Angelina Jolie Brings Optimism to Women at Risk of Cancer

By Dr. Russ,

When Angelina Jolie announced she had a double mastectomy, prophylactically, to prevent breast cancer, she became a role model for action-oriented optimism. Some 232,000 women in the USA receive a breast cancer diagnosis each year, and 40,000 die from the disease. Genetic testing also indicates that Angelina is at risk of ovarian cancer as well. Breast cancer has many survivors, but ovarian cancer does not. Ovarian cancer is much more deadly. 

In 1962, at the age of 41, my mother died of ovarian cancer. She had been treated 10 years prior for breast cancer with a single mastectomy. My mother’s mother died at the age of 39 of ovarian cancer. Twelve out of thirteen of my maternal grandparent’s siblings died of some kind of cancer at relatively young ages. We have learned since the advent of genetic testing that either the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes are present in nearly every female in the lineage from my mother’s mother.

In 1968, my aunt, my mother’s younger sister underwent prophylactic surgery that removed both breasts and she had a complete hysterectomy removing the ovaries and uterus, all at the same time.  She was in her forties, approaching menopause, and had born three children. My Aunt lived to be 80 years old. She got to enjoy being with and seeing all her six grandchildren grow into their twenties.

When my mother passed in 1962, everyone was forecasting a cure for cancer within forty years. Well, it has been fifty years, and we still do not have the cure. In 1968, when my aunt underwent the surgery it was truly groundbreaking, but some 45 years later, Jolie is being hailed as a ground-breaker for women’s breast health.

As you know, the Dr. Russ brand of optimism is not about wishful thinking and pie in the sky outcomes, but is about taking constructive action to improve your life situation and attitude. Angelina Jolie’s actions speak louder than any words she has spoken. I have seen the positive results of this kind of action-oriented optimism had for my aunt, up close and personal. It is not easy to have the parts of your body that most define physical femininity removed. Like a good optimist these women assessed their worst-case scenario and its likelihood of occurrence. They then made a decision to save themselves for their families. These are the kinds of actions that define the Dr. Russ Buss brand of optimism.

Let me know what you think.

Even Optimists have Difficulty Making a Change

Today I ponder the problem:

▪    What keeps us from taking the first, even the tiniest, step towards making a change for self-improvement?

▪    What keeps us in that hopeless/helpless state when we know that making such a change could mean living longer with a higher quality of life?

An Example from Cancer Survivors

Who can feel more helpless and hopeless than someone who has been diagnosed with cancer?

We now know that there are many lifestyle changes that can be made to help reduce the chance of a cancer diagnosis.

However, never getting cancer or catching it early requires taking proactive action when one feels fine and has no symptoms.

What kinds of behaviors are we talking about? 

▪    Quit smoking, lose weight, reduce body fat, eat less sugar, use sun screen, get regular check-ups including mammograms, a PSA test, and a colonoscopy.

When others suggest that we take these actions we often find ourselves resistant.  When we tell ourselves to take these actions we often procrastinate and find some excuse not to complete the plan.

Fear and Avoidance

Why don’t individuals get a recommended mammogram, PSA test, or colonoscopy?

I find two common answers to the above query: Too afraid! Or, too busy!

They are afraid of being diagnosed with cancer and facing death, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, pain, hair loss, etc., etc.

Individuals find themselves too busy to take time off from work, family obligations, and their own personal schedule. All too often I hear:

▪    “I can’t take time off from work to get these medical tests.

▪    "I don’t have an hour a day in my schedule to exercise"

▪    "Quitting smoking and losing weight are just hard and time consuming.”

First Steps to Positive Behavior Change

1.  Make a grand symbolic gesture.  Cut off a six inch braid of hair to be donated to make wigs for children undergoing cancer treatment.  Such a gesture sets up confidence and commitment to self:  “If I can cut off my hair for cancer, I can certainly get an annual Pap smear.”

2. Do it for your brother of sister.   Most of us have lost someone we know and love to cancer, a family member or friend.  If you can’t make a change for yourself, then make one on behalf of the loved one.

3. Help another.  If a friend or loved one is not making a needed change, how responsible are you for helping them.  I say it is so important that it is worth nagging them even if it risks straining the relationship. Let them know that is how much you care about them.

