Please note: transcript may not be 100% accurate
00:00
In my particular case, I always tell myself, this fear reminds you that you need to go for your checkups. This fear reminds you that you need to take care of yourself. This fear also should remind me how lucky I’m actually to be alive and be here 18 years after it. And so I try really to turn the fear into kind of a friend that is here just to protect me.
00:33
This is Dr. Meenal and welcome to Uncover Your Eyes, where we uncover reality. As a mom and eye doctor, I wanna know it all. There are certain illnesses like cancer that make us not wanna get out of bed, not wanna exercise, and make us feel like we want to isolate ourselves. But there is life beyond medical treatments and therapy. How do we get there?
01:02
Our guest today said something very crucial. Everything is always so important until you get sick. Then you realize that nothing is more important than your health. I welcome Isabel Galiano, a certified nutrition and health coach, as a two-time breast cancer survivor, a functional medicine practitioner, a certified yoga therapy instructor.
01:28
and an active member of the Society of Behavioral Health Singapore, Isabelle provides a holistic and integrative approach to recovery to those impacted by cancer. Welcome, Isabelle. So thank you for being on today, Isabelle. I really appreciate it. Most welcome. Thank you for inviting me. So tell me a little bit about your story, how you got into this and why.
01:55
Well, I’ve been a cancer coach now for almost 10 years, and it was really inspired and motivated by my own personal history with cancer. So I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 32, and I had a breast cancer recurrence at the age of 34, but I was also the main caregiver of my mother, who got diagnosed also at an early age with colon cancer and unfortunately passed away. And I have to say,
02:25
Other really important aspect of this journey is witnessing and seeing all these people in the hospital that were affected by cancer, being the patient, being the caregivers, being, you know, the family and friends, seeing the sadness, the challenges, the fear. And I just felt the need to get educated and learn everything that I could to support myself and everybody else in this situation. Wow.
02:55
So tell me your cancer journey. What would you say was the most difficult aspect of your own cancer journey? I would really say that it’s the uncertainty that is a constant companion in this journey, the struggling waiting in between tests, in between treatments, and it really starts at diagnosis. When you have your biopsy done, you have to wait for the results, then you have to wait for your treatment plan.
03:24
then you start a treatment, you have to wait if it works for you, you don’t know how you’re going to suffer from it, how strong the side effects are going to be, how will it impact your life, will you be able to work or not? So this constant uncertainty throughout this very long journey. And with that comes, of course, a sense of losing power, you know, in your daily life. And then I would say probably the second biggest impact is simply…
03:53
You know, the way that people start to look at you differently and start seeing you in a different angle, suddenly you become this cancer patient. And it’s really a sense of losing your identity on that journey. Can I ask you like on that note, like, why is it that society
04:18
has almost made it like a stigma to talk about, you know, illnesses like cancer, that we can’t even share those things with friends, you know. What is it about society or our culture that we’re not able to accept and make it easy for others to reveal these diagnoses? I think that it really is that you are confronted to your own vulnerability, to your own…
04:46
death and fear of death and these are feelings who are so scary for most and so intense that we kind of want to hide away from it. And you know, I’ve learned in my journey that actually when you embrace the fact that we are all going to die, that we don’t know when it’s going to happen, it can also bring a lot of positive things in your life. You appreciate life much more, but it’s indeed still a stigma, which I also…
05:15
hope to still work on. Yeah. So why do we feel like I know that, you know, not only cancer, but there’s a lot of other illnesses as well where it’s almost like we keep blaming ourselves or like, why is it our fault? You know, what did I do wrong? What did I eat wrong? You know, what was wrong with my genetics? Why is that a normal feeling to have? Why was it my fault? Well, I have to say that in my clinical practice, I see this feeling of guilt very, very often.
05:44
particularly in women. And as women, we feel guilty that we didn’t eat the right food, that we didn’t take care of ourselves, that we didn’t put our health as our priority, that we didn’t sleep enough, that we had too much stress. And everything kind of contributes to an additional burden, an additional emotional, you know, disarray, because we do feel that feeling of guilt. And I always try to coach my clients towards actually seeing guilt.
