Adequate good-quality sleep is an essential element of healing.

Sleep disorders during and following chemotherapy are common. If you can't get relief from your current physicians and high-quality self-help books (such as No More Sleepless Nights), I urge you to ask for referral to a sleep specialist.

With hope, Wendy

[Finn]

Thanks, Wendy. My internist and I have been working on this problem for 5 years, using a variety of approaches, but the only one that gives me a good night's sleep is drugs, which I use 3 nights a week. When one stops working (usually after about a year), I switch to another. I won't use them every night or increase the dose; I just wish I didn't need them at all.

But I will ask if a sleep specialist would be helpful, given the results of my recent sleep study.

[cures for arthritis]

very nice article, thanks for sharing. gonna try this one soon.