Tami Boehmer: I am going to give you three common attributes that people who had beaten the odds of a terminal diagnosis have shared:
They never give up! No matter what their prognosis, no matter whether their treatments failed, they were definitely people you would consider perseverant, and that goes for being proactive patients both on medical level: asking lots of questions, going to seek other opinions and/or on a holistic level where they are talking about lifestyle, diet, exercise, meditation, or prayer. It is all part of this, you know, that they are going to do whatever it takes to have a good outcome.
They give back to others! That’s something I found from talking to many of these that I call “miracle survivors.” They have, lot of them have, started their own organizations, some are just getting back in small ways by just being there for people who have a cancer diagnosis. By doing that, you are getting yourself outside yourself. You are giving back to others, giving purpose to your life, and for me it is almost like a way of making sense of having this disease. It’s like I feel, on a spiritual level, that the more I give the more I receive back and everyone I talk to shares this.
That they have a really good support system in place. Back with the family, there could be friends. It could be something online. I am on facebook all the time, I have an amazing community that I can share with, people I have never met, and there are online support groups that you can go to. There are just a lot of resources out there where people can provide financial assistance in addition to support, meals or transportation, so I encourage everyone to take advantage of that. You are not in this alone.
So, I have given you three common attributes of people who had beaten me odds. I believe if you try to follow what I found to be successful for others that you really could stack the deck in your favor.
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