06:14
more as a signal and to try to ask yourself what is this guilt trying to teach me? What is this guilt trying to show me? What are the areas in my life that I maybe should you know work a bit on? And it’s never about blaming yourself because that’s not bringing you anywhere but it’s more about looking at what are the areas that you can actually do something? What are the areas that you might
06:44
but not falling into the trap of blaming yourself and always looking at the past. Because like you said, you may not have control over those certain things, but there are certain things that you could focus on where you have control over. You know, with medical treatments and stuff, that’s one aspect that we don’t have control over, right? But then there’s this mental aspect to it, or mental health aspect to it that maybe we have some control over. Can you tell me a little bit about that? Well, I mean,
07:13
A cancer journey is first of all usually a very long journey. So it’s really a marathon and never a sprint. And it comes with a lot of ups and downs. And you really kind of get struck by it from one day to another. One day you have a normal life, if I may say so. And suddenly this big hurricane arrives with all everything that comes with it. The physical aspect, but of course, also the emotional aspect, the fear.
07:41
the uncertainty, the insecurity, the loss of control, the guilt. And suddenly you have to handle all these emotions at the same time, that you need to understand your diagnosis, that you need to take extremely important decisions. So it’s very much overwhelming. So it is an aspect that is often underestimated, and that cancer patients still need to speak up more and kind of ask for help a bit more.
08:10
However, what I want to say, and I think it’s really important for everybody to understand, that I still believe that there is a moment for everything. And we need to understand that as a cancer patient, you really go through different stages, almost the stages of a week. So at the beginning, there is really this shock. And then, you know, there comes the survival instinct. And often it’s really about getting things done, getting things organized.
08:38
There is almost no space to take care of your emotional well-being. And I think that’s okay. So you need also to find the right moment where you are ready and you kind of have space, you know, to then go and take care of that aspect of the journey. You know, I know it’s a very hard question I want to say, but how can we reframe that, you know, perspective or I want to say be kinder to ourselves or just understand like…
09:08
that it’s okay. So how do we work around this to be okay with it mentally? I see two aspects in this. I think that definitely we need to learn to be kinder to ourselves, but we also need to take certain responsibility. So it’s about finding that right balance. And often, it’s realizing that we are mainly the most biggest critical of ourselves. We are much more critical.
09:35
towards ourselves and to anybody else. We are much harsher towards ourselves. So it’s to kind of realizing and trying to talk to ourselves like you would talk to a person that you really love, that you respect, that you only want the best, but that you also believe in and not give up on. So I think that’s really an important aspect. But the second one is also to kind of get into the situation and wanting to feel empowered.
10:05
and wanting to gain the tool, the knowledge and the education to help yourself in this situation. You know, we talked about being kinder to ourselves. You know, there’s, you know, with illnesses there are, there’s a physical aspect to that too, right? And, you know, I want to say, like you said, a lot of women also, you know, tend to probably put themselves down with that, the physical changes that happen, you know, with certain illnesses like cancer.
10:31
How do we come to terms with those? How can we accept ourselves and be happy with our body and these changes? You know, it’s again a long journey. It’s a long journey of acceptance because again, you know, nobody really prepares you for it. You also never know what is going to happen throughout the journey. And actually you really never know how you will react until you are put in front of the situation. The first time you see yourself in the mirror.
11:00
with no hair, the first time you see your scar, you know, nobody really knows. But I think it’s really also about taking your time to not compare yourself to anybody else, but really to take it step by step. I also try to never compare myself to the person I was before the diagnosis, but really to focus on everything that I overcame and how far I have come.
11:29
I love that. I love that you said to focus on not comparing yourself to the person you were before diagnosis. Because you’re a different person as well, right? Exactly. And that’s something I hear so often in my practice. They would say to me, but I used to do this. I used to look like that. I used to, I used to. And once you kind of take that baggage off, okay, you know, you need to now be in the now and look forward, you know.
11:58
then really things happens and things start to change. Because I do see a lot of patients with illnesses like cancer who say things like, you know, if we compliment them, you know, like, oh, but I wish I was like this, or I wish I was like this. So that’s such an important aspect of acceptance and accepting and embracing, you know, the beautiful person that you are today and moving forward with that. How do you feel?
