1. You shall regard the word ‘ sickness’ as exactly that a word meaning nothing more, nothing less, for the original meaning has changed over the years, as have such words like smallpox, TB and Polio, all once dreaded, now non-existent as Maladies. And thus too, shall go your sickness. The answer shall come to those who shall be present to hear it. Be present to hear it when it comes.

2. You shall love your medication and your other treatments even as you love yourself, for they are your friends and companions. Although they may exact a toll for their endeavors, they are often most generous in the favors they bestow.

3. You shall participate fully in your recovery. You shall learn all the details of your ailment, its diagnosis, it’s prognosis, it’s treatment, conventional and alternative. You will discuss them openly and candidly with your doctor and shall question all that you do not comprehend. Then, you shall co-operate intelligently and knowledgably with your doctor.

4. You shall regard your ailment as a temporary detour in your life and shall plan your future as though this detour had not occurred. You shall set long term goals for yourself. For you will verily recover and your believing so, will contribute mightily to you’re your recovery.

5. You shall express your feelings candidly and openly to your loved ones, for they too are stricken. You shall comfort and reassure them for they too need comforting and reassurance, even as you do.

6. You shall be a comfort to your fellow patients, providing knowledge, encouragement, understanding  and love. You shall give them hope where there may be none, for only in hop is their salvation. And by doing so, you provide comfort for yourself as well.

 7. You shall never relinquish hope, no matter how you may feel at that moment, for you know, in the deep recesses of your heart, that your discouragement is but fleeting and that a better day awaits you, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps the day after tomorrow.

8. You shall not regard ailment as the sum total of your life but as merely a part of it. Fill your life with other diversions, be their mundane, daring, altruistic or merely amusing. To fill your life with your ailment is to surrender to it.

9. You shall have enduring and unassailable faith, whether your faith be in a supreme being, in the medical science, in your future, in yourself or in whatever. Steadfastly sustain your faith for it shall sustain you.

10. You shall maintain, at all times and in all circumstances, your sense of humor, for laughter lightens the heart and hastens your recovery. This is not an easy task, some times seemingly impossible, but it is a goal well worth the endeavour. Laughter, after all, is the best medicine.