Cancer and HIGH stress

kristasplace

I did have a really bad time two days before my chemo pump was to be removed. I got urethra blockage from an accumulation of white blood cells and crystals caused by the radiation treatments, and could no longer pee. After some difficulty, they were able to put a catheter in, and the ER doctor came in to talk with me. He thought it was urinary retention due to my morphine, and other various drugs (that was several days before we found out it was actually from the radiation treatments). The doctor was very concerned about my cancer more than anything. He said he was concerned because he was the same age as me, and wanted to know how i could've gotten rectal cancer at this age (i'm 38). I told him i was certain i got it from a prolonged heavy dose of stress that was put on me during my nightmarish divorce. He didn't believe that at all. He said that many people live stressful lives, and don't get cancer. He is right about that. I tried to explain to him that the stress that caused my illness was anything but normal. During my separation, my ex moved back into the family home with me. There was nothing i could do about it, and could not move out myself. We were fighting bitterly over a settlement in court while fighting bitterly living together too. I had to deal with his trashy girlfriends coming in and out of my home, and not knowing whether i was going to end up on the streets or not at any given moment. I remember all the court incidents having a hair brained attorney that knew more about the molecular structure of toothpaste than she did about my case. The stress was so intense at one point i lost feeling in my legs for twenty minutes, and thought i had gone paralyzed. I think now it was a nervous breakdown. My nerves have never been the same since. That whole experience started five years ago, and lasted for two years.

Enter my diagnosis and staging...I've had cancer for three to five years, according to my surgeon. The same exact two years as that nightmare divorce. Everything came into focus at that moment. I was symptomatic for two years prior to my diagnosis. They were chronic, and only seemed to manifest in moments of stress. Any stress at that point would trigger severe abdominal pains, and an uncomfortable run to the bathroom. Sometimes i'd even get fevers and secondary infections. I know this may seem strange, and even unfathomable, but i have talked to others who believe high stress caused their cancer, and i have since read some studies on it. I am absolutely convinced, without any doubt whatsoever that it was stress that triggered my cancer. Whether or not i would've gotten it eventually due to genes, bad diet, or predisposition. I would like very much to hear from anyone else who believes their illness was caused by stress. I don't care how long your story is, i have nothing better to do, and i think this is a very interesting topic.

Oh, by the way, i got really sick with stress when we had to evacuate from the wildfires this past week. I had a surge of adrenaline trying to rescue all of our farm animals, and practically lifted a 400 lb donkey myself to get it into the trailer. The stress had me in agony for days afterwards, but i'm feeling better now. The fire flanked us on both sides, and some of our neighbors lost their homes, but all we got was some soot and smoke damage. Nothing that can't be fixed. My heart goes out to those who lost their homes.

Many hugs,
Krista

KathiM

Absolutely. Missed mine for about 3 years, they think...

I was caring for 2 special needs kids (one also emotionally disturbed), was taken to court, my beau had heart trouble, my mom had cancer...yup...there's a link....

I try very hard now to keep a good attitude, so I don't face the beast yet again (for the third time). Studies HAVE been done that link the compromised immune system to all sorts of cancers, and stress is the leading cause of the compromise....

Hugs, kathi

KathiM

KathiM said:

Absolutely. Missed mine for about 3 years, they think...

I was caring for 2 special needs kids (one also emotionally disturbed), was taken to court, my beau had heart trouble, my mom had cancer...yup...there's a link....

I try very hard now to keep a good attitude, so I don't face the beast yet again (for the third time). Studies HAVE been done that link the compromised immune system to all sorts of cancers, and stress is the leading cause of the compromise....

Hugs, kathi

My solution? Go dance on a bar with very dear friends! And put YOURSELF on the top of your 'care for' list...ALWAYS!!!

Hugs, Kathi

"Some people stand and watch their life go by, others dance on bars...."

MoonDragon

I had a doctor say to me after hearing about my childhood (I was 33 the first time around and had ignored the bleeding for 7 years) "What exactly did you expect your body to do with that kind of emotional abuse and pain, it had to go somewhere and quite often it goes into cancer. I'm now doing my second battle and it was nasty and aggressive after just a year of severe stress. That's one area of my life that I know needs to be controlled if I'm to win....and I will!!!!

