{"id":458427,"date":"2026-10-06T22:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T22:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/458427\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T22:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T22:30:10","slug":"stage-4-lung-cancer-survivor-a-shift-in-perspective-helped-me-find-gratitude","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/458427\/","title":{"rendered":"Stage 4 lung cancer survivor: A shift in perspective helped me find gratitude"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve never been a smoker<\/a> and have always lived an extremely healthy lifestyle. So, when I was diagnosed with a rare<\/a> stage 4<\/a> lung cancer<\/a> a few months ago, I thought there must be some mistake.<\/p>\n

I spent a full month afterward in a state of disbelief. Sometimes, I\u2019d think, \u201cThis is ridiculous. They\u2019ve got the wrong person.\u201d Other days, I\u2019d think, \u201cOh, my God. This is really happening!\u201d It was a time of volatile emotions, fear and uncertainty.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure exactly when it happened, but around month two after my diagnosis, I had a complete change in perspective. Life became more precious and I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude. My senses were extremely heightened, and I started noticing the beauty in the world around me more than ever. It turns out there\u2019s a name for it: it\u2019s called existential deepening.<\/p>\n

The comment that helped me reframe my anger<\/p>\n

During the first month after my diagnosis, the word that could best describe how I felt was betrayal.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d focused on living a healthy lifestyle for my entire adult life. I prioritized eating well<\/a>, lifting weights<\/a>\u00a0and running, and kept my home as free of chemicals as I could. I didn\u2019t have a single symptom<\/a>, so my diagnosis didn\u2019t make any sense.<\/p>\n

I thought, \u201cDid any of my efforts even matter?\u201d It was all very surreal.<\/p>\n

My husband pointed out that while maintaining a healthy lifestyle might not have prevented this, it could make a difference now in how well I handled treatments and side effects.<\/p>\n

Healthy habits are making my side effects more manageable<\/p>\n

That was an excellent point. I take 84 pills a week as a part of the targeted therapy<\/a> clinical trial I joined at UT MD Anderson. You can\u2019t be on that many pills and not have some side effects<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But mine have been pretty minor and very manageable. Staying as healthy as possible has made all the difference. I believe if I hadn\u2019t, the fatigue<\/a> and brain fog<\/a> I\u2019ve been experiencing could\u2019ve been much worse.<\/p>\n

Finding new ways to enhance everyday activities<\/p>\n

My cancer diagnosis<\/a> has made me even more committed to taking good care of myself. I\u2019m focused on eating the best cancer-fighting foods<\/a> and moving daily<\/a>, sleeping well<\/a> and finding other ways to tap into the body, mind and soul connection<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dr. Eric Singhi<\/a>, my UT MD Anderson thoracic oncologist, encourages both mindfulness<\/a> and focusing on your personal well-being. I find that so refreshing.<\/p>\n

I always thought I understood what practicing \u201cmindfulness<\/a>\u201d meant. But looking back now, I don\u2019t think I did. It means becoming fully immersed in an activity with all of your senses \u2014 the smells, sights, sounds, textures, tastes and emotions happening all at once. When you are truly present in that way, your mind becomes quiet as you absorb the moment.<\/p>\n

It takes practice. And, if you are doing it correctly, you won\u2019t be able to think of anything else. That\u2019s how you know you\u2019re being mindful.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also found new ways to support my efforts at home. For example, I turned an unused room into a wellness retreat, complete with sauna, red light<\/a> and weights. I also use the outdoor TV on the patio more, by putting on a YouTube yoga class<\/a> and doing yoga by the pool. I never would\u2019ve done those things before.<\/p>\n

Appreciating the little things<\/p>\n

There are still some days that I have a breakdown. But most days, my tears are because of the beauty I see in the world. I\u2019m taking it all in. It usually lies in the simple things, such as an American flag waving in the wind, the antics of the squirrels in my yard, birds chirping early in the morning, talking to my friends, or hearing children laugh.<\/p>\n

All of my relationships have also gotten stronger, as we are all more focused on the time we have together. It\u2019s not uncommon to be aware of your mortality in your 50s, but a cancer diagnosis can certainly speed that up.<\/p>\n

While I can\u2019t say that I\u2019m thankful for cancer, I am thankful for the change in the perspective \u2014 and being able to live life now with both eyes wide open.<\/p>\n

Request an appointment at UT MD Anderson online<\/a> or call 1-877-632-6789.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve never been a smoker and have always lived an extremely healthy lifestyle. So, when I was diagnosed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1145,1147,1142,56,58,57,95337,75671,1148,2822,49546,156854],"class_list":["post-458427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-caregivers","tag-clinical-trials","tag-family-friends","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-lung-cancer","tag-patient-caregiver-stories","tag-patients","tag-survivors","tag-targeted-therapy","tag-thoracic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}