People ask this all the time… I eat right, exercise, no one in my family, etc, why did I get cancer?
Is it Genetics?
Is it my lifestyle?
Or is it random?
It's natural to look for blame but sometimes there just isn't any blame.
It's important though to keep a positive attitude and always complete your treatment.
E. Lynn Meyering, M.D is here to answer these and other great questions about your cancer diagnoses.
Selected Podcast
“Why Me?” I Eat Right and Exercise, Why Did I Get Cancer?
Featured Speaker:
Elizabeth Lynn Meyering, MD
E. Lynn Meyering, M.D., is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the in the Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research at City of Hope’s Simi Valley location. Dr. Meyering joined City of Hope from North Valley Hematology and Oncology Group, located in Simi Valley, California. Prior to that, she was appointed as faculty at UCLA-Olive View Medical Center as a Assistant Clinical Professor, and she continues her services now as a Volunteer. Dr. Meyering completed her undergraduate degree in microbiology at California State Polytechnic University, and medical school at Albany Medical College in New York. Following medical school, she completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at UCLA-Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar, California. Dr. Meyering is board certified in medical oncology, hematology and internal medicine, and is an accomplished and experienced clinician and teacher. She has a particular interest in breast cancer and survivorship issues. Transcription:
“Why Me?” I Eat Right and Exercise, Why Did I Get Cancer?
Melanie Cole (Host): When people are newly diagnosed with cancer, information becomes quite a whirlwind and the question so many people ask themselves is, “Why me? I eat right. I exercise. No one in my family has cancer.” There are so many questions that people throw at themselves. My guest today is oncologist, Dr. Elizabeth Lynn Meyering. She’s an Assistant Clinical Professor who practices at City of Hope - Simi Valley. Welcome to the show, Dr. Meyering. That big question. People get cancer and the first thing they say is, “I didn’t expect this” or “Why me?” Tell us about that question.
Dr. Elizabeth Lynn Meyering (Guest): Oh, it’s so nice to speak with you again, Melanie. That is a question that I hear almost every single time someone walks into my office and I think that, really, we try to look for a reason. It’s really very true that there is some nature and there is some nurture in why we develop cancer. Of course, the hard science part of it is, and I can go through a lot of different things, oh, there was too much sun exposure and you got damage to your DNA or you had exposure to radiation. All sorts of things. The reality is that most of these events are random events. There is a very small subset of people who do have genetic mutations but this is really the minority. It’s very natural for us to want to blame something and the reality of it is that, like I said, it’s a very random event. We have to move past that and figure out how to live our lives in a way that improves our risk for the future without dwelling on the past or the things that they could’ve or should’ve done.
Melanie: Dr. Meyering, I hear from so many of my docs that a positive attitude when dealing with cancer just goes a lot longer than people realize when people ask themselves that “Why me?” and they blame themselves. Can that negatively affect their outcome?
Dr. Meyering: I do think so and I think there’s multiple reasons that can happen. The first thing that can happen is your ability to tolerate the treatment that may be necessary to put your cancer into remission. When people have a very negative attitude, they often feel like “What’s the point, why should I do all these things? It’s going to happen anyway. It shouldn’t have even happened in the first place.” Not going forward with the treatment that is recommended by your oncologist is a bad idea because often to not do that treatment would be to increase your risk of reoccurrence in the future. The other thing that happens with having a negative attitude is certainly when people have a negative attitude it affects a lot of our catecholamines and sort of our epinephrine levels and our cortisol levels which certainly have an awful lot to do with the immune system. It’s a little bit subtle and I don’t know that we could ever point fingers at it but to have a negative attitude may actually increase your risk of cancer on some level by changing and altering the levels of cortisol in our bodies.
Melanie: So, cancer affects the whole family, not just the person who is dealing with it and starting to go through treatment. When we do that “Why me?”--when we blame ourselves--does that carry over to our family saying “What did you do to cause this?” or “Is it going to happen to me?” Does this sort of spiral down the family chain?
