Staying positive
Song, dance, smiles may help cancer patients
A support group in East China is encouraging people with the illness to embrace life and reject despair, as Wang Zhenghua reports from Shanghai.
Aug 8 was a red letter day for a group of cancer patients from across China because they were registering to become members of a special audience at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The patients — many of whom have been told that they only have a few years or even months to live — were encouraged to save 5 yuan (75 cents) a day to buy tickets for the Games and, more important, to survive another five years so they will be able to attend the event. Their number mushroomed to more than 7,000 in just two days.
Started by the Shanghai Cancer Recovery Club, the program serves as a driving force to boost patients’ hope and resilience, and also provides support from their peers.
The activities organized by the club help members to understand that, in addition to the correct medical treatment, a positive mindset and a healthy lifestyle are crucial to recovery.
“We offer on-the-ground emotional and psychological support to people with cancer, and encourage them to fight the illness together,” said Yuan Zhengping, the club’s founder. “No one can fight cancer alone.”
Rather than succumbing to depression and despair, members are taught to sing and dance, and encouraged to attend life-affirming events, such as sporting contests.
In 2013, 3,682,000 Chinese were diagnosed with the illness, a rate of about 10,000 new patients every day, and 2,229,300 — slightly less than the population of Paris — died from the disease, according to a 2015 report published by the National Cancer Institute.
While the response to being diagnosed with cancer varies significantly from person to person, most people are shocked and confused by the sudden change in their life and medical status.
Some seek the best medical services available, while others recognize the unpredictability of the situation and spend the rest of their lives engaged in new activities, such as traveling. In extreme cases, people feel such despair that they take their own lives.
The Shanghai Cancer Recovery Club encourages patients to approach the illness with optimism and instill hope in their peers.
According to Yuan, the fiveyear survival rate of the club’s members is 75 percent, far higher than the national average of about 31 percent.
My life is uplifting and fulfilled when I meet other members who are engaged in the fight positively. Ye Zhenghe, member of the Shanghai Cancer Recovery Club.
Ignorance and fear
Founded in 1989, the club was one of China’s first grassroots cancer organizations. In its 28-year history, it has helped 200,000 people come to terms with their illness and fight it.
Yuan, 68, was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1980, the year he married. At the time, cancer was poorly understood, and something people only spoke about in whispers. Some of Yuan’s friends tried to console him, but others were so ignorant of the disease that they were reluctant to shake hands with him for fear of becoming infected.
Yuan’s doctors said he had a 20 percent chance of living another two years. That wakebeen up call gave him the impetus to change the way he and others regarded the disease.
“It prompted me to set up an organization for people like me, to provide encouragement, confidence and dignity,” he said.
Initially, the club had 90 members. They visited other patients, organized a lobbying campaign and wrote articles about the disease for newspapers.
Now, there are 16,000 members in a number of branches across Shanghai, including 14 sub-centers for different treatments.
The most popular activities include table-tennis competitions and song contests. During this year’s Spring Festival, the club’s celebration gala was streamed online and attracted an audience of about 1 million.
It also provides rehabilitation classes and courses about nutrition, aimed at patients with different cancers. Additionally, treatment methods such as music and drama therapy have been introduced from overseas with the aim of providing a release valve for the pressures patients feel.
“Getting cancer doesn’t mean you have to give up your life, your studies or your job. The management of emotion is very important,” said Yuan, whose lymphoma has completely disappeared. Psychological aids
In 2015, an examination revealed that He Jiangping had gastric signet-ring cell carcinoma.
The illness had developed so far that He was told she only had about three months left to live.
Even though she was diagnosed in March when the weather was warm, He, who usually disliked thick clothes, felt so cold inside that she bought two down jackets, a hat and a pair of gloves. Now, the 55-year-old Shanghai resident realizes that the clothes were a form of psychological aid.
“It should have been a wonderful time. I should have enjoying life with my son and my husband, who had been running his own business for about five years,” she said. “I couldn’t understand why this misfortune had happened to me.”
When she wasn’t attending chemotherapy sessions, He isolated herself in her apartment. However, her life changed when she read a newspaper article about the Shanghai Cancer Recovery Club and decided to join.
She attended a party to welcome newcomers, and was touched when she saw older members singing and dancing on the stage.
“I couldn’t believe they had cancer,” she said. The spectacle encouraged her to reject despair and embrace a new life.
She bought books and magazines about medicine, nutrition and plant-based remedies, and took up new activities such as playing piano and learning to do makeup. She even began to enjoy housework and anything else that provided a new interest and helped her to relish life again.
“I take part in every activity the club organizes, despite my busy job,” said He, who works as a manager for a company in Shanghai. She is now the club’s vice-president and, as a member of the dance troupe, she performs, gives inspirational speeches and visits patients in hospitals.
What little free time she has is devoted to traveling with friends: “Life is about giving, sharing and creating; this is what I have learned from my years in the club.”
Ye Zhenghe, who was diagnosed with liver cancer 27 years ago, said the club has given her fresh impetus to survive. “My life is uplifting and fulfilled when I meet other members who are engaged in the fight positively,” she said. Support groups
In addition to grassroots organizations, there are several semiofficial support groups in Shanghai, such as the Yankang Center. When it was founded in 2003, it was the first cancer recovery group to be established by a hospital, the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center.
“We offer classes for all the breast cancer patients in the hospital, teaching them professional ways of dealing with the disease, psychologically and physically,” said Huang Jialing, one of the founders, who is also secretary-general of the hospital’s surgical department.
Since March, the hospital’s social work department has held meetings for breast cancer patients. They are usually attended by about 30 people, who can share their questions, fears and anxieties, and listen to responses and advice from experts.
More than 100 cancer rehabilitation organizations are registered nationwide, according to the China Anti-Cancer Association. Some were founded by hospitals, while others were established independently.
With the exception of groups in the country’s four municipalities — Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing — which rely on donations, all the organizations receive financial support from the government.
Research conducted by the association into the quality of life of 10,000 randomly selected breast cancer patients nationwide shows that the survival rates of members of rehabilitation groups are much higher than those of people who fight the disease alone.
“However, we have to acknowledge that people who join groups are basically healthier than those who don’t, which is a limitation of the research,” said Zhen Rong, secretary-general of the association’s cancer rehabilitation society.
“For many people, the support of their peers is more welcome and effective than that of medical staff because other patients understand the emotional and physical toll cancer takes on its victims.” Contact the writer at wangzhenghua@ chinadaily.com.cn