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Prakash Chandran (Host):  A breast cancer diagnosis can cause a wide range of feelings including fear, helplessness and anxiety. It’s a really difficult time but there are things you can do to help relieve some stress during and after your treatment. We’re going to talk about it today with Berthina McGill, a Utilization Review Intake Coordinator at HCA North Florida. This is Helmet of Health, the podcast from North Florida Regional Medical Center. I’m Prakash Chandran. So, Berthina, we all know that when you’re diagnosed with cancer it is a really huge hit emotionally, but maybe tell us about some of the most common things that you see when you help people when they come to see you.

Berthina McGill, MA, IQCI, LMHC (Guest):  Well first off, I think the first thing that comes up is anxiety. Someone gets a new diagnosis; you don’t know what to expect. You hear a lot of different things from other people, but you don’t know what’s going to happen for you. And so I think that’s the first thing is what’s going to happen to me. Where is my life now and how do I move forward. So, that brings up a lot of things regarding your mental health when you’re dealing with something physically.

Host:  And how do you help people get over that anxiety? I imagine that so much of it comes down to the unknown like not knowing what your treatment plan is going to look like, not knowing what is going to happen. So maybe talk a little bit about how you help them get over it.

Berthina:  First of all, I think you start with some coping skills. I mean we work on things like that. Grounding yourself, things of that nature. We try to help people identify what is your actual fear. Because that’s what anxiety is. You’re afraid of something and we know that you’re afraid of what’s coming. So, we try to help with different coping mechanisms. A lot of times, people feel alone because this is a personal battle but it’s important that we encourage others to stay focused with their support system instead of trying to take on this battle alone.

It is a personal battle, but it is important to have a support system and usually, individuals have support systems that they kind of push away because they are feeling that this is – they are on their own with this one. So, we try to encourage reaching out to support and things of that nature.

Host:  And when we’re talking about support here, are we talking about friends and family or are we talking about going to a group or talking with others that have been through it before?

Berthina:  Oh there’s a variety. Friends and family, first off because you know those people. Support groups are amazing. Because not only the support group may have individuals that are going through the same thing, that have already been diagnosed and gone through treatment but then you also have those that are family members or friends of someone in those support groups as well. So, you get different dynamics in those support groups. And then also, having the support of other community activities as well. A lot of times people get lost and let that diagnosis take over their whole life. And then they forget their hobbies. They forget their interests. And so it’s important to continue those things because the support may not need to be a support system based on this diagnosis. What about those other things that individual may continue to like that they forget about.

So, if it’s crafting, don’t stop crafting. Don’t stop doing those things. if it’s a book club, don’t stop those things. Those are also supports as well.

Host:  Yeah that makes sense. And you mentioned something there around hobbies and other things outside of the cancer treatment and care. I’m curious as to the advice that you give your patients around striking that balance. It feels like cancer is so all consuming and especially with the treatment schedule and everything like that. So, what advice do you give to patients to maintain that balance?

Berthina:  Have an outline. I think too, sometimes when we have our support systems such as family, most of the time you have that one person or those few people, give them tasks. Like heh I need you to do this for me. Remind me that I need to go to my arts and crafts class. Remind me that I used to like these things. Because sometimes we get so consumed, you have treatments here, you have this, and you forget these things. And I have a personal example if I could share that.

A family member of mine went through the treatment of cancer and no matter what, we would say heh, put on your lipstick because this is what she always did and she forgot to do it on the way to chemo and when she went to chemo, and she put her lipstick you saw the smile come out. You saw that oh this is the person that is going through – she was able to identify herself again even though she lost the hair. She had all these like physical changes but when she kind of got back to herself by something as simple as heh put on that lipstick again. Those are the things that they need. And you need those people around you to remind you of those different small things to get you back to who you really are as you are going through the difficult time.

Host:  Yeah, that’s a really helpful anecdote and something I want to address a little bit further because along with a cancer diagnosis comes with thought of potential hair loss and if you’re a woman; a mastectomy. So, I’m curious as to what advice you give people that are going through something like this especially for women like how do you remind them that they are beautiful when they are going through such drastic physical changes?

Berthina:  Just it’s difficult for women and I can attest, I’m a woman to try to stay you know when you have – you lose your hair. Your hair is important. Not all do, but if that is the case, you’re like oh my goodness. So I think again, going back to having that one person or this designated group of people to remind you heh, you’re still beautiful or let’s go do this to kind of work on those different things like I said the lipstick example. Or the hair example. I think it’s just best to have someone remind you. Because you get caught up in those thoughts of anxiety, oh I have got to go in here for this, what is the doctor going to tell me today. And it’s important that you have the support interject while you are having these thoughts.

Host:  I imagine that someone that’s listening to this might have just been diagnosed with cancer. And I’m curious as to what you wish more patients knew when they got diagnosed. There’s so much going on mentally and emotionally when you receive news like this, but what’s something you really wish that they could take away from this conversation?

Berthina:  Mindfulness. I think that’s what – with any and everything, when you get that diagnosis or when something major happens in life; you have to realize right now I’m okay. I’m okay right now. So I’m going to enjoy this moment. This particular moment right here. and the wonderful moments that are coming instead of thinking about the worst. People get caught up in the worst and that’s what we don’t want to focus on, we want to focus on right now, I feel good, right now, I’m happy, right now. And that’s going to be in the next few minutes and then the next hour. But when you hear certain things and cancer or any other thing, it’s like oh my God, it’s so detrimental. So, I wish people understood the mindfulness technique which is very important. And individuals can research that. I think it’s phenomenal. It’s the way to go when it comes to staying grounded in who you are at the moment and how good life is at the time.

Host:  Well Berthina, stay mindful and stay present. Wonderful advice and I really appreciate it. That’s Berthina McGill, the Utilization Review Intake Coordinator at HCA North Florida. Thanks for checking out this episode of Helmet of Health. Head to www.nfrmc.com to get connected with a provider. If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out the entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. Thanks and we’ll talk next time.