Dr. Meyering: Sometimes it really does and I see an unfortunately large number of cases where the family members start looking “Well, if they wouldn’t eat all that sugar” or “If they wouldn’t have done all that stuff, they wouldn’t have gotten cancer”. I think this is also very natural because the whole family is affected by the cancer and everybody grieves and there’s also a component of fear. “What can I do if that happened to my mom or my dad or my sister or brother? What can I do to prevent that and what did they do that caused it so that I cannot do that in the future?” That’s also a very deadly or dangerous type of an attitude because, like I said, most of these are random events and most of the time, there is not much that the person did to “deserve” their cancer. There are certain things, though, that I do recommend that people do and these are very obvious, I think. Things like smoking. I mean, smoking is the leading cause of heart disease and cancer and lung disease. Cancer from smoking is very serious and that is certainly something that is controllable and that falls into the nurture category. Other things that are probably less important but do make a difference is maintaining healthy lifestyles. That means eating good healthy foods, getting plenty of exercise, getting enough sleep. Those things certainly improve our immune system and help us resist the development of cancer. So, I usually try to focus on those things with the family as opposed to “Well, you’ve got cancer because you, I don’t know, you did something or you didn’t do something.” That’s usually helpful to put a positive spin on it.
Melanie: What about psychological services during treatment because sometimes cancer treatment can be as difficult as the disease itself and if you’re already going into it with this attitude of “I don’t even know if this will work. I don’t know why this happened to me”, what do you recommend to your patients about getting some help and getting some psychological counseling to help them get past this and look towards the future?
Dr. Meyering: I’m a strong supporter of this. One of the problems that we have is, of course, the social stigma. Of course, it’s better now than it was in years past but still there are many who are very reluctant to seek assistance from a psychologist during this time. There are specially trained psychologists who, their whole focus is on patients who are undergoing treatment for cancer, or, even if they’re not under treatment, dealing with the sequelae of that. To really focus on cognitive behavioral changes is a huge positive and people do so much better when they’re really struggling with these issues. If I could just get them to go that would be, I think, really the biggest hurdle to conquer.
Melanie: Well, families can go together because I imagine it’s scary for the children as well or the spouse of somebody dealing with cancer and going through the treatment. Then, there’s all the side effects, Dr. Meyering. So, give your best advice about dealing with those side effects and not letting your own devil in your head, negative self-talk that we all do so often, get the better of you when you’re going through some difficult treatments.
Dr. Meyering: That is so elegantly said – the devil in your head – because that is so true. I have to always remind my patients and their family members that the side effects are normal and expected and they’re temporary. A lot of the things like hair loss and fatigue, which happens to a majority of people, those things are temporary and they do improve. There’s quite a bit of fear. “Am I not going to be able to be calm, the person that I was before?” Am I never going to be normal again?” It’s very important, I call it stinkin’ thinkin’. When you think that you’re not going to be able to recover, your chances of recovery are lower. I think having a positive attitude really helps to combat that devil in your head. I can’t stress that enough--that positive thinking is very helpful. I see it time and time again in my patients, the ones who come in with a very positive, can-do attitude regardless of their side effects, they come and they are like “I’m going to beat this. I’m going to do what I have to do” and they do great. The folks who have a little more negative thinking, who are not so optimistic that they are going to be okay really struggle quite a bit. There’s, I think, an increase incidence of depression and anxiety and all kinds of different problems within the family when folks have that stinkin’ thinkin’.
Melanie: Well, Dr. Meyering, if you would in just the last few minutes, give your best advice to people that are newly diagnosed. As a survivor of breast cancer yourself, tell the listeners, if you would and if you wouldn’t mind, how you managed to get through it and have this positive outlook that you are that I’m sure makes you just a wonderful doctor to deal with.
Dr. Meyering: [laughter] Well thank you for saying so. You know, it’s a little tricky because I think I went through my own difficulties during that first year. The first year is very hard and you can’t help but have those little thoughts creep into your head where you think, “Well what is going to happen? This cancer is going to come back anyway.” I would really recommend that you focus on today and looking forward. It’s true, you can never push that cancer away completely. It’s always going to be in your rearview mirror. You’re always going to see it. It’s ready to tap on your shoulder but it doesn’t have to be in front of you. I think it’s very important to live our lives as if we are going to live a normal life. If you live your life like you’re going to die from cancer then you’re never going to live your life. The majority of people are cured and do great. You have to remember those things and if it happens, then you deal with it. But to deal with it before it has happened is very non-productive. I think that’s how I really dealt with it, was knowing that if it happens then I will do what I need to do, but for now I’m going live my life and I’m going to enjoy myself and I’m going to do all the things that I have always wanted to do regardless of my cancer.
