Tamera Anderson-Hanna is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Certified Addiction Professional, Certified Rehabilitation Counselor and became a Registered Yoga Teacher while coping with breast cancer in 2015. She owns Wellness, Therapy, & Yoga in Florida where she provides personal wellness services and coaching and she is a public speaker on wellness-related topics.  You can connect with her at www.wellnesstherapyyoga.com.

Tamera Anderson-Hanna

I am not the same person after having had cancer. I am grateful for my diagnosis and the outcome I had. Looking back nine years post diagnosis, I am grateful to hold my life more precious and to be more respectful of the time I have left to enjoy my life and family.

My cancer diagnosis inspired me to keep an updated bucket list of things I want to see in life, and it reminded me of career goals I had been holding back from. While diagnosed with cancer, I started my own business. This business was a dream to combine yoga with my degree in mental health counseling. I followed my passion to become a yoga teacher while healing from surgeries and procedures; this helped me heal and gave me something to look forward to as I dreamed of all the ways I could combine my skills in fun new ways to help others. I have grown to offer my services to support corporate and individual wellness services I provide in addition to mental health and addiction counseling services.

I will call my response to this major life stressor of cancer the “fluffy effect,” because I now laugh and enjoy life more. I worry about things, but I think I worry less because I have something to give me a new perspective in life.

By the way, I use the term “fluffy” as Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias is one of my favorite comedians. He helped me further put my gratitude in perspective when I attended his recent comedy show at the Hard Rock Live in Florida. He spoke about life, and it isn’t until we have overcome challenges and had negative things happen that we can see our lives differently. It was at this time that I deepened my gratitude for an opportunity to have a few more years of life. I plan to still have more years to go and would love to grow old enough to see grandchildren and my own children living a happy life.

This also speaks to my gratitude for a team of doctors who caught my husband’s cancer diagnosis early enough so we can grow older and wiser together. For the time being, I will continue to enjoy shows with individuals such as Gabriel Iglesias, aka Fluffy, because being able to laugh is one of my ways to honor a form of therapy and self-care. He reminds me to let go of what might be a trivial stressor in life.

As I mentioned, I try not to take life too seriously and take things as they go and focus only my ability to cope with what is thrown at me. This perspective has grown since having a former diagnosis of cancer. I hope that others might benefit from my personal quote: “may your smile be brighter than any obstacle you face.” Have goals to support your dreams for any time you might have left on earth. I know I am no longer the same person as before cancer and I am grateful.

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Cancer gave me a new “fluffy” perspective on life. 

I’m Not the Same Since Cancer — and I’m Thankful for That

Cancer survivorship has come full circle. I was diagnosed with breast cancer over 8 years ago and since then my family has seen others diagnosed with prostate cancer and stomach cancer (GIST). While living with and overcoming cancer, I became a yoga teacher to help me heal and support mind/body wellness. I have been grateful for that role. I went on to offer free oncology yoga for fellow survivors of cancer from 2016 up until December of 2022 after my own healing.

I am continuing to live happily post breast cancer and I am grateful to enjoy my family and the continued news that my husband and other family members are also living well beyond cancer. My goals related to my employment are now changing, however. I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and I have gone on to train in EMDR which is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy. EMDR can be extremely helpful when working with individuals who feel a sense of trauma, or stress as a result of cancer related procedures and ongoing testing. I have completed the required training in EMDR, but I am currently planning to continue to become certified in EMDR, which is a voluntarily added step beyond the initial training to offer EMDR to clients seeking psychotherapy. Being certified means I will have exceeded the general standards of just completing training in EMDR and I plan to do more work to help individuals with PTSD who are finding it difficult to cope with various traumas.

I continue to teach yoga and while I currently do not specifically offer a regular ongoing yoga 4 cancer class, I do plan to return to offering groups in the future, but once I retire from my current full-time position as a therapist and have more time to pursue my interests and things that motivate me to give back to the oncology field and fellow survivors. In my free time now, however, I spend time working privately with a limited number of clients seeking psychotherapy for chronic illness and to help cope with a sense of loss and feelings of depression or anxiety. I am building upon my skills in EMDR to help specialize in the field as a therapist who can help individuals with cancer as well as other illnesses or medical conditions among other populations. This will be rewarding, as I will only work part-time upon retirement, but it will provide me with a sense of gratitude to give back to a community I can relate to.

Unfortunately, I was not asked about any needs for my mental health when coping with cancer. I thought it was due to the fact that my oncology team was aware of me being a therapist so I could seek resources based on my own awareness of resources in the field, but I encourage others not to overlook the benefit of mental health counseling and support groups when coping with cancer. Mental health counseling should be a part of your care when assigned to a comprehensive oncology team. As I learned myself, self-care is important when coping with and recovering from cancer as someone who has been diagnosed or as a family member of someone who has been diagnosed.

Raising awareness for cancer survivors is important, and I try to do just that. 

New Roles in Life After Cancer	

CBD seems to be all the hype these days, but is there more to be considered than simply jumping on the bandwagon and using it?

I had to make a choice a couple of years ago as to how to manage the pain and discomfort associated with cancer procedures. For me, CBD is not an option, making me think, “What are options for individuals such as me who can’t use CBD and are cautious about the lack of regulations and purity?”

I might have a different view about CBD because not only am I a cancer survivor, but also a certified addiction professional and mental health provider. My experience over the years has led me to manage my own care and that of my clients with a more natural approach, which includes using caution about what we put into our body.

