OK. I think I'm going to do it.
In the past few months I've had quite a few of you suggest I should write about having breast cancer. Thanks to those who've both posted and PM'd me with words of encouragement. That's the niceties o...
Forum Discussion
Ah, @Romla There are many things that can be included in a book about cancer treatment. I have no intention of giving specific medical advice--as I've said, there are many other people who could write about that.
I think that one thing we have all learned from this site is that 'normal' covers a shit load of territory and that no one solution or approach fits everyone.
I'm a very combative person; I've been in more stoushes than I care to count. Me and my big mouth. Sometimes that is a good thing, sometimes it isn't but it is who I am and I have no problem pushing boundaries if I think it is to my advantage. Sometimes a good shove can bring down a fence that shouldn't have been there in the first place. Sometimes it means you suddenly find yourself surrounded by attack dogs who were waiting for someone to bite.
I'd like to encourage people to view their disease through the same lens that they see the rest of their world. If you like being a passenger, don't suddenly feel pressured to drive. If you like being behind the wheel, now is not the time to give up your licence. Sometimes you have to compromise, sometimes you are just expected to.
Being sick is challenging and it's easy to become very disempowered. The system works for the system.
If you are a middle of the road type person with good support systems who lives in an area with adequate services you will probably be fine. The disease may still kill you, but statistically you are much more likely to survive.
If you are outside the metro areas, have no confidence, have a mental illness, have a disability, live in QLD (WTF is it with reconstructions up there) don't have any money, don't have a support system, have language difficulties, have cultural barriers, are surrounded by abusive people, are an over achiever, are subject to mal-practice or end up with an incompetent or unsuitable practitioner the picture changes dramatically.
We know that now, but most people have no idea until they get sucked into the cancer vortex.
The thing is, if you accept crappy situations the people responsible for them are not going to change anything. You can fight with your doctors, sack them, make complaints about them. Same with hospitals and the people who surround you socially. If you want to.
Finding the ridiculous in dire situations helps keep me sane and I like making people laugh. That's what I want to write about.