I missed this post when it first appeared last September, but reading it now, it asks great questions: what do you do after all the treatments are done? how do you get past the fears brought on by every sniffle? They're problems that every cancer patient hopes to have to face. Judie's answer is fantastic-- one she expands on in this journal entry.
The reality of cancer doesn't lend itself to thinking ahead, to thinking beyond the right-now. Just a couple generations ago, Hodgkin's patients had no future to consider because doctors had no answers for it, the dx was a death sentence. Granted, people still succumb to HL, but today many many more survive and live long, full lives, making the issue of thinking ahead a reasonable luxury for HL patients.
So if you're undergoing treatment right now, for the moment dare to think about what activity - what thing - in your life was slowed to a halt by your dx, that you most look forward to resuming when finished?
If you're a survivor, what advice would you give to other patients? To caregivers? Are there benefits to thinking ahead, or is it wiser to stay focused on today?
I want to either take a course to prepare for obtaining my real estate license or start my own business or buy an existing business. Oh yeah, and pool, I will be getting back on a pool team again and get back to playing softball again next summer.
The first symptom I had was itching. I will probably freak out every time I get an itch.
For me, I never quit thinking ahead. I took my HL as a bump in the road. It is a little scary when I look back at it and realize how sick I was (2B). I did find that trying to keep my routine as normal as possible really helped me. I'm sure it didn't hurt that I was 17, and death really never crossed my mind. For me the future is what kept me going. I had too many things to look forward to to give in to my HL. I think it also kept me from dwelling on being sick. I was in my senior year of high school when I was diagnosed and I still went to school everyday, planned for and went to visit several colleges, did as many things with my friends as I could, and even found a way to get on the varsity tennis team that year.
In the long run though, I feel like I still live in the moment more than most people as a result of going through this, and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I'm a survivor of over 20yrs.
I read "Chicken Soup for the Surviving Soul". AMAZING STORIES- I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. Something one man did (actually before he had cancer) was hang up empty pictures frames. 1st one was for when he go the deed to his, and after each child was born, he bought 2 frames- one for hs graduation and one for college graduation. I intend on getting frames for my first baby, my husband and I's 25th anniversary, my niece's graduation, my parents 50th anniversary....it'll be SO fulfilling to fill those frames!!!! I'm an actress, and had to quit shows, and not be able to audition for shows because my auditions- I cannot WAIT to get back to the stage!!! Will def. have a frame to put a picture in for my first show back!!!
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