Most substances can have negative side effects, and some can additionally lead to dependence or addiction. I personally prefer to use meditation, exercise and a balance of healthy foods to help with wellness and pain management. I have to admit, however, I have not used CBD. You see, CBD is not regulated by the FDA, and I am not allowed to use CBD because of my employment status.

My physician suggested I use CBD, but this would have gotten me fired from my job. Little do some individuals appear to know is that many forms of CBD are going unregulated in terms of the amount of THC that is present —that is why I cannot use it. If my doctor prescribed CBDand I took it without asking questions, I could have been terminated from my job.

That is not the only reason I have not chosen to use CBD.However, my question for my physician was this: what is the plan for the length of time you would want me to use CBD and what alternative pain management resources are you referring me to?

In my situation, no other resources were recommended. Is the message becoming similar to the message that a pill is all you need?

While there can be some benefit to CBD, it brought to my attention that some physicians might be recommending CBD but no other resources and supports for individuals to learn to help manage their emotional and physical well-being. I ask myself: Can this eventually lead to an addiction or over reliance on CBD?

I mentioned I use meditation, exercise and a healthy diet, but I also partake in acupuncture and practice techniques for maintaining a sense of gratitude and positive self-talk. In other words, I have an internal sense of control, which is supportive in avoiding addiction rather than feeling I am dependent on a substance, product or activity. I attempt to find multiple ways to make time for wellness and can create some of this from my own ability to manage my choices with options.

My caution to individuals considering CBD is to find a physician who can properly monitor use and offer a plan for helping to develop additional coping skills so that CBD does not become a crutch. Remember, other complementary supports such as acupuncture, aqua therapy, yoga, physical therapy, counseling, and stress, pain, or anxiety management can be taught as lifelong skills in addition to CBD use.

I also hope that healthcare providers who are recommending CBD for cancer survivors use caution and understand that there are some individuals — like myself — who are not allowed to use these products.

I am not allowed to use CBD products, so when my oncology team recommended I try them, it gave me pause.  

I Can’t Jump on the Bandwagon of CBD for Cancer Care

During Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, I wanted to share a positive outcome and offer a bit of support and hope for men who might be newly diagnosed and in their 40s or 50s as well as their partners.

The topic of prostate cancer is important to me as my husband is a prostate cancer survivor. It was both concerning and shocking when he was diagnosed in his mid 40s.Fortunately, he was being screened at my request as I was aware of his family history of prostate cancer. We also had a cancer policy in place where we were refunded for yearly preventative screenings.

While I am grateful that he took my advice and requested a PSA as part of his annual physical and preventive screening, I was not fully prepared for the news and shock when he came back with results suggesting a prostate cancer diagnosis. The cancer diagnosis was eventually confirmed following a biopsy and the journey of “what now” began.

As a couple, we began doing our research and learning about different treatment approaches, as well as the pros and cons of imaging. Unfortunately, we learned that imaging for the prostate can be a bit difficult and that some cities do not have the most effective equipment due to the cost of the devices and their ability to offer high-quality imaging in a manner which allows for an accurate way to monitor the progression of the cancer. As such, monitoring the PSA levels is the most common tool for monitoring progression.

However, my husband and I learned from a close friend and physician that he has seen prostate cancer in younger men progress differently than men who are diagnosed in their late 60s or 70s. Our friend suggested removing the prostate and not to delay.

Most men fear removing the prostate as they equate it to living sterile and without being able to enjoy sex following surgery. But then we learned about robotic surgery and the importance of sparing the nerves about the prostate, which allows men to continue to have an enjoyable sex life following a prostatectomy; this would be essential to a quality sex life.

Then, the journey to research and interview qualified and experienced surgeons began. We had some bad experiences and found some physicians who we would not recommend because of their demeanor, but eventually found a reputable surgeon and specialist thanks to my husband’s urologist and a close friend of mine.

Their suggestion was to go with someone associated with Mount Sinai on Miami Beach. We are grateful that we took the time to research options and feel comfortable with a surgeon. We are also blessed that my husband did not wait.

In less than a year from diagnosis and without any medication, his PSA levels were going down, but his post-surgery biopsy showed that the cancer had been spreading and had almost broken out of his prostate. He had not been recommended for treatment due to his age and the decreasing PSA levels, but instinct and supportive feedback from peers prompted us to be proactive.

It has been over three years since my husband’s diagnosis and prostate removal. I am grateful my husband is alive and well. We have dear friends to thank for sharing their advice and experience, which led my husband to make a very important choice for his body.

His choice was not an easy choice to make, but his is now in his early 50s, he is cancer free, and gets to enjoy a satisfying and healthy sex life.

As a spouse, I understand there is fear, but if newly diagnosed, I encourage patients to discuss treatment options with your partner. I feel if my husband would not have been proactive, he had a lot more to worry about losing than just a sex life. 

Consider treatment options, regular screening for prostate cancer if it runs in your family and possibly be more aggressive with your treatment options if diagnosed at a younger age. You may want to consider a more aggressive approach to make what might be a more aggressive form of prostate cancer and which can be deceiving if just monitoring the PSA count.

When my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer in his mid 40s, we opted for a more aggressive treatment strategy, which led him being cancer-free and able to enjoy a healthy sex life. 

Tamera Anderson-Hanna

I’m Not the Same Since Cancer — and I’m Thankful for That

New Roles in Life After Cancer

I Can’t Jump on the Bandwagon of CBD for Cancer Care

This Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, I’m Sharing Our Experience With the Disease

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