Yesterday I experienced a real moment of vulnerability. I learned that 2 young people (37 years old both) passed away from cancer. A mixed bag of emotions arose. Fear, sadness, confusion, overwhelm and at the same time feeling lucky. I was thinking how this illness still takes away lives of young, healthy people. And I […]
Author: Laurent Kreutz
You can find happiness and joy even when going through cancer.
Life is always 50/50, meaning 50% positive emotions and 50% negative emotions. This contrast is necessary in order to feel something and become aware of it. If we were happy all the time, we wouldn’t know what happiness is. We only know what happiness is because we can contrast it with sadness for example. Experiencing […]
Outcomes and living in the present moment.
Yesterday, I learned the news of someone passing away from cancer. She was 37 years old. I didn’t know her personally, but I know she made an impact on the lives of people I do know. It was through the Instagram feed of one of them that I learned the news. I was curious to […]
Changing diet and managing my emotions.
While going through medical treatment, doctors didn’t recommend changing my dietary habits. It surprised me. No specific recommendation during the treatment but also post-treatment. It was as if it didn’t have anything to do, no correlation whatsoever. I understand that it’s difficult to have clinical studies pinpoint exactly the impact of what you eat on […]
Cancer and relationships.
One strange phenomenon going through cancer is how relationships change. Whether it’s family, friends or colleagues, relationships take on a new dynamic as soon as the news is out there. I had cancer in me for several years before the diagnosis. So, it’s not cancer that changed the dynamic. It changed when others became aware […]
Today, I felt tired and fed-up. And that’s ok.
I spent my whole day at the hospital. I arrived at 8:30 am and the whirlwind of apointments, checkups, radios, ingestion of contrasting liquids, blood tests, etc. started again. With the same questions asked over and over again each time you meet a new nurse or MD. “First and last name?”. “Birthdate?”. “What medications are […]
Have cancer? Nothing needs fixing.
Being diagnosed with cancer is a terrifying moment. Our brain jumps into fight/flight mode immediately. Our focus is on the perceived danger. We lose perspective. Our mind races on how to get rid of the problem. And quickly jumps to the question: “What’s wrong with me?”. It’s the perfect moment when we start trying to […]
My cancer is over. My story about my cancer is not.
After my surgery a month ago, I’m officially cancer-free. My cancer is gone. It’s in the past and the past is over. It cannot affect me anymore. What affects me are my thoughts about my cancer, the story I choose to believe about it. I am having these thoughts in the present moment. What’s great […]
Pain is real. Suffering is optional.
I hear you coming. How can my cancer be neutral when I’m in so much pain? Going through cancer treatment, we experience pain on a regular basis: chemotherapy; radiation; surgery; blood tests; MRIs; CT or PET scans; needles; tubes; ripping band-aids; distasteful liquids… Our bodies go through a lot. We experience pain almost on a […]
Cancer is neutral.
Now that’s a provocative title. How can I say that cancer is neutral when the very word “cancer” creates so much fear? The answer lies in the question. The word creates the fear, not the condition. How do I know this? My cancer was developing in my body for years and yet I did not […]