Friends and cancer

When fighting cancer, the support of friends is as important as the love of close family

It’s not stress that pushes a cancer to grow faster: it’s the feeling of helplessness that we sometimes develop when we’re facing stress. This is accompanied by abnormalities in cortisol, which when they persist can prevent the immune system from doing its work, and increase inflammation in the body. The best defense against the feeling of helplessness is to find support from people around you. 

David Servan Schreiber

I am so utterly grateful for the emails, calls, cards, presents, offers of help, visits, kind words, hugs and everything that has come pouring out of my friends (and some strangers) in floods.  You have no idea how much it means that you are bothering to read my blog, that you are keeping in touch with me in different ways.  Every day there are emails and texts or cards or blog comments or messages from people thinking about me and it cheers and bolsters me in a way that nothing else could do.

We should all do this for each other whether we are ill or not.  Go on, send a message to a friend saying that you are thinking about them right now.  Go on, do it, it's good for their health!

Thank you.  We will have a party when this is all done.