It's All about the Attitude, Positive and Living Donna Al Shaya RNC, CRRN, BSN, MPH

1. It's All about the Attitude, Positive and LivingDonna Al ShayaRNC, CRRN, BSN, MPH Registered Nurse with more than 22 years of experience In Nursing Management with the Department of Veterans Medical Affairs Medical Center Houston, Texas, USA. Has an extensive background in Long-Term Care & Quality Health Care Management ; including Nursing Care & Supportive Groups for Patients with Chronic Diseases including Cancer.

2. I am a retired registered nurse who has lived and worked in Kuwait , Lebanon and USA. • I retired most recently from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

3. I have had the privilege in my nursing career to have gone through the journey of many patients with cancer as well as other life changing diseases in my work in palliative care and hospices Thank you for this opportunity to share my personal observations and beliefs about attitude.

4. Attitude, (Positive and Living) • I especially want to welcome all the cancer survivors who are present • When you are diagnosed with a disease , as cancer ,diabetes or other chronic diseases there are several components that go into the plan of care . • This includes not only the testing, the diagnosis, the doctor’s visits, the medications, the treatments, the fears, and the unknown. It also includes an ingredient that the patient brings of themselves , their attitudes.

5. One’s personal attitude is everything. • It is my personal belief that in every person there is an inner strength and ability to turn every situation into positive to take the most challenging situations and find inner meaning. • This evening in this short presentation I will give you an overview of the general information concerning attitude , its effects on health outcomes and an introduction to my friend Masha.

6. Health care providers in all settings affirm that that a positive attitude and the will to live improve the quality of life We all have the will to live, especially when threatened by disease or circumstance Patients with positive attitudes are better able to cope with disease related problems and my respond better to therapy A Winning Attitude

7. Plato and Galen, “The cure of many diseases is unknown to physicians because they are ignorant of the whole. For the part can never be well unless the whole is well.” The psychological and the physical elements of a body are not separate, and unrelated but are linked elements of a total system Health is a balance of many inputs A Winning Attitude

8. We have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we embrace for that day. We cannot change the past or the inevitable. Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it We are in charge of our attitudes….every day and all the time We are in charge.

9. Dr. Gorssarth-Maticek, Heidelberg Germany, 1973. Found within his test subjects attitude predicted future health. He trained two groups(average age 58) on self help for positive attitude change over one year. Prospectively after 13 years significantly more were still alive than those who were in the placebo group The Health Benefits of a Positive Attitude- Optimists v Pessimists http:/www.femhealth.com/BenefitsPositive Attitude.html Some highlights: those with a positive attitude had a lowered risk of early death , few problems with or other daily activities, less pain and fewer limitations due to pain, increased energy, feeling more peaceful, happier and calmer Research on Attitude

10. “I am optimistic because it creates possibilities.” Tommie Lee Jones “I believe fools are about as happy as they make up their minds to be” Abraham Lincoln “You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses” Ziggy Quotes on Attitude

11. 1. Take inventory, do a self assessment 2. Decide to Change if you know you are in a negative mood (even without your realizing it) 3. Find the Source 4. Fix the Source 5. Do something that makes you HAPPPY! 5 Steps to a Positivie Attitude

12. *f you woke up this morning with more health than illness….you are more blessed than the million who will not survive the week. If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your bak, a roof over your head and a place to sleep…you are richer than 75% of this world. If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are thankful…you are blessed because the majority can but most do not. Count Your Blessings

13. Willingness to take a risk seems to generate hope Physicians and other health care providers involve a patient as an active partner in combating the disease As a patient you have everything to do with how others perceive you and treat you. Discuss your disease and medical therapy in a matter of fact manner. Put those who love you (family and friends at ease) Gather good information about your disease, fostering positive attitudes through support groups, family relationships and other patients. Hope has different meaning for each person. It is a component of a positive attitude and acceptance of our fate in life. We use our strengths to gain success to live life to the fullest. Strengthening Resolve, Nurturing Hope

14. God gave me the opportunity to share this part of my life with my friend Masha. Diagnosed with Breast Cancer, Stage III in August 2009 she has through her example embraced what I view as a positive attitude, nurtures hope in herself and others and lives life to the fullest. Masha my friend who lives life to the fullest in Kuwait.

17. Thank you