4. Be a nag.  Forty years ago, my best friend who lost a father and grandfather to lung cancer nagged me for a year to quit smoking.  It worked. I quit at the age of twenty-five and am thankful to this day for her commitment to being a “caring nag.”  And, our friendship got stronger.

5. Accept and invite the nagging.  I never resented the nagging. Knew my friend had my best interest at heart. Just got tired of it and decided it was easier to quit than be nagged.

6. "Get a foot in the door."  Start small; not ready to start an exercise program or new diet - then read about them.  Go visit a gym and observe.  Try one aerobics class.

Joe Paterno Died of "Broken Heart," Sapped of Optimism

By Dr. Russ

Joe Paterno succumbs to “broken heart.”  According to former Penn State University star quarterback, Todd Blackledge, Joe Paterno died of a “broken heart” related to his firing and the ongoing sexual abuse scandal surrounding former Penn State Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky.  Yes, the medical diagnosis is that he succumbed to lung cancer and its complications.

But, I agree with Blackledge.  No one will ever know for sure, but I believe Joe Paterno’s spirit was sapped by the scandal and how he was fired.   Joe was a healthy, vibrant 85 year old football coach until the news broke of the Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.  Penn State University, in its infinite wisdom, fired Paterno in a brief evening phone call.  No ceremony, no recognition of his contributions to the University since 1950.  Just, “Your services are no longer needed.” Paterno gave 62 years of his working life to Penn State University, and he was thrown out as if he was a heap of garbage.

Joe continued to be an optimist on the outside; not blaming others, upholding his principles as coach and teacher, thankful for his blessings of children and grandchildren.  But, I believe, Joe was hurting on the inside.  He had to be appalled, sickened at the behavior of his former assistant Jerry Sandusky.  Joe had to be asking himself, "How did I miss this?  How could this kind of depravity gone on under my watch?"

If I try to put myself in Joe’s shoes, I can see how I would not want to believe something so abhorrent was going on right in “my own back yard” perpetrated by someone I had known and trusted for years.  To turn and face the stench of that garbage pile might just be too much.

I don’t think Joe’s heart was broken by the circumstances of his firing, of not being able to go out like the hero he was, instead being dismissed like Woody Hayes or Bobby Bobby Knight.  If there was one thing Joe taught it was toughness to stand up against the circumstances of life and football was a perfect venue for him to teach that lesson to thousands of young men.

No, Joe could have faced those circumstances.  What he couldn’t face was the guilt and responsibility he felt on the inside for the scandal that had occurred on his watch.  Although he never admitted to it, I’m sure he was blaming himself for every boy that was abused on his watch.  Joe took life personally and did not shun responsibility.  I believe Joe couldn’t find a way to forgive himself or if he sought it, could not accept God’s forgiveness. 

Psalm 32; Versus 1-7 speaks to the healing power of forgiveness.  Joe kept silent about his internal turmoil, and his “bones wasted away” just like the voice in verse 3.  His strength “was sapped.”

Psalm 32, NIV

Blessed is the one
   whose transgressions are forgiven,
   whose sins are covered.
² Blessed is the one
   whose sin the LORD does not count against them
   and in whose spirit is no deceit.

 ³ When I kept silent,
   my bones wasted away
   through my groaning all day long.
⁴ For day and night
   your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
   as in the heat of summer.^[b]

 ⁵ Then I acknowledged my sin to you
   and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
   my transgressions to the LORD.”
And you forgave
   the guilt of my sin.

 ⁶ Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
   while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
   will not reach them.
⁷ You are my hiding place;
   you will protect me from trouble
   and surround me with songs of deliverance.

Forgiveness is like a double edged sword.  Its benefits come from two sources, seeking and receiving forgiveness and granting it to others.  It is clear that Joe forgave the Penn State administration and anyone who was caught up in his treatment and firing.  He never once said a negative word about them. Even though he didn’t or doesn’t deserve the blame for Sandusky, I think he took responsibility for missing or ignoring this horror that occurred on his watch.

Joe said in an interview that God must have had another plan for him than to finish out in celebration, adoration, and glory.  Today, as Joe sits in the Kingdom of Heaven that plan may be clear to him.  And, I am sure his spirit has been restored in heaven as only a direct encounter with the Lord himself would be enough to convince Joe he was forgiven. 

