An Attitude Pill?

In all my years studying psychology I’ve read LOTS on the subject of optimism, gratitude and happiness in relation to overall health (that mind/body connection that we hear about so often).  It has been VERY interesting being a “mental health” person here in the hospital where everything is completely dominated by the “medical model” of thinking about health.  I’ve actually had some amazing conversations with my team (esp. my awesome nurses) about my attitude about this whole situation.  It honestly amazes me that there hasn’t been a single visit from a social worker or psychologist while I’ve been on the oncology unit. I think it’s a sad oversight on their part because it is SO important to treat the “whole person” and not just the disease.  Luckily I have an incredible support system in place, in addition to an amazing treatment team here at the hospital.

You can’t bottle or get a good/positive attitude in pill form, yet it has been proven time & time again to be SO important in our overall health!  This is one of the main reasons that I’m determined to stay positive.  I think I’m naturally an optimistic person but there is always room for us to chose how we are going to react when life deals us a crummy hand.  At this point in time, my choice is to remain positive.  It would be easy to choose to be angry or sad but that’s not me.  Don’t get me wrong…I’ve had my fair share of mini-pity parties and “big ol’ ugly cries” in the past week, but I don’t want them to last long because I don’t want to spend my time being miserable.  Instead, I am choosing to stay positive and remain optimistic.  This is an opportunity for me to learn to give over my need/desire to control everything (and I do admit, I’m a serious control freak) and learn to tolerate uncertainty.  This is also an opportunity for me to practice many of the things that I’ve worked with clients on before and I’ve been particularly focused on practicing mindfulness and being in the moment.

 

All that being said, my husband and coworkers will still laugh knowing that I’m making my checklists (I am a checklist queen!)  There is something so rewarding about being able to check things off my “to list”.  Right now my checklists are more ‘short-term’ and this morning when I woke up I was able to check of chemo infusion #4 J   Both IV chemo infusions yesterday went well.  John was able to be in the room with me for the dose of chemo they put in my spinal fluid (wasn’t bad at all).  Today is Day 3 and I’m ready.  Bring it on!  Looking forward to visiting with my mom today before she heads back to California for the weekend.  I am still not a fan of sitting in bed and “looking” like a patient, so I spend a lot of my time sitting up in the chair by the window in my room, walking laps in the unit (I picture myself as Lightning McQueen as I “zoom” around the unit J), and keeping in touch with everyone via this blog, emails, texts, facebook and phone calls. 

- Chellie