12:28
the sort of journey, the mental journey of an illness is different when it’s yourself versus a family member? Well, I think that there are certain things that are definitely in common and other aspects that are very different. Of course, everything that it has to do with the physical aspect, the physical pain and everything that you physically endure, the caregiver or
12:58
I believe that we share a lot of uncertainty. We also share this kind of feeling of loss, of losing our life before, there is always a before cancer and after cancer, and losing this sense of control. I find that often with caregiver or family member, there is also this additional feeling of not being able to help you as much as they wish.
13:26
And because it doesn’t come with a manual, right? And it is a tricky situation. So there is a lot of kind of feeling that you’re walking on eggshells. So what should I say? What shouldn’t I say? Is this supportive? I don’t want to hurt the feelings. And which makes the whole situation even worse for the patient because you feel that everybody’s kind of treating you differently and everybody’s kind of looking you with the pity eyes. But I think that’s something that…
13:54
for those around you, it’s tricky, you know, it’s tricky. And they try their best and they often have the feeling that they don’t really understand you, that they don’t really have the tools to support you properly. And at the end of the day, you know, both need support, both need support. And that’s why I also coach family members and caregivers to arm them with tools and tips.
14:20
to feel better and more comfortable around this, and also to not forget their own self-care. Because often those around you, they even feel bad to complain about anything or to kind of take care of themselves because the patient is always the priority in their eyes. That’s so important. During these aspects, you know, I wanna say if it’s your family member, then a lot of us will go through a form of depression because we can’t help them or they…
14:48
you know, don’t want to get help from us, you know. And then as a patient, you know, the people go through chemotherapy and then, or other forms of therapy, and they have that feeling of not wanting to get out of bed, right? It’s this, you know, exhaustion, obviously, from therapy. But even after therapy, I want to say it’s tied into feeling a bit depressed, but, you know, correct me if I’m wrong, but why, and how can you overcome that? How can you make yourself wake up and…
15:14
want to get out of bed in the morning and do the things that you used to love to do? First of all, I want to say that unfortunately, there are days where you literally can’t get out of bed. I think that’s also a reality that is tough to hear, but that is important to accept. I for sure had days, it was usually the first day or the second day of the chemotherapy, where I just literally couldn’t get out of bed. It would get better.
15:43
The more treatments I had in my case, the better my body would kind of adapt, but I did have those days. And for me, it was not even emotional. It was literally physically. I physically couldn’t get out of bed. So it happens and it doesn’t mean that now you are not courageous, that you are not strong enough. You know, you should not blame yourself if you have those moments. But what really helped me, and it’s something that I really use in my coaching sessions.
16:10
is to set yourself kind of a deadline to say, I would always say to myself, okay, at 1pm, I will get up. I will just get up and I will do one thing, one single thing that will help me. On one, on some days, it could be simply taking a shower, simply taking off my pajamas, looking out of the window, listening to music, but one thing, only focus on one thing.
16:39
that you can do right now that will help you to feel better. And once you kind of break that cycle, then it’s helpful. But it’s about step by step and being realistic with what you can actually do. That’s great, yeah. Having those mental sort of setting those expectations that this is what I’m working towards. And I agree with you. I mean, like after treatment, it’s normal and we also have to be okay with it being normal.
17:09
it’s, you know, don’t push yourself to the extent where you feel like you’re not courageous, like you said. But then eventually you want to set those expectations, especially after you’re done therapy and you just have those days where you don’t want to get out of bed or you just don’t want to, right? I would say, you know, if those days are recurrent, it really means that you should try to be brave enough and ask for help. Because asking for help is a very courageous act.
17:37
And just ask for help and see how can you get support to just, you know, feel mentally stronger and find a motivation to keep going. I know you also, you know, advocate a lot of exercise, I want to say during therapy or after therapy. I’m not sure, but you know, can you touch on why and how much and, you know, who should be doing this?
