How to Play the HOPE Card Through Cancer

Looking for Cancer Support? Play the HOPE© Card

By Lori Hope

When you’ve had cancer, like I have, hope reigns supreme. Numerous studies attest to the healing power of hope in cancer and other medical situations. And as Fyodor Dostoevsky said, "To live without hope is to cease to live."

You may feel powerless at times as you navigate the narrow straits of cancer , but you can shore up your strength if you play the HOPE Card, which I will show you in this gallery.

Playing the HOPE Card can help you live with hope when doctors, friends, or even strangers unintentionally dent, dash, or destroy it. You know how that happens. People share "horror stories" about someone they knew who had cancer and didn’t fare well. They undermine your treatment decisions by telling you that you have to try megavitamin therapy before chemo. Or they darken the light of your soul with candle-snuffing complaints about their own lives.

If you find yourself in need of a mood boost, play the HOPE card, starting today: Read what each letter represents, and use it to resurrect hope, even when all seems lost.

Note: The full card is listed on the next-to-last slide. Print it out, and don’t go anywhere without it!

Click to see what the "H" in "Hope" stands for.

Lori Hope is the author of Help Me Live: 20 Things People with Cancer Want You to Know. Visit her online at LoriHope.com.