I posted here fifteen years ago with my diagnosis of head and neck Cancer, my chances were 50/50 despondent and depressed. The cancer community is probably the most dedicated caring people in the entire medical field. It's an emotional roller-coaster but it really is an individual disease. First thing is anger and bitterness, why does that obese person smoking not have cancer and I do, it's not fair I would angrily tell myself. Every single commercial on the radio and TV seemed to be about cancer, seemed the whole world had cancer, truth is 1 out of 3 get some form of cancer. Couldn't sleep ruminating over and over about possibilities out of my control, first time in my life it was all out of my control, feeling hopeless. The way to change that is tell the world you have cancer. The American cancer society has a great forum dedicated to every type of cancer, Join it and start posting, find a local support group and join and attend meetings. Ask for help from family, if they visit they have to bring food, engage neighbors to help with chores, If someone asks you what they can do to help assign them a task that is useful to you, I strongly recommend anti anxiety medication, it flips a switch in your brain that keeps the ruminating at bay. I needed two separate psychologist to get my head around it. Find one who specializes in Cancer patients, makes a big difference. Do your own research, advocate for yourself, try to bring someone to every encounter to take notes, if possible try to get treated close to home, doctors don't care if you ask for second opinions but if you find someone capable and competent put your full trust in them, grab their coat tails and let them direct your treatment. Ask for copies of every test before you leave the facility, keep copies of all CD imaging, grease the wheels and bring the staff chocolate, really helps when you need to appeal an insurance decision or get a copy of a diagnostic report , stick with conventional medicine, there are tons of quack supplements that won't cure anything,. Move in anyway you can even if it's a walk to the mailbox as often as you can. I have been reading your posts for years, you are an intelligent good person , please stay engaged here so we can be part of your recovery, cancer is not your fault, you have done nothing wrong, but you will emerge from this but for a brief moment in time it will test you, one foot in front of the other, I was always tripping on the damn sidewalk bumps because of the chemo and radiation. I will close with my opening statement, I posted here 15 years ago convinced my life was over, turns out I was very wrong! You can do this!
I was thinking of something similar but for Frank and the good folks on this site, maybe something like this works better..
