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Annette Shares What She Tells Women Diagnosed With Ovarian Cancer (VIDEO)

By Annette Leal Mattern HERWriter October 16, 2008 - 2:06pm
 
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Annette share the best advice to tell women who are newly diagnosed with ovarian cancer and how to provide her with the strength she needs.

More Videos from Annette Leal Mattern 37 videos in this series

Annette:

The first thing I ask women to think about when they are newly diagnosed is that they need to understand their disease; they need to know what’s going on. In the medical community, find out what they can about treatments, clinical trials. The second thing is not to give up hope.

It’s very, very important that women realize that there are new things happening every day. We have to stay in the best condition that we can, do everything we can to strengthen our reserves, and they may be spiritual, it might be nutritional, maybe psychosocial.

I advise women to get rid of toxins in their life. It might be toxic relationships or toxic habits, and to try to find their own internal peace because this will be a long and difficult journey.

And then the thing that helps me the most is that I live in the "now." I know that I am not going to die of this disease today, and so I wake up every day and instead of asking myself, "When am I going to die?" I ask myself, "Why am I alive today?", and that gives me great purpose.
It gives me a sense of wanting to get up and get out and embrace the day, whatever that day brings, and I search for that thing that gives me the purpose for being here right now.

View More Ovarian Cancer Videos:

Visit The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance:
http://www.ovariancancer.org/

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Diane Porter

Annette, what a wonderful philosophy to carry through every day, whether a person is dealing with an illness or is completely healthy.

I wonder why it doesn't always seem as important to do that when we are in good health, yet once we have a threat to our health, we make good living and daily philosophy the keys to our world.

"Why am I alive today?" -- Those are pretty cool marching orders for a lifetime.

Thanks for your post.

October 17, 2008 - 9:27am
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