Mesothelioma and empowerment – does one preclude the other? That’s what I was discussing last week with a friend’s husband, a psychiatrist in Colorado. We were talking about the way in which complementary therapies, such as yoga, tai chi or meditation, may help cancer patients feel as though they are doing something to take charge of their own lives, to improve their mesothelioma quality of life. That sent me off through the Web searching out more information about cancer and opportunities for empowerment.
I found a post by Mike Marqusee, a journalist with The Guardian, which included this observation: “Many cancer patients find themselves involved in a long and taxing struggle for autonomy – a rarely acknowledged reality of the war on cancer, in which the generals call the shots from afar.” Marqusee himself has multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow. He knows what he’s talking about.
Autonomy, Empowerment and Mesothelioma Quality of Life
As mesothelioma lawyers, we’re focused on a case strategy for our clients. We want to meet with you and your family to learn how you were exposed to asbestos. We help you assemble the information you need to file the necessary papers in court to ensure that you and your loved ones are provided for. We arrange for your sworn testimony as soon as possible to make certain that the jury hears you telling your story in your own words. It’s a rush of activity to do what’s best for you.
But as far as “generals from afar” calling the shots are concerned, your lawyers can’t compare with your mesothelioma doctors. Driven by the desire to provide you with the best possible medical care, your cancer team barrages you constantly with one order after another: Go here for testing, they say. Report there for surgery. Take these pills. Show up for chemotherapy infusions at the appointed time and place. Fit your former routine in the margins, if you’re able, but for now, do as we say. We know what’s best, your doctors tell you.
It can leave a person feeling nothing but a cog in his own life. Before the mesothelioma diagnosis, you were the captain of your ship. You went to work, or you just went fishing. You played with your grandkids, or you built something out in your garage. You took your turn as usher on Sunday at Church, or you sat in the recliner with the paper and your favorite football team on television. Now, you go where the doctors tell you to or you fill out the paperwork your lawyers ask you to. What in tarnation happened to your autonomy – to the sense of empowerment you used to take for granted?
It’s something that’s easy for everyone else to overlook. In the “battle” against mesothelioma, do you, the patient, have any way to serve?
And here’s where we circle back around to complementary therapies: yoga, meditation, tai chi – or a host of others we’ve discussed on the site. You can’t try your own lawsuit and you can’t provide your own cancer treatment. But you can make yourself feel better – relax, quiet your mind and get more sleep. You can begin taking charge of your own mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. To a large degree, you can control your mesothelioma quality of life. For many mesothelioma patients, complementary therapies provide a means of empowerment in the midst of living with a hideous disease.
Talk to your mesothelioma team about complementary therapies that may be available through your cancer clinic or other providers in your area.
The post Mesothelioma Quality of Life appeared first on Mesothelioma Help.