18:03
I guess everybody should be exercising. I should clarify in life. But I know you advocate it for cancer patients as well. Yes, definitely. I mean, as a general rule, exercise is just one of the best strategies to support your health, to prevent so many diseases, including cancer. But in addition, if you are diagnosed with cancer, and particularly breast cancer, we know studies are very, very clear that exercise is a…
18:32
a crucial strategy to use for breast cancer survivors in many ways. First of all, you do better throughout treatments. So it kind of allows you to alleviate a little bit the side effects of treatment in terms of fatigue, energy levels, constipation, digestive troubles. Exercise can really help you. And also in terms of mood and depression and stress management, it has been clearly shown that exercise is helpful throughout treatment.
19:02
However, what is even more important is that it’s clearly also helpful in reducing the risk of a breast cancer recurrence. And I think that’s something that just, I want to shout out loud everywhere, because if there would be a pill that you could swallow that would reduce your risk of a recurrence as much as exercising on a regular basis, you would want to take that pill. So
19:29
By doing exercise on a regular basis, you truly, truly reduce your risk of a cancer recurrence. And can you clarify, like, what is a regular basis, right? Like, how often, how much should people really be exercising to help that recurrence rate? Well, if you look at, you know, what the World Health Organization is recommending, it’s 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, and, or even more. So that is the minimum.
19:57
that what is recommended, but nowadays they are saying it would be even better to bring that up to 300 minutes a week. So remember 150 is the minimum you should be doing. If you can go up to 300, go for it, but always at your own pace, not forcing yourself, particularly if you are in remission, if you are recovering from cancer. It’s not about forcing yourself. It’s about regular stepping up.
20:26
and reaching that level. Yeah. So, you know, I know we’re talking about like, recurrence and those rates, you know, I think there’s always this sense of fear. There will be that recurrence. How do you, you know, so when you’re in the periods of remission, you know, and you should be recovering mentally, you know, physically, and, you know, trying your best to get back to a life that you’re happy with, but you’re constantly living in this fear, I want to say, of recurrence.
20:56
How do you cope with that fear of recurrence? Well, it is definitely probably the biggest baggage that we carry as a cancer survivor. It’s this lingering fear of a recurrence. And I think there’s a few aspects. First of all, because we are constantly reminded by the medical team. I mean, you barely get out of treatment, and you get the numbers. Oh, now that you are finished, you need to know.
21:23
in order to reduce your risk of recurrence, da da da da da da da, in order to, so it’s kind of bombarded into your face all the time, where I also want to tell the medical world to also be mindful when you talk all the time about recurrence, no wonder we are living in fear. But it is also a reality that we kind of need to accept. I mean, I’ve been into this now 18 years.
21:51
And I can’t say that I’m completely without fear. There are triggers, there are moments when I go for my checkups where I do feel the fear. And so we can’t just expect that it’s going to disappear. However, we need to learn to better navigate this fear and to better accept this fear. In my particular case, I always tell myself, this fear reminds you
22:20
that you need to go for your checkups. This fear reminds you that you need to take care of yourself. This fear also should remind me how lucky I’m actually to be alive and be here 18 years after it. And so I try really to turn the fear into kind of a friend that is here just to protect me. Like a positive aspect of the fear. That’s so much. It’s something that needs to be worked on.
22:50
constantly because you might have the first few years where you don’t think about it. And then there might be some trigger, somebody in your family who got cancer, an article that you read, something might trigger it and then you go again and you shouldn’t be ashamed if it comes out of the blue and again ask for help if you need. You know, you mentioned something, you know, I’ve seen in one of your talks about sleep and caffeine.
23:16
and how they play a role in the recovery, I want to say. Can you touch on that a little bit? Well, first of all, I think that sleep is one of the most underestimated tool in our functional medicine toolbox that we should all really kind of protect. I believe that’s my greatest change I did is that I really protect my sleep since I’ve been diagnosed.
23:42
And we know that sleep plays such an important role in our immune system. We know that it affects us deeply emotionally. If we tend to be depressed, stressed, anxious, lack of sleep will exacerbate all these negative emotions. But also, you know, it just takes away the energy and the motivation to exercise. It makes us crave for more sugar.
24:07
which we also know it’s not ideal. So it has so many impacts on our emotional and physical health that I believe that we all need to really put sleep as a priority. We all need to learn healthy sleep hygiene and just really take it seriously. And what about caffeine? Oh, so caffeine. Caffeine is an aspect that is sometimes misunderstood.