Melanie: What an amazing segment and such great information. We certainly applaud you, Dr. Meyering and what an amazing doctor that I know that you are. You are listening to City of Hope Radio and for more information on Dr. Meyering you can go to cityofhope.org. That’s cityofhope.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.
“Why Me?” I Eat Right and Exercise, Why Did I Get Cancer?
Melanie Cole (Host): When people are newly diagnosed with cancer, information becomes quite a whirlwind and the question so many people ask themselves is, “Why me? I eat right. I exercise. No one in my family has cancer.” There are so many questions that people throw at themselves. My guest today is oncologist, Dr. Elizabeth Lynn Meyering. She’s an Assistant Clinical Professor who practices at City of Hope - Simi Valley. Welcome to the show, Dr. Meyering. That big question. People get cancer and the first thing they say is, “I didn’t expect this” or “Why me?” Tell us about that question.
Dr. Elizabeth Lynn Meyering (Guest): Oh, it’s so nice to speak with you again, Melanie. That is a question that I hear almost every single time someone walks into my office and I think that, really, we try to look for a reason. It’s really very true that there is some nature and there is some nurture in why we develop cancer. Of course, the hard science part of it is, and I can go through a lot of different things, oh, there was too much sun exposure and you got damage to your DNA or you had exposure to radiation. All sorts of things. The reality is that most of these events are random events. There is a very small subset of people who do have genetic mutations but this is really the minority. It’s very natural for us to want to blame something and the reality of it is that, like I said, it’s a very random event. We have to move past that and figure out how to live our lives in a way that improves our risk for the future without dwelling on the past or the things that they could’ve or should’ve done.
Melanie: Dr. Meyering, I hear from so many of my docs that a positive attitude when dealing with cancer just goes a lot longer than people realize when people ask themselves that “Why me?” and they blame themselves. Can that negatively affect their outcome?
Dr. Meyering: I do think so and I think there’s multiple reasons that can happen. The first thing that can happen is your ability to tolerate the treatment that may be necessary to put your cancer into remission. When people have a very negative attitude, they often feel like “What’s the point, why should I do all these things? It’s going to happen anyway. It shouldn’t have even happened in the first place.” Not going forward with the treatment that is recommended by your oncologist is a bad idea because often to not do that treatment would be to increase your risk of reoccurrence in the future. The other thing that happens with having a negative attitude is certainly when people have a negative attitude it affects a lot of our catecholamines and sort of our epinephrine levels and our cortisol levels which certainly have an awful lot to do with the immune system. It’s a little bit subtle and I don’t know that we could ever point fingers at it but to have a negative attitude may actually increase your risk of cancer on some level by changing and altering the levels of cortisol in our bodies.
Melanie: So, cancer affects the whole family, not just the person who is dealing with it and starting to go through treatment. When we do that “Why me?”--when we blame ourselves--does that carry over to our family saying “What did you do to cause this?” or “Is it going to happen to me?” Does this sort of spiral down the family chain?
Dr. Meyering: Sometimes it really does and I see an unfortunately large number of cases where the family members start looking “Well, if they wouldn’t eat all that sugar” or “If they wouldn’t have done all that stuff, they wouldn’t have gotten cancer”. I think this is also very natural because the whole family is affected by the cancer and everybody grieves and there’s also a component of fear. “What can I do if that happened to my mom or my dad or my sister or brother? What can I do to prevent that and what did they do that caused it so that I cannot do that in the future?” That’s also a very deadly or dangerous type of an attitude because, like I said, most of these are random events and most of the time, there is not much that the person did to “deserve” their cancer. There are certain things, though, that I do recommend that people do and these are very obvious, I think. Things like smoking. I mean, smoking is the leading cause of heart disease and cancer and lung disease. Cancer from smoking is very serious and that is certainly something that is controllable and that falls into the nurture category. Other things that are probably less important but do make a difference is maintaining healthy lifestyles. That means eating good healthy foods, getting plenty of exercise, getting enough sleep. Those things certainly improve our immune system and help us resist the development of cancer. So, I usually try to focus on those things with the family as opposed to “Well, you’ve got cancer because you, I don’t know, you did something or you didn’t do something.” That’s usually helpful to put a positive spin on it.
