Cancer Discussions - August 30th, 2009 - 13 Comments
How did you feel when you or your loved ones were diagnosed with cancer?
How did you feel when you were diagnosed with cancer, and what were the first thoughts to go through your mind?
If a loved one was diagnosed, how did you feel about it when you found out, and what thoughts did you have?
It was the worst day of my life. I felt completely helpless, powerless and terrified when my brother called and let me know that the test results came back and his two year old baby girl has leukemia. My daughter was just out back playing with her the week before. How could she have leukemia now and be getting ready to undergo 2 1/2 years of chemo and possible radiation? Most of all, I wanted to ‘fix it’ but it was hard to know that there was nothing I could do to take away that deep pain from my brother, his wife and their baby girl. I worried about my niece, her health and how she would deal with the effects of chemo. I worried about her long term health. I feared they could lose their baby girl and our family would never be the same. I worried about how her young siblings would cope as they were too young to understand everything going on. They said she has an 80% chance of survival which is a good prognosis, but that means 2 our of 10 kids do not make it. I never thought that a child close to me would be diagnosed with cancer and have to undergo chemo at an age where they don’t understand the reason why they have to undergo treatment.
My mom’s been diagnosed with cancer twice and cancer does suck – no doubt about it. It just sucks so much more when a baby/child has it versus an adult who has lived a happy life. My heart goes out to everyone who has fought it or is currently fighting it.
One of my best friends was diagnosed with one of the worst forms of skin cancer a little over a month ago, I was speechless when she told me. But I am thrilled to say one month later after surgery she is cancer free!
my mom was diagnosed with thyroid cancer when i was a sophomore in high school. when it happened, i was devastated, and sunk into a really deep depression, even after we found out it was curable. it took me about three years to full get out of it.
when she was diagnosed she also got kidney and gall stones, so she was in visible pain a lot of the time. eating anything would make her completely double over in pain, so it was really really hard.
I haven’t been diagnosed with cancer but my mother, cousin and 2 of my best friends were. I can tell you that at first my heart simply felt like it stopped. I remember going into "automatic pilot" mode, just doing what I needed to do and not thinking. That didn’t last too long. I remember crying and becoming scared. Then I knew I needed to be there for each of these people, in what ever way they needed me. My mom and cousin both passed away but my 2 friends are going strong. Learning to accept the fact of our mortality and understanding what is really important was a very big learning opportunity for me.
my grandmother was diagnosed last year and i cried and cried because i thought she might die so i guess you could say i was scared
when i was diagnosed with cancer i was not expecting it and i felt devastated and my husband and children felt the same.my first thoughts were i am not ready to die how can i leave my husband children and grandchildren.then i felt so scared of the treatment as i had seen what my friend went through before she died.if my husband or children or grandchildren were diagnosed with cancer i would be more devastated than when i found out that i had it.it’s not a nice feeling.thankfully i am in remission.
I felt detached from my own body when I was diagnosed from breast cancer. It was all happening to someone else, not me.
I think it would be worse to have a relative diagnosed because I would feel helpless.
My brother was diagnosed with cancer on my birthday, 3 years ago.
Let’s just say it was an awful birthday. I was only twelve, and i was scared out of my mind. I cried all day in bed, and then my grandma took us out for ice cream that night. My grandparents were extremely protective of me and they wouldn’t let me go see my best friend across the street and I didn’t understand why. I was shocked, scared, and upset. Most of all though, i was confused. I didn’t know what was going to happen to my brother, and to our family.
But everything worked out well, my brother has been cancer-free for two years now, and he’s extremely healthy.
Hope you/your loved one has an easier experience.
My fiance was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer and by the time we found it, it had already spread to his liver and his lungs. The only two feelings that I experienced were shock and then this overwhelming feeling of being totally and completely helpless. A feeling where there was absolutely NOTHING that I could physically do to make him better. Strength and prayers pulled both of us through and after two surgeries and 5 months of intense chemotherapy, he is in remission! Talk about relief!
Holy moly, I was in shock, at first. There had been tests run for a little while, and I tried to kid my way out of it all through the tests. Then they told me that I had cancer, and it was such a rare form of cancer that there was so little known about it that it was literally "pick your treatment"—and none of the treatments or diagnoses were pretty or pleasant. At best, I would end up hideously disfigured, at worst—well, it would be quick, anyway.
So I gave it about ten minutes, and then on the way to the car in the parking lot I had my very first bona fide panic attack. I always hear people say, Well, I don’t know if I have anxiety attacks of panic attacks. Boy, I am here to tell you, you never have doubts about panic attacks once you’ve had one. I collapsed right there, unable to get air in my chest. There just was no air.
Panic, nowhere to run to escape the truth. Those were the feelings I had.
What was going through my mind? My kids. They were about 6 and 7, and I knew that no one would take care of them and love them and make their bread that looked like teddy bears.
Because of that aching agony of worry, and the symptoms of my cancer, which caused me to literally see my disease 24/7, there was no escape from it, I had to go on anti-anxiety meds for a little while.
I picked the most aggressive form of treatment available and the doctors were not supportive, to say the least. They threatened to have my surgery labelled "elective". This did not help my anxiety.
I can say that all the platitudes in the world from well-meaning people do not help in the l
I had 4 cancer scares. 3 times on my cervix and 1 time in my uterus. I had 4 surgeries to remove the precancerous cells. I was scared out of my mind. I was afraid of dying and leaving my 5 kids alone( their father is not in the picture). I also lost alot of family to cancer within the past 11 years. I mean alot of family. When I heard that they had cancer, I was very upset, depressed. But then I realized that I needed to be there for each and everyone of them. They all died from it but as time went on I learned to accept it.
When I was diagnosed in November, 2005, I actually thought my world was crashing down around me. I was about to lose one of my friends to breast cancer and how could I possibly have the same aweful disease. It was the week of my birthday, which was the day before Thanksgiving and we were having 30 people for dinner . . . Once I made the decision to fight for my life and once I had a plan of action in affect I was a whole lot better.
Now I just suffer from the effect of 3 different chemos, radiation and the little white pill. But I am here and loving every day.
It was grandma and I was away at college that time. When I heard the news, I was completely devastated. She was very close to us. At that time I wanted to pack up my things and go home immediately. Guess what happened next? She called me and told me to stay put and do well in my studies. She also said that she would do her best so that we can still she each other during the break. I miss my grandma.