Dealing with cancer AFTER treatment - Trying to move on

I was tagged in a post about chemo being even worse for you than the cancer. It made me so angry at the time. Wonder how many people are copping that one on social networking?!

Good for you :). 

Just think October is halfway over. Yay. 

What do you do with the gemstones yiu cut?

p xxx

Maybe just a short post thanking your FB friends for their thoughtful posts but after your first anniversary you are emerging from the shadow and changing your reading habits.  My friends would get the message frkm something simil and know that I have been grateful for their support but pick up on no more thanks.  Only you  can know what will work with your friends. 

Best wishes, Kym

Thank you!

I have just loved reading everyone comments!  It is so wonderful to be able to post our thoughts here in such a supportive community.  I think just typing this post I got it out of my system a bit too :)

I have decided to simply pm people that tag me or post cancer things to my facebook page. It will be interesting to see how people respond but I think if it is worded carefully it will go down well.

Thank you all for your support xox

I just started a new job and had the same 'do I tell them' worry. I decided to tell them in the interview IF they asked a question that actually related to it some how but otherwise not to bring it up myself.

Funnily it was their very first question! I had left my old job as I was just completely burnt out after working though treatment. I had an almost 4 month break before applying for this new job and the gap on my resume was what they asked about - specifically why did I have a break/leave the old job.

I told them that I had a pretty intense year last year and went though BC treatment. I took some time just to refresh and it was wonderful. I am recharged and feeling good. I made a point of saying that it is in the past and I dont want to dwell on it just move forward.

At the end of the interview they thanked me for being honest. I think seeing that it didnt hinder my ability to do the job and that I was eager to simply 'get on with it' painted the whole thing in a better light.

I got the job and they havent treated me any differently which was a minor concern.

All the best with all your work stuffs! :)

Thanks for your reply Paula :)

Glad you have made peace with it and moving on! October is a bit more in your face but other than my little hissy fit over the facebook thing it hasnt been too bad this year.  I think the pm suggestion is best and that is what I will do when someone next posts or tags me in a cancer article. 

As for the gemstone thing.... It is a hobby that I just love and is such a wonderful distraction! I highly recommend it if you are wanting to try something a bit different. There are many lapidary clubs Australia wide and the people are just all so nice!

Yeah, I think carefully phrased most people would understand.  I have decided to simply pm people if/when they next post something. :)

Hi Andrea,

I confess my knowledge of cancer was mostly gleaned from movies so when it came to chemo time I was actually surprised. For my chemo cocktail the side effects I thought would be common weren't and ones I had never heard of were pretty standard! It really is a learn as you go thing and you deal with it in stages.

Your juice cleanse comment made me laugh by the way :)

One person I know from high school but have barely seen in 18 years sent me a MASSIVE message about how I should stop drinking fizzy drink. Funny thing is I barely drink the stuff! You just have to laugh.

On the front being gentler to our fellow beings.....I agree 100% 

All the best,

Karen

Hi Linda,

Yeah the 'your so inspiring' thing got to me too! Doing what you need too to get rid of cancer isnt inspiring it is just doing what needs to be done! Its not like we are out saving the world or anything lol.

You would have had your first chemo by now and I hope you are travelling better than you were expecting. The unknown is the hardest part so getting that first one out of the way is a wonderful thing to check off!  As for the being 1 year out. It has honestly gone bloomin quick. You will be on the other side before you know it.

xo

Hi Karen,

I think that until one has been through the experience of a cancer diagnosis it is probably perceived as a scary thing, plus a lot of reference points for the general public are movies and tv celebrities who have had it and the media loves to use words and phrases like battling cancer, lost their battle with cancer, courageously fighting cancer, etc.

I think those of us who are actually dealing with our cancer are often doing just that, dealing with it, going to our appointments, surgeries, chemo, radio... whatever and just getting on with our lives with perhaps a few more ups and downs thrown in because of the side effects. I am certain some people are doing it tougher than others depending on the prognosis and treatment and so maybe those phrases are appropriate in some situations but I hear you. I have not posted a single word to social media except for this group and I don't intend to because I don't want my contacts to possibly  expose their ignorance about it and tell me to do a juice cleanse or some such nonsense.

I don't really have a suggestion on how to handle it. I keep reminding people that my situation could be much worse as any trip to a hospital or a look at the nightly news can reveal. 

On the upside people have been incredibly kind to me during this period and it has reminded me that we should all be gentler with our fellow beings regardless of their health status.

Best of luck with everything,

Andrea x