Melanie: What about psychological services during treatment because sometimes cancer treatment can be as difficult as the disease itself and if you’re already going into it with this attitude of “I don’t even know if this will work. I don’t know why this happened to me”, what do you recommend to your patients about getting some help and getting some psychological counseling to help them get past this and look towards the future?
Dr. Meyering: I’m a strong supporter of this. One of the problems that we have is, of course, the social stigma. Of course, it’s better now than it was in years past but still there are many who are very reluctant to seek assistance from a psychologist during this time. There are specially trained psychologists who, their whole focus is on patients who are undergoing treatment for cancer, or, even if they’re not under treatment, dealing with the sequelae of that. To really focus on cognitive behavioral changes is a huge positive and people do so much better when they’re really struggling with these issues. If I could just get them to go that would be, I think, really the biggest hurdle to conquer.
Melanie: Well, families can go together because I imagine it’s scary for the children as well or the spouse of somebody dealing with cancer and going through the treatment. Then, there’s all the side effects, Dr. Meyering. So, give your best advice about dealing with those side effects and not letting your own devil in your head, negative self-talk that we all do so often, get the better of you when you’re going through some difficult treatments.
Dr. Meyering: That is so elegantly said – the devil in your head – because that is so true. I have to always remind my patients and their family members that the side effects are normal and expected and they’re temporary. A lot of the things like hair loss and fatigue, which happens to a majority of people, those things are temporary and they do improve. There’s quite a bit of fear. “Am I not going to be able to be calm, the person that I was before?” Am I never going to be normal again?” It’s very important, I call it stinkin’ thinkin’. When you think that you’re not going to be able to recover, your chances of recovery are lower. I think having a positive attitude really helps to combat that devil in your head. I can’t stress that enough--that positive thinking is very helpful. I see it time and time again in my patients, the ones who come in with a very positive, can-do attitude regardless of their side effects, they come and they are like “I’m going to beat this. I’m going to do what I have to do” and they do great. The folks who have a little more negative thinking, who are not so optimistic that they are going to be okay really struggle quite a bit. There’s, I think, an increase incidence of depression and anxiety and all kinds of different problems within the family when folks have that stinkin’ thinkin’.
Melanie: Well, Dr. Meyering, if you would in just the last few minutes, give your best advice to people that are newly diagnosed. As a survivor of breast cancer yourself, tell the listeners, if you would and if you wouldn’t mind, how you managed to get through it and have this positive outlook that you are that I’m sure makes you just a wonderful doctor to deal with.
Dr. Meyering: [laughter] Well thank you for saying so. You know, it’s a little tricky because I think I went through my own difficulties during that first year. The first year is very hard and you can’t help but have those little thoughts creep into your head where you think, “Well what is going to happen? This cancer is going to come back anyway.” I would really recommend that you focus on today and looking forward. It’s true, you can never push that cancer away completely. It’s always going to be in your rearview mirror. You’re always going to see it. It’s ready to tap on your shoulder but it doesn’t have to be in front of you. I think it’s very important to live our lives as if we are going to live a normal life. If you live your life like you’re going to die from cancer then you’re never going to live your life. The majority of people are cured and do great. You have to remember those things and if it happens, then you deal with it. But to deal with it before it has happened is very non-productive. I think that’s how I really dealt with it, was knowing that if it happens then I will do what I need to do, but for now I’m going live my life and I’m going to enjoy myself and I’m going to do all the things that I have always wanted to do regardless of my cancer.
Melanie: What an amazing segment and such great information. We certainly applaud you, Dr. Meyering and what an amazing doctor that I know that you are. You are listening to City of Hope Radio and for more information on Dr. Meyering you can go to cityofhope.org. That’s cityofhope.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.