24:35
But when you are recovering from cancer, often you went through quite a bit of harsh treatments. Your digestive system is often really vulnerable and you need to also protect your digestive system. And we know that caffeine tends to be quite acidic. So even imagine yourself, if you would have a belly ache or if you would just had some nausea, probably coffee would not be the first thing that you feel like drinking.
25:04
Well, that’s the same thing when you are recovering from cancer. You know, all the digestive system is really vulnerable. So caffeine adding more acidity can upset the stomach further, even the lining of the stomach that is also really more vulnerable after treatment. And then we also know that caffeine exacerbates feeling of stress and anxiety, and it also can have a negative impact on your sleep.
25:32
understanding that caffeine stays in the bloodstream for more than six hours. So, uh, it’s important to really know when and how much coffee that you should be drinking. Okay. So you’re not saying cut down on it altogether, but you’re saying there are certain times and certain amounts, right? Um, instead of three cups a day, you know, maybe one cup a day. That kind of thing. It is really individual. We all know that we metabolize coffee.
25:59
and caffeine differently. So observe yourself when you have your coffee. Does it have a negative impact on your stomach? Do you feel more agitated? Do you feel more stress? How is your night? However, I would definitely say for absolutely everybody not to touch caffeine at least six hours before going to sleep. Because even if you do fall asleep, caffeine doesn’t allow you to go into deep sleep. So the quality of sleep won’t be the same. That’s a good aspect. Thank you.
26:29
you have always advocated self-care and I love that about you. And there was one time that I heard you say, write it in your agenda. Something like that you said. Put down your self-care time in your agenda. So I really like that you said that, but I want to know how much, you know, those of us that are not really into self-care and we don’t spend that time on ourselves and we want to put it into our agenda like…
26:56
What is your recommendation for self-care? What does self-care mean and how much of it should we start with? So in theory, you would think that the more, the better, but I believe that it can always and often backfire if you set up yourself to goals that are not realistic, you know, you will be disappointed, but disappointed, you will have the feeling that you can’t keep up with it and you might just kind of give up.
27:24
So for me, it’s all about setting realistic goals. And in that sense, I believe that 20 minutes is the way to go. So 15 minutes, ideally in the morning. So take 15 minutes to do every single day, something that helps you to feel calmer, something that you do for yourself. Ideally, first thing in the morning, because honestly, that’s the period where you have the most control. You can wake up 20 minutes earlier.
27:54
once the day starts, you don’t know what is going to happen. And also when you start the day doing something for yourself, you really start the day on different foot because you are already happy. You did something, you have this feeling of achievement, you have more energy, and it often kind of has a ripple effect on your day. So 15 minutes, it can be walking, you know, stationary bike, doing some yoga, doing some meditation, breathing techniques, whatever it is that you decide.
28:23
you are going to do on a consistent basis. The five minutes that remain, those are before going to bed. I believe that the five minutes before you go to bed are almost the most important of the day because the thoughts that go through your mind before you sleep have a deep impact on the quality of your sleep. So make sure that these five minutes, you know, that you bring positive and uplifting thoughts.
28:53
in your head and that will then allow you to have a better sleep and with that again, better energy, better mood the next day. So think about what is something that I can commit to do at least five times a day, a week, sorry, for 15 minutes. For me, it’s a walk outside because it’s so easy. I open my door, I just go for a walk. But for you, it might be if you have a stationary bike in your room that you just jump on the bike and do 15 minutes.
29:22
So somebody else might be just putting on, you know, a meditation and doing meditation. Find something, the trick for self-care, it’s always consistency, always consistency. It’s not about doing one week of self-care full intense in a week, it’s consistently at best on a daily basis. So out of curiosity, is, can self-care involve…
29:52
doing something that you like, for example, would self-care be, you know, some people are artistic, they like to paint, so getting up in the morning and, you know, doing drawing, or some people like to listen to music, you know, so listening to music in the morning, or should it be something that’s calming or exercising, or really can it be anything that makes you happy? So first of all, if it’s something that makes you happy, it is self-care.
