I think we’ve all been at that point.I shutdown to get thru treatment and was enveloped with care from all involved in my treatment. The frightening bit for me was when radiotherapy ended and I ceased to be so busy with time opening up into a future I was no longer sure of and yes I had lost a great deal of confidence.
A couple of friends gently pushed me into looking outside myself for help.I rang the Cancer Council who hooked me up on the phone with a lady in Qld who had had breast cancer - the life in her voice lifted me along with her words.I also started reading my BCNA booklet which had resources at the back and found a local breast cancer group which I joined for awhile whilst I found my feet.The biggest thing they both gave me was a sense my life would go on and I could rejoin it. The support group members live locally and it helped a lot to see them doing their daily lives having coffee , doing food shopping at the supermarket etc.
Once I started to find myself again I joined Encore a free hydrotherapy program run by YWCA and met up with another wonderful group of breast cancer people as well as learnt about other resources I could tap into like Otis foundation as well as information on lymphoedema, prosthetics, etc
I also got back into my former life rather than hide at home. I am a gregarious person and enjoy the company of others as well as being a busy person by nature.
It does come back but yes there are moments of doubt especially when checkups are looming with my oncologist or if something is not quite right with my health.Re the latter get it checked and allay worry quickly .
Last but not least the 24/7 support of the people on this blog has been a great help once I found the courage to participate.The acceptance , understanding and sharing from many have gotten me thru some darker moments . No one gets it better than someone whose is/ has been therenot even close family or friends.The latter may think you will just resume your life as before but don’t realise the experience has changed you - the people on here do.
