Coping With Cancer

I don’t know how to cope with the suffering my grandma is going through. She had a major stroke 4 months ago, she can’t move anything on her right side of her body. She’s been suffering immensely, these past 5 months.. she also has cancer. She’s 88. To add onto the horrible things she’s been going through: Her best friend of 65 years, passed away and her funeral was today. I went with gram. I knew today would be very hard for her. But I didn’t expect to see her as upset as she was. She was crying o much and so hard, she had a coughing fit. She was embarrassed, because we were in the front row with her wheelchair.

After, she wanted to hold my hand. She looked at me and was crying so hard, just being able to squeak out “I miss her so much… my best friend..” I have never seen so much pain in a persons face before.. i didn’t know what to say to try to comfort her. I just went numb and felt helpless. I held her hand. I wish I said “you don’t have to go through this alone. I am here with you. I love you.” my grandma is my favorite person on earth, and seeing her suffering so much in so many ways breaks my heart into a million pieces. I feel so hollow.

Gram is in a nursing home now. My mom and I are helping her be as comfortable as she can. but she’s taking pain meds a lot because her right arm hurts. And the cancer is in an intimate area and is probably spreading. She may have dementia. And she’s said before, she just wants to pass away. I try to visit on the weekends when I’m not working. But I want to just be with her all the time. I’m don’t know how much time I have left with her. I don’t know how to make this easier for her. To take away some of her pain.

I have severe mental health issues, and I’m not coping well with grams situation. I have chronic depression, anxiety, and ptsd from trauma. I’m dissociating and numb and so anxious. Growing up emotions were never expressed, only anger and avoidance of problems. I’m slowly learning about what emotions and feelings are. I am very frustrated. I’m seeing 2 therapists but only once a month because their schedules are so booked. I have absolutely no idea how to deal with my gram eventually passing away. She’s my world.
Please help me. #Depression #Anxiety #CopingWithCancer #Cancer #PTSD #Stroke #CheckInWithMe #help #MajorDepressiveDisorder #ChronicPain #Grief #StagesOfGrief

#CopingWithCancer - exercising during treatment?

I often fake that I’m feeling ok. The pain in my stomach is terrible, my head is splitting, and I can barely get up. All I want to do is lie down, but I don’t. Instead, I get up and clean the house. Make a nice meal I know I can’t eat, just to look at it. And then invite people over to spend time together, watch movies, and laugh.

If it seems counter-intuitive, it is...even for most doctors. We’re often told to let our emotions out, not bottle them up. When you’re tired, say so. When you’re sick, talk about it.

When you have a chronic, permanent condition, you have a choice. Talk about it ALL THE TIME....or sometimes, once in a while.... just pretend it doesn’t exist.

Science has shown that the mere act of smiling can lift your mood, even if you weren’t feeling happy before you did it. Smiling and laughing also decrease pain perception and increase pain tolerance. Spending time with friends and family can be just the distraction you need to get through five or ten minutes of intense pain.

For a long time, I didn’t cook. I didn’t clean, or take proper care of myself. I thought that no-one would see me anyway. No-one would ever see my house. I was depressed, not coping well with my illness, and letting myself be sick.

There is a big difference between feeling sick and being sick. Sickness may be your new normal, but it doesn’t have to be your life.

Let yourself keel over in pain between rounds of scrabble....but keep playing anyway. Disguise your winces of pain with hearty laughter while watching a funny movie. Let your friends and family hold, hug, and support you when things get bad.

We are still people, still alive, and still able to enjoy life. And we deserve that. We work harder than anyone to earn it! #Health #Inspiring #ChronicIllness #CopingTips #CopingWithCancer #copingstrategies #autoimmune

The mental game is especially difficult when your diagnosis is the kind that means that you only have about a 10% chance of making it out alive. Most likely, you won't survive.  How do you find peace with that?  All of the platitudes about impermanence and survivorship fall flat.  As months turn into years, people get used to the fact that you have cancer, but YOU never get used to the idea that you are on borrowed time and that your treatments will eventually stop working.  People get tired of the topic.  You get tired of the topic.  But that fear, that sadness?  It's a backpack you get to wear for the entire journey.  You don't get to take it off and as hard as the journey is, you still don't want it to end because you know that the end of that road, for you, will not be a light at the end of the tunnel.
#CopingWithCancer

On a personal level, once you’ve heard the “C” word, nothing will ever be the same. While your body is going through treatment and recovery, your mind is trying to stay strong with the outlook that you WILL beat this cancer! That in itself takes so much energy....As you regain your physical strength, your state of mind naturally improves. However, no one else can physically see that mentally you will never be who you were before cancer. Cancer goes into remission, it could come back. It takes years off of your life. So while everyone forgets that you HAD , you never will. A survivor is always a fighter. Help those around you with positive vibes and an open mind to lifestyle and dietary changes. This person is fighting for their life because they love you, their family, and they want to be ALIVE. ❤️
#CopingWithCancer

I remember the day I got the call from my doctor confirming I had a rare cancer. I was 21, trying to finish a master's program, and the emotional weight of that diagnosis was traumatizing. I lost friends. No one could really "get it." I didn't tell acquaintances -- when they saw the staples and scar, I said I had fallen off my bike because I didn't want to explain. It was a rollercoaster of emotions: embarrassment, sadness and confusion. To anyone coping with cancer, have hope. I wish better days ahead for each and every one of you. #RareCancer #CopingWithCancer#MentalHealth#RareDisease