Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Breast Cancer Path Of Recovery
Part Three: Lessons from the Miller’s Daughter
By: Dr. Robin B. Dilley, licenced psychologist in private practice.
The Forest People in The Miller’s Daughter do not come into play until after the she leaves the home of the King’s Mother. The Miller’s Daughter is now on her own and must decide how life is going to be for her from this point on. Now, after treatment is finished and radiation is over, it is common to have an emotional letdown or even depression because you have spent the last year of your life in surgery and various treatments. You are tired. You are probably still worried. You might experience a sense of loss as how to pick up your pieces and decide what to do now.
In the story, the Miller’s Daughter has a baby. You now have a baby. That baby is you. How are you going to care for yourself in healthy ways especially since you feel so spent, so different than you were before your diagnosis. It is all of the confusing messages around the baby that send the Miller’s daughter out of the King’s mother’s home and off on her own.
She arrives at a cottage in the middle of the woods. She has been searching for somewhere safe. The woman that opens the door to the cottage greets her with great compassion and says to her, “We have been expecting you.” The Miller’s daughter enters with her child and it is there she learns to grow her own hands.
We, people who have been living post breast cancer are your forest people. We can help you make positive decisions about each of the three categories below and help keep you on the path of recovery even when it feels senseless and pointless.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
So, the above diagram gives you three areas that you can continue to make choices that will be important to you along the way. After treatment, your recovery depends on making new and very important choices in the areas of your Spiritual Health, Physical Health, and Emotional Well-Being. It is important to remember that you cannot do all of the changes at one time; but choose small, positive steps of change in each of the three categories. Each month, add another step of positive change. And besides a Research Director, find people in each of the above categories to help you along with your journey. You have a whole new family and lots of resources. This site, breast cancer yoga, is a great resource to you during and after treatment.
Q: What is one new choice you can make about your health?
A: Perhaps it is taking a daily thirty-minute walk.
Q: What is one new choice you can make about your emotional health?
A: Perhaps it is joining a breast cancer support group or journaling your feelings as a story to yourself over the next month.
Q: What is one new choice you can make about your spiritual well being?
A: Perhaps it is listening to uplifting music in the background of your day.
Make a list of some changes you want to make and map them out over the next 90 days.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Dr. Robin B. Dilley, author of In A Moment’s Notice: A Psychologist’s Journey with Breast Cancer is a licensed psychologist in the State of Arizona. Her eclectic practice allows her to cross diagnostic barriers and meet clients in their need assisting them to respond to life in healthy and empowering ways rather than react to life’s circumstances.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
