The One in Which I Wonder What It Takes to Make Big Changes

This morning, I am up early and headed over to the hospital for my bi-monthly MRI. I can't believe it's been two months already since my last one. And I certainly can't think of anything in my "pre-cancer" life that even comes close to analogous to the feeling I have awaiting these scans.

This will be 2nd MRI, post-initial treatment (radiation & chemo) and ...Western/Traditional Medicine is limited in what it can and cannot do with respect to brain cancer right now. February 28th was Rare Disease Day, and brain cancer falls under that category. Take a look at this graphic for some statistics. There are 120 different types of brain tumors! And only 4 treatments approved by the FDA right now!

In a way, that made it "easy"  - we were told what the course of treatment would be and set up a schedule...and I showed up and did what was required. It was all about the body - more specifically, the brain and the site of the tumor.  Basically, from the doctors' perspective, I've two courses of chemo since the last MRI - 5 days on/23 days off. That's what the doctors had/have control over.

It's natural that Steven and I asked ourselves, "What do we have control over?"  - Right?
We began to look more and more about what Long Term Survivors were/are doing and research that, too. Now, that the initial treatment is over, it's gotten even more complicated. I feel a huge responsibility to "do the right thing"...when The Right Thing isn't at all clear!  So, Steven and I are working as hard as we can to learn all that we can about what is "out there". This includes the limited modern medicine approaches, as well as cutting edge clinical trials - which is changing all the time. But it's also lead us down this road called "Integrative Health" - a mishmash of Eastern medicine, nutritional knowledge and supplements, meditation, yoga, ... - things that address not just the body, but what I call the "trifecta" - Body, Mind, and Spirit.

Sometimes, you will see "Heart" separated, but I combine Spirit & Heart together.

This is definitely new territory for me! Especially as a Type A/Pragmatist like myself. I want evidence....scientific evidence that these things work. But there is so little "official" work being done in this area that the proof is largely anectdotal. So, we've begun to approach this in a different way:
1) Will doing _______ interfere with the other things that we are already doing (Doctors' Orders)?
2) Will doing _______ decrease our quality of life?
3) Can we afford it?
4) Does it make sense?

If the answer is NO to these questions, it's off the table. Otherwise...we've adopted a "Why not?" philosophy. This Type A/Pragmatist is just taking leaps of faith all over the place. Hey, when YOU have a disease that's nickname is "The Terminator", you can argue with me and tell me what a fool I am. In the meantime, as Gracie would say,  "Worry 'bout Yourself!"

So, I've been thinking a lot lately about the changes - large and small - that we've made in our lives as a result of these decisions. And wondering how far anyone would have to be "pushed" to make these same changes. And I really don't mean this to sound judgy or dickish.  - I'm asking myself legitimately, what would/does it take for an individual to give up foods that they really love? Or eat/drink things that they don't prefer at all? Would it have to be a medical diagnosis that would be cured by the change? Or a *chance* that you might add a week or a month or year to your life? If you were told you could never have refined sugar again, but it MIGHT mean you could live an extra month, would you do it?

I know these are wild, hypothetical questions that are probably impossible for any of you answer.  And I'm not judging or bitter. I'm more curious than anything. We all know that a diet consisting of mostly fruits and veggies, lean proteins, and whole grains is healthier. That's not from the Crazy Town Gazette. But what does it take to commit to that? I know my answer - it's staring me right in the face.

But for many of you, it's not. I'm curious. What does it take to make big life changes? If you have an answer, leave a comment here, shoot me an email or a text...

or you can just tell me to "Worry 'bout myself!"

That's fine, too. Off to my MRI!