Fighting cancer is a daunting experience. From countless surgeries to recurring doctor’s appointments, the path to healing is ironically spirit breaking. Unless you are a Sagittarius through and through, like our resilient author, Perry Muse, it is understandable that your will to fight the disease can falter.
According to cancer.org, about 9,000 young adults die from fatal diseases each year. This death toll is an epidemic that poses a major threat to our future generations.
Let’s delve into why and how one can overcome it.
The Mental Battle
Perry Muse's memoir, Morbid Thoughts And The Domino Effect, emphasizes not only the physical but mental battles when fighting cancer.
As ironic as it is, in some cases, the treatment of cancer itself can be more mentally devastating than the disease itself.
Perry was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Even though it has a higher survival rate, the diagnosis alone can be devastating – especially if you’re a young man.
A major part of Perry’s treatment was Lupron, a drug responsible for blocking testosterone in your body, which feeds prostate cancer.
Sexual dysfunction can be a major cause of depression for a man whose entire life is ahead of them.
Furthermore, one of the most common treatments for cancer, chemotherapy, can lead to hair loss which can deal a blow to a man’s self-esteem.
Depression is constantly on the rise among Americans, usually due to hormonal changes affecting mood.
Top that with the thought of having a terminal illness, and you’re looking at rows of dominos stacked against you and your fate to succeed.
Here are some steps you can take as a teenager to counter the anxiety that comes with cancer.
Stepping Over Dominos
- Keep the right people close
You’re bound to encounter all kinds of people when going through adolescence. People who will not quite know the right things to stay when they’re going through cancer.
Your choices today will dictate what your future looks like tomorrow.
Your first priority is surrounding yourself with positive people, and friends who want nothing but the best for you.
Perry Muse surrounded himself with family.
- Therapy
As a young adult, people will try to advise you in all sorts of ways. Perhaps a different medicine, empty reassurance and tips to help you get by. The gesture may be in good spirits, but can lead you astray from your path to healing.
It is better to listen to a professional who can monitor your mental health and help you harness it. Perry’s dog Sebastian was his mental catharsis during the morbid time as he pet away his thoughts of anxiety.
- Your happiness
Therapy can be expensive, but need not worry. Everyone has their own way to catharsis through the morbidities that cancer brings forth. There are plenty of other ways you can channel your intrusive thoughts out of your mind. Find something that genuinely makes you happy and use it to facilitate your escape.
They say a book can be your best friend… Morbid Thoughts and the Domino Effect is a way to have the bright and positive Perry Muse as a companion through your journey through cancer. A book that is lighthearted in its delivery, you’ll find yourself charmed by Perry’s contagious zest for life.
There’s still a long way to go!
Click on the link to buy his book now!
