100 Perks of Having Cancer: Plus 100 Health Tips for Surviving It (87 page)

value.’’ So says Dr. William Frey, a professor at the University of Minnesota

who actually wrote an entire book on the subject entitled
Crying: The Mystery

of Tears.
“I have suggested that we may feel better after crying because we

are literally crying it out,” he writes.

Other animals have tears that only lubricate the eye, but humans are

the only mammals on the planet to shed these “emotional tears.”

Why are you holding back?

Many people fight tears because they think that crying makes them appear

weak, especially men or women that hate stereotypes of crying women like

myself. Others don’t want to cry in front of their kids or loved ones so as not

to make them “feel bad” or worry. But crying brings on empathy and support

from loved ones and actually brings people closer to each other, and it also

teaches kids the important lesson that it’s really okay to cry.

Science says you will feel better after a good cry. Between 6 and 8 PM is

the most common time for emotional crying. But you can do it anytime

you want. If you’ve been holding back your tears for the right time . . . how

about now?

Perk #87

Cancer Gave Me a Cause

I
t’s not like I didn’t have plenty of “causes” to choose from before getting

cancer. Between grappling with anxiety for much of my life, being a single

parent, and having a child with autism, I have enough causes to write my

own
Chicken Soup for the Soul
book (I will call it
Chicken Soup for the Chicken’s

Soul
). I am not the type to take things lying down, and each challenge in

life has kicked me into action. For example, to help me be a better autism

mom, I have become a self-made expert in the area of autism (really, ask

me anything). I have also read hundreds of self-help books to help me better

cope with my anxiety issues.

However, cancer is the one thing in my life that motivated me to action

to help
other people,
and therefore I consider it to be my cause. Before you

block me from Facebook or change your phone number, I assure you I will

not come to you looking for money to support my cause (well, hardly ever).

You see, my cause is not to raise money or even to help find a cure for cancer,

but rather to help others affected by this disease to realize the benefits of

adopting a survivor’s attitude (which combines a positive attitude with pos-

itive action).

My cancer journey has not been an easy one. Over the course of about

a year, I endured countless tests and procedures, three surgeries resulting in

the loss of my left breast and associated lymph nodes, six rounds of

chemotherapy, and twenty-five radiation treatments. However, in that same

year, I met my soul mate and fell in love, I started blogging, I fulfilled a life-

long dream of being published, and I started a new business venture. The

moral of the story is this: just because you have cancer does not mean that

you have to lie down and die.

In the book
Full Catastrophe Living,
bestselling author Jon Kabat-Zinn

says, “As long as you are breathing there is more right with you than there

is wrong, no matter how ill or how hopeless you may feel.”

That is so true! Think of all the things your body has to do to allow you

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100 Perks of Having Cancer

to just sit there and read this book: Your heart is beating, your organs are

functioning, your cells are reproducing, your toenails are growing, and you

are breathing. That’s not even to mention the complex mental processes that

are happening to allow you to read and understand these words. Even if

you do have cancer, there is a lot more right with your body at this moment

than there is wrong. So as long as there is breath left in you, why not make

the most of every moment!

Don’t let cancer put your dreams on hold.

Live every day to its fullest.

HEALTH TIP #87

The Importance of Dreaming . . . and Sleeping

“I
’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

Well, that may be sooner than you think if you don’t get enough quality

sleep according to the latest research.

A 2011 study involving 50,000 adults followed over eleven years showed

a 45 percent increase in heart attacks among those who reported they suffer

from insomnia. That’s huge. But not surprising considering other research

that has come before it.

Poor sleeping habits are linked to:

●
High blood pressure:
A 2011 study out of Harvard linked poor sleep with an

83 percent increased risk of developing high blood pressure in older adults.

One possible factor is that when you sleep, your blood pressure drops, but in

poor sleepers that never happens. Over time, it takes a toll on your system.

●
Obesity:
Lack of sleep causes hormone changes, which lead to a slowed

metabolism, which leaves you burning less calories and making poor

food choices when you’re awake. Poor sleep habits were also linked to

making poor diet choices when you’re awake.

Perk #87: Cancer Gave Me a Cause

369

●
Depression/anxiety/mood changes:
During sleep the brain releases chem-

icals that regulate mood. Insomnia is often a precurser to depression and

it has been found that if the insomnia is cured, the depression will be too.

●
Poor memory:
During sleep, our memories are “consolidated.” You take

what you have learned and seen that day, and convert it to a “hard copy”

in your brain to retrieve later if you need it. Disrupted sleep does not

allow for this conversion.

●
Diabetes:
Sleep apnea, a condition where sleep is disrupted by an inabil-

ity to breathe properly, causes a lower sensitivity to insulin, the hormone

responsible for regulating blood sugar. A University of Chicago study

showed a “robust association” between (ob structive) sleep apnea and

insulin resistance, glucose intolerance and the risk of type 2 diabetes,
inde-

pendent
of obesity.

●
Impaired immunity:
(Hint: Your red flag should

be flying with this one since your immune func-

tion is related to your risk of cancer.) During

sleep your body releases cytokines that aid in

fighting infection. Poor sleep habits reduce the

production of these proteins so they are not

available when your body needs them. This leads

to increased susceptibility to bugs and more sick-

ness. This was actually measured in adults receiving

the flu vaccine. Those with insomnia did not

produce the level of antibodies (flu fighters)

from the vaccine that the good sleepers did.

●
Cancer:
Here’s a kicker: A 2012 study looking at 412 postmenopausal

breast cancer patients showed a definitive link between lack of sleep and

more aggressive tumors and recurrence. The study demonstrated that

those who reported getting an average of six hours of sleep/night or less

developed more aggressive tumors with a greater rate of cancer recurrence.

There was no risk difference in premenopausal women, suggesting there

is a different underlying process to breast cancer when estrogen is

involved. This was the first study of its kind, so more research is needed.

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100 Perks of Having Cancer

It is obvious from the list that “poor sleep habits” go hand in hand with

an “unhealthy body.” Insomnia has become more common today because