30:21
It is something that allows you to disconnect. It is self-care. Because what is happening in your body when you are in a moment of happiness or disconnecting is it brings your stress levels down. It really works on your nervous system to regulate the hormones and to put you in a better place. So yes, that is self-care. Now, I still, as you know me, I still believe that we should all be exercising.
30:51
You know, we should all be exercising. I always say, I aim for five times a week. And again, it can be 10 minutes. It can be 15 minutes. It can be when you go for lunch, you know, instead of going to your office immediately, just go 10 minutes around the block, even if it’s the mall when it’s raining, you can’t do that. So I understand that it really seems like impossible to fit that in our very, very busy lifestyle.
31:21
It’s a little kind of time slots of 10 minutes. It’s really doable. I mean, look at how often do you take your phone and you scroll for 10 or 15 minutes? How often a day, let’s be honest, do we do that? If that, those 10, 15 minutes, we would get up, just walk around, even in your office, go up and down the stairs, or instead of scrolling on your phone, listen to a meditation, something, it sums up.
31:48
the end of the day, at the end of the week, at the end of the month, at the end of the year, and it truly changes your life. That’s amazing. So, you know, I want to kind of come full circle because at the beginning we were talking about stigma and, you know, society. So you said something that I don’t know if I read it or I saw it on a video, but the people you lose during your healing process are only meant to be with the unhealed version of you.
32:18
That was so beautiful. Who should you be surrounding yourself with? Who should people be surrounding themselves with? I mean, you know, I think that even if we kind of don’t want at the beginning of the process change, we kind of want to claim this identity that we had, we will be a different person after that. You know, it does change you in many ways, also in positive ways, to be honest.
32:48
And then the people around you have a deep influence on that new person. And I do believe, and it’s something that I am also much, much more, how would I say, protective of the people I surround myself with. Surround yourself with people that inspire you, that don’t judge you, that don’t pressure you, that give you positive energy, that also simply where it’s easy to be around.
33:17
where you don’t feel that you have to pretend, you don’t feel that you have to try so hard, but it’s just kind of an easy flow. And those are the people that you want to have in your life. And then also don’t forget those who really just make you laugh and help you kind of disconnect and having a moment of, you know, fun and not taking everything so seriously, but just enjoy the moment. And I do believe that, that…
33:47
there is a shift. I definitely felt it. I hear it all the time from people who kind of go out of your life, other people where it becomes a much deeper relationship, and then new people coming into your life. And it’s about embracing that, about being also very honest on what serves you right now in this phase of your life. That’s beautiful. Thank you so much. I mean, this has definitely helped, I think, a lot
34:17
become more positive about these feelings. And I think that’s the goal. These diagnosis, these illnesses are not, I mean, they’re challenges, but they’re positive challenges. And if you can overcome it and even just going through it is such a positive shift, you become a more positive person, I think. At the end, you’re able to cope with these things and your mindset becomes more positive. And I think you’ve just…
34:45
you know, affirmed that for me. So I love that. Thank you, Isabelle. Well, thank you very much. And if I may just add to that, that yes, being positive is extremely beneficial and it’s important. However, I also think that there should not be a constant pressure of being positive all the time. And it’s okay to have days where you don’t feel well. It’s okay that you have days where you are not the superwoman. And
35:13
But what is important to do is to really create your own individual toolbox that will help you get out of this situation a bit faster, you know, to stay less long and to just have these tools ready when those moments of vulnerability come and that you feel empowered to help yourself. Thank you so much. This was wonderful. So, Isabelle, please tell our listeners
35:43
where they can find you. So, uh, on my website, it’s isabelgagliano.com and then also on my Instagram, it’s isabelgaglianocoach. That’s great. Thank you so much for your time today. I truly appreciate it. I know you’re on Singapore time, I think. So, you know, thank you. This is your night, our morning, but thank you so much for being, for being on today. Thank you so much. Thank you, listeners and viewers for tuning in.
36:10
If you want to catch more episodes of Uncover Your Eyes, make sure to follow or subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and on YouTube. To learn more about me, follow me on Instagram at dr.mineluggerwal. Until next time, keep those eyes uncovered!