We know such powerful forgiveness is possible because we saw it performed here on earth by Jesus in the raising of Lazarus and others from their death-beds and the elimination of terminal and chronic illnesses in his miracles. But this time, the rest of us will have to wait for the revelation of meaning to unfold here on earth. 

Perhaps Joe’s ultimate legacy will be his sacrifice for the cause of eliminating child sexual abuse.  If  Joe Paterno’s disciples could turn the ultimate meaning of Joe’s life into a spearhead to eliminate this terrible crime against humanity, Joe will have made a greater contribution to humankind than he could ever have imagined.

When Your Optimism is Tested Look to Your Spirituality to Stand Tall

By Dr. Russ

Everyday our optimism is tested by the circumstances of life and we must find the stamina to withstand this constant bombardment from small and major threats.  Sometimes it helps to look back at a major life crisis of yours, a loved or admired one to get the inspiration to hold onto the positive view and keep taking the next step.  If we stood up to pessimism in the past we can do it again. We can say to ourselves:

• If that loved or admired one kept the positive view, so can I.

In today’s post, I share an up close and personal story that I go back to whenever I feel my optimism being tested in some major way.  And, in this experience, I learned how important the spiritual component of belief is in staying optimistic.

Optimism Tested Once

When my mother was 12, her mother--my grandmother--Ethel, was diagnosed with cancer.  She was only in her mid thirties, had three children under the age of fourteen and it was early in the Great Depression.  The prognosis was not good.  The children were told to pray, and were further told that if they prayed, their mother would live.  Needless to say, Ethel did not live.   As you might imagine this experience began to undermine my mother Betty’s belief in God.  She wondered:

• ·        “If God couldn’t save my mother, what good is He?

For most of the rest of her life she remained religious, went to church regularly, raised her children in a religious tradition, but all the while feeling like God had let her down.  Throughout her life she had questioned the strength of her faith.  She was by temperament a very easy going, positive, outgoing person, who laughed easily and mightily, but she carried with her throughout her life a heavy burden of doubting a God who she so desperately wanted to believe in.

Optimism Tested Twice

When I was 15, my mother, the one who had lost her own mother to cancer, was now terminally ill with recurrent breast and ovarian cancer.  She was up front with me, said she didn’t think she would live, but she wanted me to now her story of loss of faith so I wouldn’t struggle for a lifetime with my faith the way she had.  She wanted me to know that she had finally come to believe that when she was 12, she had been misinformed about the role of God in her life by some well intended people.   She no longer blamed God for her mother’s death.  She stressed how much she believed her loss of faith had damaged her ability to remain optimistic each and every day, even though she had been taught by her father, whom she revered, to always take a positive view. 

My first thought was how well she had hidden any pessimism she experienced from me while I was growing up and during her illness. No matter how much pain she was in, she would always put on a smile and look her best for anyone coming to visit.  I understood her message to me that day in this way:

• Do not let my death undermine your optimistic spirit by losing your faith in God.  Do not let my death be a test of your optimism and faith.  Instead let my death and my struggle to stay positive in the face of pain and death strengthen your ability to remain optimistic in the direst of circumstances.

After inoculating me against the power of pessimism contained in the negative circumstances of life, she went on to tell me that only through the complete repair of her relationship with God at the end of her life was she able to face her own death and have this discussion with me.

Will you be inspired to put action behind your passion?

What's your passion? If you haven't figured out a way to make it your profession, are you at least keeping true to it as a hobby?

Today in our Podcast of Optimism, we chat about Terri Shaver and her organization, The Oldham Project, that provides portraits for people battling cancer and terminal illness. Terri found a way to take her passion (photography) and turn it into a way of giving back to others. Will you?

We also talk about Amber Miller, the woman who recently completed the Chicago marathon at 39 weeks pregnant and hours later delivered her baby. Amber found a way to be healthy and continue with the activity she loves while she was pregnant. She didn't let the weird glares and stares or disapproving attitudes stop her from doing what she loved and what she knew was ok for her. Will you?

We also spend a moment reflecting on the fact that one year ago today, the last of the Chilean miners made their way up to the surface of the earth after being trapped underground for 69.  They were able to use optimism to keep themselves together during some extreme circumstances. Will you?

Tune into the podcast for more!  Click here to listen!