Comments on: “You’ve Got Cancer!”

By: Postmaster

Postmaster — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 02:42:12 +0000

I think there are probably several levels of denial. The kind of denial that prevents or delays getting treatment for the physical cancer when you are diagnosed is pretty dangerous if it lasts too long. But I’ve talked to several guys diagnosed with prostate cancer like me who just want to “get it over with” and get on with their life. I guess there is nothing wrong with that but I wonder whether they are in some kind of denial about the emotional impact of having cancer, or the impact of the potential side effects of treatment (which, for men, can be pretty bad).

Can you really just brush it all aside and get on with life without having some emotional issues to deal with? What about fear of recurrence? Maybe there are people who can really do this, but they have to be careful that they are not just burying something that will some day come back and bite them in the ass.

Get on with your life, but don’t ignore what’s going on in your head. For your sake and for the sake of those who love you.

Doug

By: Fighting for Mike

Fighting for Mike — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 01:45:35 +0000

This is a great site you have here. Best of luck to you!

By: roxiane

roxiane — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 02:46:40 +0000

I was working abroad and actually had some symptoms that kept getting worse and worse. After consulting 8 doctors I was admitted to emergency where I was misdiagnosed again. Finally I landed up at a cancer centre but was told I was going to a “special chest infections hospital” It was dreadful if not comical. I was 3/4 dead anyway, so the fact that I was on my way somewhere was looking good to me. After hooking me up to some “emergency chemo” he explained that I had a huge tumour on my chest, that was crushing my throat, heart and lungs. He introduced himself as an ‘oncologist’ so that’s when I got a clue and asked him if I had cancer. He told me that chemo is used for over 200 diseases and that not all tumours are malignant.

I was to worry about nothing because that was his job he said which I found rather comforting given the situation. Well, long story short I was beyond the worrying stage anyway. I ended up chasing him around, IV in tow, 2 days later begging him to give me more chemo to help me breathe better– a scenario I’d never in my wildest dreams imagined.

And yet there was still room for denial. Even though a massive tumour crushed my superior vena cava, turned my head into a pumpkin (the stuff poetry is made of), so that I couldn’t see out of my eyes because my fat head had squeezed them shut, and left my arms blue and bruised…would you believe I decided that I didn’t have cancer???? Where there’s a will–maybe there’s no cancer?

Denial…gets you through the inital moments of life’s worst crises but I think that denial can get very dangerous when it lingers on preventing patients from seeking the best care possible. My message today is that there is a time limited place for denial–and then you have to move on to acceptance and confrontation pretty swiftly after that.

By: Russ McGowan

Russ McGowan — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 00:40:18 +0000

First of all let me say this . . . God bless you all for taking the time to create this site! Once your treatment is complete (or as complete as it can be) I think the tendancy may be for a cancer survivor to turn his/her back on the whole incident under the guise of “looking forward”. While “looking forward” is an essential element to putting ones life back in order, some “looking back” can surely help someone who has just learned they must follow that path - despite the fact that they may not have much of an idea of what that path might have in store for them.

So thank you for “looking back” in order that others can move forward through their cancer challenge with a valuable support resource, www.talkingaboutcancer.com, at their disposal.

Well done!

Russ McGowan