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Dream/Cancer
Survey
5th Survey Results
If you have comments, please email me -Diana
Males: |
Females: | |
| 8% | 92% | |
| Occupations: | ||
| Artist (visual & writing) | = | 12% |
| At-home person | = | 8% |
| Clerical/Secretarial | = | 10% |
| Disabled and/or retired | = | 4% |
| Law enforcement | = | 4% |
| Management | = | 10% |
| Medical Field (Nurses, Physicians, X-Ray Tech | = | 23% |
| Self-employed | = | 2% |
| Student | = | 2% |
| Teaching field | = | 12% |
| White collar | = | 13% |
In my opinion, the above figures are more reflective of respondents with computer knowledge and access to a computer, rather than their positions at time of cancer. If you have an opinion or comments, please email me. - Diana
Where do you live?
Suburb
= 44%
Urban
= 30%
Rural
= 27%
| Ages | Percent | |
| 50+ | = | 36% |
| 40 - 49 | = | 14% |
| 30 - 39 | = | 30% |
| 20 - 29 | = | 16% |
| 13 - 19 | = | 2% |
| does not state | = | 2% |
| Kind of cancer: | ||
| Breast cancer | = | 66% |
| Cervical | = | 10% |
| Lung & lymph | = | 6% |
| Non-hodgkins | = | 8% |
| Bladder | = | 6% |
| Oral | = | 2% |
| Myeloma | = | 2% |
| ** Gestational trophoblastic tumor (for definition, go to end of survey) | = | 1 person |
| How do you view dreams? | ||
| Subconscious | = | 83% |
| ESP | = | 30% |
| Foretelling future | = | 19% |
| A way of dealing with reality | = | 69% |
| Write down dreams | = | 16% |
| Remember dreams | = | 75% |
| Discuss dreams with others | = | 92% |
| Treatment | ||
| chemo | = | 75% |
| surgery | = | 83% |
| radiation | = | 66% |
| psychotherapy | = | 42% |
| hypnotherapy | = | 30% |
| counseling | = | 40% |
| support group | = | 83% |
| religious belief | = | 69% |
| yourself | = | 75% |
| other: lots of exercise; work with dreams; herbs, supplements; visualization; great family support; psychic |
||
Do you or did you use dreams and/or visualization as treatment to deal with cancer?
73% said Yes
[Actual visualizations follow at end of this survey. For dreams, click here.]
63% state their dreams have changed since having cancer.
75% state they have changed since having cancer.
| How Your Life Has Changed Since Having Cancer | |||
| Improved | Worsened | No Change | |
| Career | 44% | 24% | 32% |
| Self-image | 77% | 19% | 10% |
| Relationships | 79% | 2% | 13% |
| Spiritual | 84% | 6% | 10% |
| Your reactions to Life | 90% | 2% | 8% |
| Your reaction to: | |||
| Spouse/Significant Other | 50% | 14% | 36% |
| Parent(s) | 42% | 12% | 46% |
| Children | 60% | 6% | 34% |
| Siblings | 54% | 4% | 42% |
[I just had to make certain percentages in blue because I find these statistics astonishing and
encouraging. - Diana]
| As a result of discussing, remembering and/or writing down your dreams | Yes | No | |
| Are you better able to cope while dreaming? | 52% | 48% | |
| Are you better able to cope with stress when awake? | 63% | 37% | |
| Have your dreams changed the way you react when awake? | 73% | 27% | |
Following is the advice of those who are where you are:
1. Stay in today and face each problem only when it occurs, but do your research and be prepared. Be your own best advocate. Don't let others define you. Be good to yourself and rest when you need to. Stop pushing so hard for unnecessary goals. Re-evaluate your priorities. Don't put off the things you really want to do or achieve. Find your true friends and supporters and get rid of those who aren't there for you or pull you down. Live fully each day, each minute. Relax more. Allow yourself to have fun and do more of the things that bring you pleasure. Talk openly with those who mean the most to you. Trust your medical team. If you can't, find ones you can and don't hesitate to switch. Keep involved medically, socially and emotionally. Be comfortable. Don't try to 'tuff' it out. Seek assistance/medicines you need to have quality of life. - Doris
2. Trust yourself. Your body is wise and knows what it needs. If your doctor will not respect your opinion or attitude, get a different doctor. Do what works for your, not necessarily what worked for Aunt Jane, sister Susie or Father Frank. Remember that no one has all the answers. There are changes in technologies happening all of the time. Read, read, read. But if you start to get confused (there is a lot of conflicting stuff out there), stop reading, go for a walk, don't read again until you feel ready.
