Thursday, January 13, 2011

How to Deal with Diabetes and Chemotherapy Fears

The first thing we should know how to deal with is the occurrence of diabetes and cancer. Chemotherapy follows if cancer already happens. Diabetes and chemotherapy fears occur when both diabetes and cancer are already present and that there is a need for chemo.

Doctors, clinicians, family and loved ones can help diabetes and cancer patients on how to deal with diabetes and chemotherapy fears. Fear starts when one is suggested to go chemotherapy to kill cancer cells. It is but normal to be scared and anxious especially for first timers.

When your cancer is for real

With chemotherapy as a treatment, you finally realize that you have cancer and it is for real. This is when chemotherapy fears start and it is important to know how to deal with it.

For the first phase of a chemo treatment, no symptoms might be felt and the patient shall question himself if he made the right decision to go chemo or not. That the benefits of treatment are far better than the side effects. Diabetes patients who have undergone health dilemma most likely already know how to deal with this. If they can submit to their doctors fast, the faster diabetes and chemotherapy fears can be discarded.

Specify your fears

Doctors recommend patients to identify their fears. Specify which one are you afraid of. Is it the chemo itself or its diabetes side effects? Chemotherapy fears can be fear of losing hair. Or of changing appearance. Or of dying.

Are you afraid of nausea? Of fatigue? Or of pain? Or are you simply afraid of staying in a clinic or hospital. The more specific the fear, the more specific is the help. For cancer patients, there exists more cancer support groups than diabetes support groups. Some diabetics who develop cancer know how to deal with the ailment faster than they had with diabetes. So, diabetes and chemotherapy can come in handy too.

The doctor can help you mostly. For example, if you are afraid of the needles or of the IV put in your arm or hand, your doctor will see to it that you get a local anesthetic to numb the area or you get a sedative.

A support group can be very helpful. It can make the chemo experience normal. They can help get rid of your chemotherapy fears and how to deal with it throughout the treatment and make action plans to move on normally.

Other techniques

To know more on how to deal with diabetes and cancer, there are some techniques that help rid diabetes and chemotherapy fears. Examples of which are prayer, guided imagery, aromatherapy, massage, meditation, hypnosis, journaling, music therapy, support groups, yoga and tai chi.

Love of self, family and friends

It is significant for a patient to have a good family foundation to feel his self-worth. The love the patient has for his family and close friends can make him fight for his cancer not only for his own sake but for the sake of those whom he loves. Then chemotherapy fears and how to deal with the treatment can be just any

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