| Home | Cancer News | Cancer Surveys & Survey Results | Search Website | Links | Women's Poetry |
Art Doorway | Children's Stories |
Dream/Cancer
Survey
6th Survey Results - 11/5/2000
Shirley Brown, RN, BSN, OCN, Cancer Program Manager at a hospital in California is interested in hearing from you about how dreams helped you deal with cancer and to recover. She is also interested in "Transition Dreaming" - what has your dream life been like as you healed physically, emotionally, spiritually? For those of you who included your email, I have passed on Ms. Brown's email address. If you wish to get in touch with Ms. Brown, you may also email me -Diana
Males: |
Females: | |
| 9% | 91% | |
| Occupations: | ||
| Artist (visual & writing) Is 2nd avocation/ career for several respondents | = | 18% |
| At-home person | = | 5% |
| Clerical/Secretarial | = | 8% |
| Retired | = | 4% |
| Law enforcement | = | 3% |
| Management | = | 10% |
| Medical Field [Nurses 25%, Doctors 3%, Spiritual Healers 3%] | = | 31% |
| Self-employed | = | 2% |
| Student | = | 2% |
| Teaching field | = | 13% |
| White collar | = | 16% |
Where do you live?
Suburb
= 43%
Urban
= 32%
Rural
= 25%
| Ages | Percent | |
| 50+ | = | 31% |
| 40 - 49 | = | 15% |
| 30 - 39 | = | 28% |
| 20 - 29 | = | 18% |
| 13 - 19 | = | 3% |
| does not state | = | 5% |
| Kind of cancer: | ||
| Breast cancer | = | 74% |
| Cervical | = | 7% |
| Esophagus | = | 1% |
| Lung & lymph | = | 3% |
| Hodgkin's Lymphoma | = | 1% |
| Non-Hodgkin's | = | 6% |
| Bladder | = | 4% |
| Oral | = | 1% |
| Myeloma | = | 2% |
| Gestational trophoblastic tumor (for definition, go to end of survey) | = | 1 person |
| How do you view dreams? | ||
| Subconscious | = | 79% |
| ESP | = | 29% |
| Foretelling future | = | 24% |
| A way of dealing with reality | = | 67% |
| Write down dreams | = | 19% |
| Remember dreams | = | 60% |
| Discuss dreams with others | = | 70% |
| Treatment | ||
| chemo | = | 58% |
| surgery | = | 61% |
| radiation | = | 51% |
| psychotherapy | = | 34% |
| hypnotherapy | = | 16% |
| counseling | = | 36% |
| support group/family/friends | = | 58% |
| religious belief | = | 48% |
| yourself | = | 60% |
| Other: | ||
| exercise | = | 3% |
| dreams/visualization | = | 12% |
| herbs/supplements | = | 14% |
| attitudinal change (eliminate stress) | = | 9% |
| psychic, soul retrieval, journeying | = | 6% |
| music | = | 3% |
| massage | = | 16% |
| osteopathy, interpretive touch therapy | = | 4% |
| How Your Life Has Changed Since Having Cancer | |||
| Improved | Worsened | No Change | |
| Career | 30% | 21% | 31% |
| Self-image | 54% | 21% | 10% |
| Relationships | 54% | 10% | 16% |
| Spiritual | 63% | 6% | 11% |
| Your reactions to Life | 66% | 6% | 6% |
| Your reaction to: | |||
| Spouse/Significant Other | 42% | 1% | 30% |
| Parent(s) | 33% | 0% | 30% |
| Children | 46% | 4% | 30% |
| Siblings | 39% | 4% | 30% |
| As a result of discussing, remembering and/or writing down your dreams | Yes | |
| Are you better able to cope while you are dreaming? | 47% | |
| Are you better able to cope with stress and problems when awake? | 53% | |
| Do you feel more connected to people when you are awake? | 41% | |
| Have your dreams changed the way you react to Life when awake? | 94% | |
Following is the best part of this survey - ADVICE from those who are where you are
1. Support network is the key. Talk about it. Cry a lot. It does get better. It doesn't mean you're going to die. It's a wake-up call to pay attention to things that need to change in your life. Stress is very dangerous. I had too much of it in my life and feel it was the cause of my malignancy. It represented so many things that needed to be fixed. -Lisa P.
2. Do it your own way. - Maria B.
3. Fill your days and nights with positive information and uplifting thoughts. Don't listen to negative stories. Know where you are going after this life! Grow closer to your heavenly Father. Rely on Him for guidance. - Pam M.
4. CARPE DIEM - Learn to live and enjoy the moment. Don't think about doing. Just DO it for better or worse. At least you are then LIVING. - Jacqueline H.
5. So far, imagining the worst and it doesn't happen brings a smile! Being very open with other people isn't easy, but the communication is worth it. Keep asking questions. Be good and kind to yourself. - Anne B.
6. No advice. Everyone has to find their own way. My healthy survival is intimately related to the creative process and my creative processes are directly linked to my dreams which tell me truths I cannot face in my awake living. Being in tune with my dreams has taught me to listen to the inner voices that provide me guidance on a daily basis, and on occasions when I need specific advice. Coping with cancer seems to be a lifelong process. I keep wondering if I will ever leave it behind me. There are so many ways that it is a permanent part of my life. I am a cancer survivor who had a weird disease that some say I could have wished away. That makes for a real cognitive dissonance that is difficult - almost more difficult than the cancer. I wear a prosthesis on and off. When off, I wonder - where are all of my sisters who also had breast cancer. I know there are a lot of them. Where are they? When the prosthesis is on, I just want to forget about it for a while and be normal, whatever that is. It is wonderful to find a kindred spirit here. Thanks. - Marilee F.
7. Cancer can be useful to bring about other changes in your life. Just as in a near fatal accident, it causes you to rethink your life and relationships. I found I promised myself I would do a lot of things I had always thought I would get around to "someday". I quit waiting for someday. And I did them. That is what brought about the good changes in my career and relationships. I did not find belly dancing until years later, but I still believe it has helped the psychological healing process for me. The worst part for me was, since I was 28 years old at the time, everyone told me it could NOT be cancer, and then it was. Also, since I was married, everyone kept saying that was good because I would not have any problems with self image. That was not true and it isolated me when my husband had trouble coping and thought about leaving me.
The best thought to keep is that you are still YOU and you do have some control in your life. I had to learn to let others help me and that I could not be completely independent, as I had always acted. I also learned to appreciate my friends and family and the love they showed to me. - Linda R.
8. I have been through many difficult experiences in the past two years, including having a baby, a divorce and cancer twice. Through it all I have tried to learn from these experiences. I have had a lot of support from family, friends and fellow teachers. People do treat you differently and sometimes I feel like cancer has consumed my life in more ways than just the physical. I have always been a person who tries to make the best of every situation, so I look at cancer as a life changing experience that can give me insight. This illness has definitely influenced my art. I hope that in the end I will be able to express a part of myself with greater depth and passion. I feel that I have become a stronger artist and person and that this experience has brought about a spiritual intensity to my art that otherwise may have not existed. - Vivian S.
9. When I was first diagnosed I had a plethora
of calls from women who wanted to tell me their experiences and give me advice. I
would strongly recommend getting Susan Love's book on breast cancer and reading it.
Also, tell your friends and well doers that their advice is important to you,but you will
have to make treatment choices, etc. based on your personal philosophy, lifestyle, etc. -
Diane G.