Do what you enjoy. Be off of work if you can. Nature is amazing in its gifts of beauty, smells, sounds. Take in some of it every day. Journal, if you are so inclined. Talk to God or talk out loud. You'll be amazed at what comes out and gets clarified. Also talk to people who have been through it - to get a sense (not a comparison) of when hair may fall out, what MAY happen.
Focus on what is important in YOUR life. Be a little selfish some days, but hug a child, listen to a friend, visit the elderly. Be thankful. Send thank you notes for gifts, acts of kindness. Let others know you appreciate them. And don't forget this is a part of a journey, not the most fun part, but there for our learning. Do not listen to negative junk. No one knows who is going to die or when. They have no right to predict that stuff. Put into your mind that which you want to believe. Your body listens. Remember that you are a child of God - important for who you are - not your breast, not your hair, not your prostate, not your ability to have children - but for your wisdom, your humor, that look in your eye when you are up to mischief, your heart, your soul - YOU!
3. Cancer is not always a death sentence. Attitude plays a major role in how I have coped with my diagnosis. Establish a support system of friends, family and others who have been diagnosed. Express how you feel and what you think. It will help others around you understand a little better as to what you are experiencing. Cry when you need to, and believe your hearts are a cleansing of something inside of you.
Live for today, not what may or may not happen tomorrow, next month or 10 years from now. Keep working towards life. Set future goals and keep going after them the best you can.
4. I have found prayer and my faith in Jesus Christ to be my best weapon. God bless you for putting up this site to help others. Try www.peopleagainstcancer.com
5. One day at a time. Everything happens for a reason and you are loved and protected. Learn everything you can about the cancer so you can make the choices that are best for you. Talk to other people who have been through the same.
6. Try and get as close to nature as you can. This will center you with the universe.
7. You have to have the attitude that you have to do what you have to do. It isn't pleasant, especially chemotherapy. But supportive family and friends make all the difference. I saw friends I hadn't had much contact with for years. It seemed like people crawled out of the woodwork to comfort me. Accept this help and comfort. It not only helps the person with cancer, but it helps your family and friends to cope also.
8. Stay positive. Ask for and receive the help others really want to give. Set goals - weekly, monthly, etc. to keep going!
9. I needed to let others help me more and to accept what had happened to me earlier. I felt that it had messed up my life and I needed to get my life back in order. I was the giver, not the taker. This can be hard on the body and the mind. Try to express how you feel. Join a support group.
10. Do not let fear dictate your life. Read. Join group0s. Do your own research in libraries and on the Internet. Your doctor does not know everything. Many physicians are grateful for the questions and information we bring to them.
Smell the flowers!! If you've always smelled the flowers anyway - just do it even more now.
Tell your friends often that you love them.
11. Please see my web page at http://www.lynnz.com I have been cancer free since May of 1998. I used my dreams and paintings as a central part of my cancer recovery. The web site is dedicated to this series of work. The dream stories and paintings are there.
**Gestational trophoblastic tumor, a rare cancer in women, is a disease in which cancer (malignant) cells grow in the tissues that are formed following conception (the joining of sperm and egg). Gestational trophoblastic tumors start inside the uterus, the hollow, muscular, pear-shaped organ where a baby grows. This type of cancer occurs in women during the years when they are able to have children. There are two types of gestational trophoblastic tumors: hydatidiform mole and choriocarcinoma.
If a patient has a hydatidiform mole (also called a molar pregnancy), the sperm and egg cells have joined without the development of a baby in the uterus. Instead, the tissue that is formed resembles grape-like cysts. Hydatidiform mole does not spread outside of the uterus to other parts of the body.
If a patient has a choriocarcinoma, the tumor may have started from a hydatidiform mole or from tissue that remains in the uterus following an abortion or delivery of a baby. Choriocarcinoma can spread from the uterus to other parts of the body.