Optimistic and Active Cancer Patients Have Longer Survival

I have dealt with tens of thousands of cancer patients. The overwhelming majority of long-term surviving cancer patients are optimistic and active people—or those who were not like that before but became so after getting cancer. The truth that life lies in movement is correct; exercise not only reduces weight but also relieves stress.

Moderate treatment combined with an optimistic and active lifestyle is the most effective strategy for prolonging life. Among the cancer patients I know, many have survived for decades, with physical strength and fitness beyond that of ordinary people. I once attended a celebration organized by a national cancer community, held in the Taihang Mountains. After the exchange activities came free activity: those with the stamina could climb the mountain, while those without could exercise at the foot.

As it turned out, the ones who reached the front of the pack were, aside from one or two non-cancer patients including me, all veteran cancer patients—those with a cancer history of over ten years, several of whom were already over sixty. Also participating were many family members of cancer patients; these relatives, judging from their physical examination reports, were healthy, yet they were panting and out of breath on the climb, lacking stamina. In fact, the organs of their bodies were already failing; only the lab reports still looked normal.

So I have always encouraged patients and their families: first, let the patient know about their own illness—patients who are kept in the dark cooperate poorly with treatment; second, encourage patients to exercise; third, encourage patients to return to normal work. But on the question of informing the patient, one must pay attention to technique and do some ideological work. It is best to lay the groundwork first, telling the patient many stories of cancer-fighting stars, and then slowly inform them of the true situation. After being informed, the patient should both cooperate with the doctor's treatment and remain positive and optimistic.

A positive, sunny mindset is very important for cancer patients. In Seligman's classic work, "Authentic Happiness" (the "Happiness Trilogy"), Seligman cites a large amount of data proving that positive, optimistic people not only live longer than negative, pessimistic people, but that optimistic people, in old age, generally have greater ability to care for themselves than pessimistic people.

This is the same principle as "sunward plants meet spring first." The balcony of my study faces south; the green plants I keep on the study balcony, merely watered regularly, all thrive. Many people who see my flowers and plants admire my gardening skill, but there is actually no skill to it; I simply chose a sunlit spot and let them grow on their own.

Generally speaking, I am myself a sunny, optimistic, and active person, and it is not easy to make me sit still. Once I am idle, I start feeling uncomfortable here and there—not false discomfort, but real discomfort. Every part of my body is in poor condition; I have been weak and sickly since childhood. So I rarely focus my attention on my body; if I do, my heart feels as if weighed down by a huge boulder, and the various physical symptoms worsen noticeably. But if I let myself do something I enjoy—like reading, growing flowers, or traveling in the mountains and waters—then for at least several hours I will not feel any adverse physical condition at all.

There is a leiomyosarcoma patient in Shanghai. When I went to see her, she was bedridden in an upscale sanatorium, taking OxyContin every day for pain; after taking OxyContin she suffered severe constipation, and the pain relief was not even that good. Later her family took her home from the sanatorium. Her home was a new apartment, and the house needed all kinds of furniture and small fittings. Although she was still lying in bed, her mind was busy thinking about what to buy for each room, so she shopped on Taobao all day. When she was immersed in shopping, she was free from pain; her attention had shifted from her body to online shopping.

I know an older lady with lung cancer, also from Shanghai. Once we attended a cancer community event together and met; we had already become familiar with each other online before meeting, so as soon as she saw me she gave me a big sunflower grin, truly beaming all over her face! We joked together; her optimistic, open-minded attitude made it impossible to imagine that all ten of her toes had ulcerated from the side effects of chemotherapy drugs. "The ten fingers are connected to the heart," and that sensation is no pleasure.

She asked me at the time how to solve the problem of her ulcerated toes; I did not have a good solution then. If it were now, I would tell her that she could use zinc oxide ointment combined with MEBO moist burn ointment externally, together with a congee made from raw Huangqi (Astragalus), Yiyiren (Coix seed), and Baiji (Bletilla striata powder) taken internally as a complementary treatment. This is a good method for treating ulcers caused by radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

At that time she had already survived for over ten years after being diagnosed with advanced lung adenocarcinoma. Many medical institutions and health-product vendors wanted to recruit her to do advertising and promote their products, but she simply refused to do such things. She felt that cancer patients like her all had it hard, and that doing false advertising to cheat her fellow sufferers was against her conscience. This older lady not only had a sunny mindset but was also kind-hearted.

Our gathering was full of singing and dancing, a scene of jubilation. Hundreds of people gathered in the mountains, and when they raised their voices in song, the sound truly shook the valleys, as dashing as a band of martial heroes charging toward Shaolin Temple under the leadership of Linghu Chong to rescue Ren Yingying. The other tourists around watched us in astonishment; they would never have guessed that this was a group of cancer patients exchanging survival tips.

After being around them for so long, I have been infected by them. I love riding a bicycle (I have no car, so I have no choice) through streets and alleys, over mountains and hills, charging wildly. In the twenty-plus years since I left school, I have worn out more than ten bicycles. Readers who love cycling may understand the pleasure of a bicycle at full speed—"swift as a galloping horse, vigorous as a swimming dragon swaying its tail." This is hard for people who drive to appreciate; when driving, the body can hardly share the car's rhythm.

A recent set of health survey data I saw shows that people who commute by bicycle live several years longer than those who drive. Given my physical condition, I should have been feeble long ago; the fact that I still maintain vigorous youthful vitality is related to my love of cycling.

The body is something that is best ruled by oneself while one can. If one stops ruling one's body for a long time, both body and spirit will gradually wither, and one will gradually lose the ability to govern one's own body and spirit. Some people, seeking comfort, always like to have others massage them, but in the view of those of us who study medicine, this kind of passive exercise has basically no fitness effect; active exercise is far more effective than passive exercise.

The mind is the quieter the better, but the body should move more for health. Of course, the kind of mental calm I advocate may differ from what many practitioners seek. What I advocate is that the mind should not have too many desires and entanglements, but I do not advocate an empty mind. Compared with the water-like stillness of Little Dragon Maiden, I prefer the vibrancy, touched with childlike innocence, of the Old Urchin.

Life is like a flower; it is splendid only when in full bloom. Shi Tiesheng wrote in "I and the Temple of Earth" that he was beset by illness and saw no joy in life, but one day he suddenly realized that after death one would be silent for a very long time, so there was no need to rush toward death; while alive, one should live well. A person living with enthusiasm, whether or not their limbs are whole, radiates an irresistible charm from head to toe.

I have also seen many cancer patients whose hearts are as dead as ashes. With such patients, I generally hope to stir up their love of life. Without a love of life, no matter how skilled a physician is, they cannot save a dying lamp about to go out.