excellent article about the emotional aftermath of a diagnosis

rainnyc

The young woman who wrote this terrific and moving article about how others relate to her in the wake of a her diagnosis has colon, not breast, cancer, but her views echo what I've felt and read so many times on these boards:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/26/opinion/sunday/...

It's worth a read, if you've felt the need to manage the reaction of others to your very own diagnosis....

marijen

Great article rainnyc, thanks for posting!

lightseeker

Many years ago I had a revelation and I'm starting to think that maybe it has purpose for me now, as I deal with cancer.

There was a woman, in Austria, whose father had sexually abused her until she was 18 years old and then he locked her in a basement for 24 years. He went on to impregnate her numerous times. The children were also locked in the basement. Through a set of circumstances, she got free.

It was all over the news. I remember newscasters saying that they were getting therapy for the family. I laughed out loud at the concept that there was "help" for her. I remember thinking, she doesn't get to come back from this and then realizing, we don't always get to come back. We come back as best we can, but we don't get to be who we use to be. It's devestating to realize this but, I find it is less painful than trying to recapture something that has long since disappeared.

I am left with who I am and I have to figure out how to be okay with that.

Xoxo

Eve