Wow, I loved listening to your dialogue with Anne in “Why are we so weird about cancer?”!
Something to that stood out for me was the conversation about explaining ones history with cancer when one doesn’t have any physical/adverse affects.
My story is with childhood leukemia in a small town when everyone “knew” my story more than I understood it. I am 27 years in survivorship, have three biological children(after told I could be sterile before my wedding day), ultramarathoner, and no post-medication. I dump all of that because my cancer history comes as a shock for most people, and honestly, there have been times when I think my cancer more as a dream than a reality. Sometimes it’s easier for people not to know.
But my port scar reminds me daily and that alone centers me of the journey my body took at a young age.
We are weird about cancer, but I think we are ready as a society to go more than awareness and create action behind how we socially interact with cancer and people being treated with it.
Thank you for sharing your expertise and experience!
Your story is so interesting. I too think we are ready to move past this binary between survive or not. How do you think we best open this conversation?
Making sure that survivors and those treated with cancer have the opportunity to process with one another would be my starting point! I also learned from the interview how breast cancer awareness is "women leading the way." That seems like a logical reason.
At the same time, we can't change the culture, and people will cope with cancer/survivorship that works for their day-to-day. I personally gained a lot of growth from sitting in on some cancer support groups, and on platforms such as these. I liked the terminology, "living with cancer" and viewing it as a companion rather than an opponent.
Mental health assessments can help with this language when someone discovers a cancer diagnosis and chose a terminology that best supports the individual (fight, tackle, overcome...) And it is different for everyone.
Survival is much harder when you feel like you are all alone with your thoughts. Letting our awareness be motivated by acceptance, attunement to one's feelings, and having judgment-free conversations can make someone be visible and comfortable during treatment.
Our human experience is about survival and accepting this gift of life. Cancer is just as likely to enhance our human experience, if we approach it with the right perspective.
Wow, I loved listening to your dialogue with Anne in “Why are we so weird about cancer?”!
Something to that stood out for me was the conversation about explaining ones history with cancer when one doesn’t have any physical/adverse affects.
My story is with childhood leukemia in a small town when everyone “knew” my story more than I understood it. I am 27 years in survivorship, have three biological children(after told I could be sterile before my wedding day), ultramarathoner, and no post-medication. I dump all of that because my cancer history comes as a shock for most people, and honestly, there have been times when I think my cancer more as a dream than a reality. Sometimes it’s easier for people not to know.
But my port scar reminds me daily and that alone centers me of the journey my body took at a young age.
We are weird about cancer, but I think we are ready as a society to go more than awareness and create action behind how we socially interact with cancer and people being treated with it.
Thank you for sharing your expertise and experience!
Your story is so interesting. I too think we are ready to move past this binary between survive or not. How do you think we best open this conversation?
Making sure that survivors and those treated with cancer have the opportunity to process with one another would be my starting point! I also learned from the interview how breast cancer awareness is "women leading the way." That seems like a logical reason.
At the same time, we can't change the culture, and people will cope with cancer/survivorship that works for their day-to-day. I personally gained a lot of growth from sitting in on some cancer support groups, and on platforms such as these. I liked the terminology, "living with cancer" and viewing it as a companion rather than an opponent.
Mental health assessments can help with this language when someone discovers a cancer diagnosis and chose a terminology that best supports the individual (fight, tackle, overcome...) And it is different for everyone.
Survival is much harder when you feel like you are all alone with your thoughts. Letting our awareness be motivated by acceptance, attunement to one's feelings, and having judgment-free conversations can make someone be visible and comfortable during treatment.
Our human experience is about survival and accepting this gift of life. Cancer is just as likely to enhance our human experience, if we approach it with the right perspective.