Living things that depend upon us for survival give us a purpose and a feeling of being needed. Make it a point to set aside time every day for your own pleasure. This can be anything from a sport or playing cards or talking on the phone or going to a movie. The important thing is to break your normal routine just for the sake of doing something that gives you pleasure. The mere act of doing something exclusively for your own benefit is good therapy.
Outside support is essential to a cancer patient.
Talking your feelings over with someone allows you to feel them fully and helps release them. Stress management becomes crucial with the diagnosis of cancer. Exercise, relaxation, recreation and expression of feelings are ways to relieve stress. You cannot begin to deal with stress until you realize and admit that you are under stress. Until you reach that point, you will not successfully cope with it.