A positive attitude to survive myeloma

A positive attitude has always been one of my aspirations.
“Success is a by product of a good attitude”.
During my myeloma illness and treatment a goal has been not to give in to self pity, negative thoughts or words. Continue doing what I normally do, to remain optimistic, to maintain a positive attitude.
At the beginning that became a challenge for me. After all myeloma is a cancer that has no cure, a reality that I had to work through. Myeloma had savaged me, I was a sick man. I could not change what had happened but I could influence the future.
Being an optimistic person, taking a proactive stance came natural. Consider the alternate; pessimism = negative (I won’t get better, the myeloma is killing me). Never would I allow myself to be dragged down into the bowels of negativity.
When I developed my “way forward” plan a goal was to create an environment that supported my positive attitude.
My self belief that I would recover to good health again was strong and fundamental. To look forward to a positive outcome, to get back to normal again.
“I will get better”.
“My myeloma will go away”.
“I am a survivor”.
My support team was made to feel welcome; looking after me was going to be a positive experience for them. I embraced them with my positive attitude. My role was to express gratitude, do my home work to be knowledgeable of my illness and the role of others, ask questions, listen, and give feedback. Take ownership of my illness.
Throughout the treatment and recovery process I needed to spend time to prepare and condition myself to be normal again. Maintain my hobbies and interests. Take time out from my illness to refresh my mind. To rejuvenate my positive attitude.
At the beginning of this posting I used the saying “Success is a by product of a good attitude”. Celebrating success is important to me. I grasped every opportunity. Good test results, a reduction in IgG, being able to sleep on my side, being able to shower myself. I used the celebration of success to reward my positive attitude.
“Little achievements, small steps in the long journey”.
A positive attitude helped me never lose my desire for life, my optimism, my dreams, my ability to face a challenge, my belief that I would achieve myeloma plateau stage.

Positive attitude: Expressing certainty in the way a person thinks or behaves, another tool that can be used to survive myeloma.