How to Get Over Your Lung Cancer Guilt

“我们知道，有一些饮食因素有助于与结肠癌相似的事情，但我们不指责那些患者是他们疾病的原因，”安东尼州博士解释道。“坦率地说，我只是认为这不公平，”Antonoff博士博士。

What's more, the stigma facing lung-cancer patients correlates with alower quality of life据加州大学旧金山大学的研究人员称，更多的抑郁症和焦虑。那就是reallynot fair. Keep reading to learn how to let go of guilt and focus on what really matters: your health.

当然，你可能已经熏制了，而这可能对你的疾病有贡献，但操作的词是“五月”。“有时导致我们疾病的因素与我们无法帮助的事情有关，我们无法帮助全面环境暴露，先天性问题，家庭问题，甚至运气，”安东尼博士说。“肺癌是多因素，我们不知道任何一个人究竟是什么导致他们的肿瘤细胞生长。”

So your particular lung cancer might have more to do with the chemicals you've been exposed to at work, for instance. And since you don't know for sure and neither does your oncologist, stop beating yourself up—and move on to the next item on this list.

由于没有人能确切地知道导致你的癌症是什么，所以是时候教育他们认为的人。当有人问你是否吸烟，回答，“是的，我做了。你为什么要问？'这使得提问者对防守，并让您控制对话，“纽约城南康纳米德拉康卡康卡康马拉德康涅狄格州的肺癌计划协调员Winfield Boerckel，这是一个支持患者及其家庭的国家非营利组织。

Boerckel says this strategy empowers you to do what’s next: Enlighten folks on the various ways people can get lung cancer. Case in point: Radon gas is the second-leading cause.

Dr. Antonoff tells her patients: "There's nothing we can do about the past. Let's focus our energy on what we can do moving forward." What does that mean for you? First, stop smoking (or don’t restart) so you lower the chances of developing another cancer or complications associated with treatment. Then...

Eat a healthy diet. In particular, get lots of protein to speed healing after surgery and maintain muscle mass during chemo and radiation, Dr. Antonoff advises. Another one of her recommendations:每天都在散步确保你尽可能强壮的治疗。

"The people who feel the guiltiest are often the ones who say, ‘I'm going to do everything I can now because I want to be around for my family.'" That guilt may not be warranted, but using it for something positive sure is.

Developing any cancer is isolating—but because of its stigma, lung cancer is a "deeper, smaller, tighter box," says Boerckel. Joining a support group puts you in contact with people going through the same thing, and can help you move on.

“耻辱留在门外，人们更感兴趣地了解癌症，治疗以及其他患者如何应对，”他说。与医院或肿瘤科学家联系在您附近的组，或转到Cancercare.org;他们有在线组以及IRL中的群体。

Your first priority is getting better. But once you do, you may want to think about joining some sort of advocacy group, like LUNGevity. You can lobby or fundraise for new treatments or research. Or simply get involved in a lung-cancer walk to raise money and awareness.

“这是类似于加入一个支持小组,虽然a little less formal,” says Boerckel. And your help is needed: Lung cancer is the leading cause of deaths by cancer for both men and women, but compared to, say, breast cancer, it’s inadequately funded, says Dr. Antonoff. That’s partly because many organizations that normally would get involved with a fundraiser shy away because of the stigma.

如果你的伴侣或孩子乞求你在过去停止吸烟，而且你没有，他们可能会生气或怨恨。根据加拿大飞行员的说法，您现在不需要立即不需要的紧张局势 - 以及可以引发抑郁症和抑郁症的可能性涉及八对夫妇并在期刊上发表的研究，Current Oncology. Better for family members to work through all their emotions by joining a caregivers group or going to counseling, says Boerckel. And better for you: The higher your sense of shame, the more alienated you'll feel from your partner at a time when you need the most support, researchers found.

当你有癌症时，几乎不可能阻止自己旋转各种最坏情况的场景。但这对你的压力水平（或睡眠！）不利​​。

两个策略有助于：有一个口头或短语，可以将你的重点带回今天，或者在你感觉最脆弱的地方时使用引导图像来进入安全的地方。“I worked with one fellow who’d snap a rubber band on his wrist," says Boerckel. "When I asked him whether that hurt, he said, ‘Yeah, but it's today's pain,’ and explained that it helped him work on the things that he had to do today." For meditation specifically geared with cancer patients, well, there’s an app for that: CancerCare’s Meditation.