3cbrca

It's funny how differently we all look at cancer. My sister told me I have it because I don't go to church! I've had a few tragedies befall me since I was diagnosed. I'm just learning how to deal with the stress of having cancer...

I was diagnosed 4 years ago with colon and last year with Breast. When I was diagnosed with colon cancer I had some stress in my life but I was at a point in my life where I never felt better about me - more spiritually and emotionally grounded than ever. I got through the cancer thought I got it early and was on my way. Three years later, feeling good and taking lessons learned from the colon cancer- I told a friend about how excited I was for the second half of my life- a month later I was diagnosed with Breast cancer at a much later stage than the colon.

I don't know why I got it and don't think I ever will know. I know that stress reduces my resistance to infections and maybe it does cause cancer - I guess I wonder more about where I'm going next than how I got here.

kristasplace

MoonDragon said:

I had a doctor say to me after hearing about my childhood (I was 33 the first time around and had ignored the bleeding for 7 years) "What exactly did you expect your body to do with that kind of emotional abuse and pain, it had to go somewhere and quite often it goes into cancer. I'm now doing my second battle and it was nasty and aggressive after just a year of severe stress. That's one area of my life that I know needs to be controlled if I'm to win....and I will!!!!

You had a very good doc, Moondragon! None of mine believe the stress issue, and it is an issue. I'm also struggling with the ability to deal with stress in a more positive way to fight this horrible monster. I'm getting more into ancient forms of medicine like Ayurveda and yoga. Maybe we should take Kathi's advise and go dance on a bar! Maybe at the next colonpalooza!

We will get through this!
Many hugs,
Krista

crazylady

Hi Krista,
I completely agree with you that stress can cause cancer. I believe that I was predisposed due to heredity, but that stess activated it. At the time of my diagnosis I had been in an abusive marriage for many years and was about to separate from my ex. I was a full time grad student and working part time in addition to raising 7 children. It was an extremely stressful time for me. I'm also a control freak and didn't feel like I had control over anything in my life.

Since then I have tried to destress my life and give up control over most things. Unfortunately nothing that I have done has stopped my cancer from recurring. I am determined to win and plan on living for many more years.

Take care,
Jamie

levensweg

I think stress plays a factor. I always had stress. I was diagnosed when I was 33.I think for me though, environmental factors played the biggest role, living in an industrial building as a poor starving artist combined with toxic construction materials as a carpenter and set builder. Out of about two dozen people living in this building, four of us had cancer i have learned at pretty much the same time. One just passed away from lung cancer last night in fact. He was under 50 years of age.

As my cancer advanced (unknown to me at the time), so did my stress. I deal with stress differently now. Sometimes I wonder if the cancer enabled stress or the other way around, or both. Maybe this sort of high stress emotion is a way the body communicating with the mind when something bad happens. I have no idea.

I have to admit that I hated it when someone would blurt out, you had all that stress and that probably caused it. Also when people stressed the importance of being positive. These things are sometimes hard for me to listen to because I feel like I'm listening to someone who feels that they themselves are elevated to a level where cancer cannot harm them. Life is stressful sometimes, it's engaging. Hiroshima, Dresden, Bagdad.... oh those people know stress. Life isn't always positive either.

So now when I don't feel positive, I simply move forward. When I have stress, I'm going to, I'm going to dance on bars. That's the best advice yet and I'm taking that one to heart.

-Reuben

rmap59

Hi,
I agree with the stress factor. I believe in my case that I had the cancer before the stress. The stress of 2 close family members deaths 8 months apart, and the big stressor, my son on drugs and so out of his head he ended up in a mental hospital at 18 years old aggravated the cancer and the symptoms started showing up which I believe was all in God's plan. We live in a very stressful world and cancer is on the rise, go figure that??

Have Faith, Robin

vinny3

There is no question that stress plays a part in the development of illness. Many studies have shown the detrimental effects of stress on the immune system. There are other factors as well, genetics, diet, etc, so that some people under high stress may not develop the problem while others who may not have high stress can still develop things like cancer. It is not an absolute protection but if one can reduce the stress he/she is under the risk for the serious illnesses like cancer is reduced. In my case I think not getting adequate sleep and poor diet were major factors in the development of my cancer.

****