Session 1 - Fear

You have been recently diagnosed and feel overwhelmed. You are unsure of so much - what does my stage mean, what is my prognosis, what treatment will I have and what side effects may I experience, and can I return to my life before cancer. Together we will look at ways to overcome fears - tapping into past successes, knowledge and information, spirituality and other things in your life to use.

 

Session 2 - Education

You will be inundated with a lot of information regarding your cancer and will probably have many questions that you want answered. Knowledge is empowering and being aware of what your journey will be like will help you focus and stay positive. In this session, we will look at finding resources to answer your questions like your medical team and online resources.

 

Session 3 - Self Advocacy

You will be dealing with a lot of changes - physical, mental and spiritual. You may be limited physically in what you can and can’t do. You may need to rely on others to help you. You may need help getting to appointments. You may need to tell your medical team if something isn’t right. It is imperative that you ask for what you need without feeling guilty or being a burden. During this session we will work on overcoming these issues and speaking up for yourself. By doing this you will remain in control of your day-to-day life.

 

Session 4 - Spirituality

It is very easy to get depressed and blame your higher power for coming down with cancer. You may be asking “Why Me?”. Going down this rabbit hole and allowing the depression to take hold and prevent you from thriving. For this topic, we will look at your faith and how it has helped you in the past. We will also talk about your regular spiritual practices and how to use them to stay in a good mindset.

 

Session 5 - Diet and Exercise

Health and wellness are big factors in your fight against cancer. Staying as strong as possible is necessary to stave off the effects of the cancer and surgery/treatments. Due to side effects you may be limited to what foods you can tolerate and how much exercise you can do. I will send you a quiz from the American Cancer Society to do before we meet to see what your eating habits are. I want you to keep your exercise habits in mind. We will incorporate instructions with your medical team to come up with a diet and exercise routine for you to follow.

 

Session 6 - Sleep and Rest

This is the second week of our focus on your health and wellness. You may feel fatigued from the disease and/or treatments. That is to be expected. Making time during the day to rest and following a regular sleep schedule will only help regain your strength to My fight. Like your diet and exercise, we will look at your current patterns and incorporate what your doctors say to develop a routine for you.

 

Session 7 - Dreams

We all have things we would like to do or accomplish in the future. Having cancer should not be something that stops you from following those dreams. It may only put them off temporarily. In this session we will discuss what dreams you have, what and how you can accomplish some of them during cancer and which ones to go after when your battle has been won.

 

Session 8 - Survivorship

You have come a long way since your diagnosis. You have overcome pain, anger, sadness, and other negative emotions. You have seen that nothing is impossible once you work past what is preventing you from thriving. You are at the other side of the bridge. Where would you like to go next? Has the experience changed you in some ways and how can you manifest that in some way? In our final session of this program, I will work with you to begin to write the next chapter of your life story!