How Blogging Can Help Cancer Patients Clarify Goals

Today, a guest post by Melanie Bowen:

How Blogging Can Help Cancer Patients Clarify Goals

When most people think of a cancer center, they think about surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments. The University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center and Pennsylvania Hospital in Center City offer all of those things, plus they offer workshops on writing. These cancer centers cite a 2007 study in “The Oncologist” showing that patients who write for 20 minutes per day feel measurably better.

A public/private journal in the form of a blog can help provide a support group, enabling family and friends to participate in the patients journey. A blog can also help patients to clarify goals or even write down and maintain a bucket list that they want to accomplish in life. Quality of life is a very important aspect and its never to late to start doing what you’ve always wanted to do little by little.

Psychologists warn patients to be careful about how they approach their goals, desires and lists. One type of goal-setting, known as conditional goal-setting (CGS), can actually contribute to depression, especially in someone diagnosed with a serious illness. With CGS, one’s happiness is conditional upon attaining certain goals. Sharon set high goals early in life, and by age 50, she had a lucrative career, a successful husband, a beautiful daughter and a large, luxurious home. Then it all fell apart. First, her daughter became addicted to drugs, which led to an expensive rehabilitation center. Then her husband’s business began to fail. As the final blow, she was diagnosed with stage IV bladder cancer, which had metastasized to her lungs, and given a doubtful prognosis. She was eventually forced to retire. Money was tight, and the family began looking at smaller houses. Had she been a conditional goal-setter, she would have become seriously depressed.

Instead, she looked at what was right with her life: a close-knit family, supportive friends and her faith. She began writing about her insights in a patient-support blog. In doing so, she discovered a new goal when people began telling her how her blog had changed their lives. She began taking speaking engagements to share her story and soon realized that writing a book was the top dream on her bucket list. She began being proactive about her life, kept up with regular treatments, did things on her own to improve her treatments and sought out advice from others in similar situations to her own. Life has it’s obstacles, but that doesn’t suggest we stop--it only suggest we push harder and keep going!

A bucket list can also involve fitness and nutrition as well which can serve as motivation for wellness. However, to keep it from becoming just another broken resolution, patients should think about what activities bring them joy--how to turn fitness from being a task to fitness being fun. Take a walk and enjoy the scenery close to home, meet new neighbors and also write about your experiences. A small jog can lead you gradually working up to longer distances--and that analogy stand for any goals you set.

Do the things that really matter in life, and then catalog them as achievements! Inspire yourself.