When someone has CML or any other type of cancer, then they also have a certain amount of depression as well. Some more then others but it is just an emotion that we as humans all share when we are ill. It doesn't necessarily have to be from the Gleevec or any other type of TKI's, but the fact that we have cancer.
I don't take any TKI's because I had a bone marrow transplant about 23 years ago this coming May. In all of this time I have learned there are several kinds of emotions that we go through when we have cancer. The first is disbelief, then we go through, let me get another opinion because this can't be happening to me. Most, but not all go through, why is GOD punising me. Then some sort of acceptance, but hope that they will get up the next morning and find that it was all a big mistake. Then finally once they realize that they in fact do have cancer, they go into a depression. Now this may not necessarily happen in this order, but for the most part, all or most of these emotions are just our way of trying to deal with this. Your mind is a powerful "tool" and the way you use it can make a big difference. I always say that your mind can try to help your body. I'm not saying that having a good outlook on life will be able to cure you of this or any other disease but your mind can work in ways that can help you. If you are depressed most of the time your body will react as if your disease is just eating away at you. If your attitude is such that you feel good about yourself in spite of what you may be going through then you will become less depressed, and maybe not even feeling any depression at all. Believe me I know all about this, When I had my bone marrow transplant I had to live in a six by nine plastic bubble in a hospital for just about seven months. However, I learned to control my depression and you can't imagin how much my mind helped my body heal in all of that time. Depression can really hurt you if you let it, while having less can actually help you. It has to deal with some hormones that are produced in your brain. One being Endorphine. If you know anything about marathon races when the runners are finished with their run they actually feel a natural high. This is because of the production of Endorphines in their brain. I knew the president of a group in New York City called the Road Runners. His name was Fred Lebow and he developed brain cancer. It was a very agressive cancer with a longevity of only a few months at best. Every time Fred received a radiation treatment he would go up to the roof of the hospital and run around it. Fred lived for about seven years, and when he died they found that all of his brain tumors were not even there anymore. They said that he died of all the radiation treatments. It is a sad story but it did show how someones attitude, and in Fred's case how he was able to sustain himself for so long. Everyone may be different but cancer doesn't care who you are, so in that sense we are all the same. I always end any of my posts with two numbers 18. I'm sure that you have already seen me do this. These two numbers symbolize life. 18's Marty -- [CMLHope] A support group of http://cmlhope.com ------------------------------------------------- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CMLHope" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/CMLHope
