I recently read an article on how overwhelming it can be for people diagnosed with mesothelioma to deal with a poor prognosis when, on the one hand, you are fighting to improve your survival and, on the other hand, being forced to face your mortality.
The article goes on to refer to various studies which have demonstrated the power of the mind-body connection where positive thinking results in an improvement to a patient's health. According to a landmark study in 2007 by the Institute of Medicine, social and emotional support are just as important as medical care in the face of a cancer diagnosis.
I'm not surprised by the findings of these studies, just surprised that it takes a "landmark study" to discover what any one diagnosed with mesothelioma will tell you from experience - whether it's Graham Sherlock-Brown's PETAL philosophy, the Meso Warriors support group on Facebook, people like me who write blogs to raise awareness or major organisations like Mesothelioma UK, Macmillan or the ADAO whose approach is to look at whole person, not just the disease.
So today's blog is an opportunity to say thank you to all those who help us and each other by trying to stay positive and providing social and emotional support whenever and wherever they can. It is also dedicated to all those who are in special need of such support at this time, in particular Jan and Ronny who are both going through personal battles at present in their long term wars on mesothelioma.
The article goes on to refer to various studies which have demonstrated the power of the mind-body connection where positive thinking results in an improvement to a patient's health. According to a landmark study in 2007 by the Institute of Medicine, social and emotional support are just as important as medical care in the face of a cancer diagnosis.
I'm not surprised by the findings of these studies, just surprised that it takes a "landmark study" to discover what any one diagnosed with mesothelioma will tell you from experience - whether it's Graham Sherlock-Brown's PETAL philosophy, the Meso Warriors support group on Facebook, people like me who write blogs to raise awareness or major organisations like Mesothelioma UK, Macmillan or the ADAO whose approach is to look at whole person, not just the disease.
So today's blog is an opportunity to say thank you to all those who help us and each other by trying to stay positive and providing social and emotional support whenever and wherever they can. It is also dedicated to all those who are in special need of such support at this time, in particular Jan and Ronny who are both going through personal battles at present in their long term wars on mesothelioma.
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