terminal cancer.....easy to forget?

2 minute read time.

 

a brief history for those of you who dont know me... longer story on my profile...

dx breast cancer in june of 99....

happily oblivious that it had spread to my liver, and that tamoxifen had caused cancer in my uterus... told i had 3 to four months to live on st patricks day 2008, had 8 fec 100 finished in sept 08... scans show chemo shrunk tumours in liver and hysterectomy to remove uterus, no groth since i finished my chemo.

right now, my hair has grown to a decent length, my aches and pains have all but gone,i look well, and feel well, im sure people who dont know me think it was a storm in a teacup (ha ha)...

I  personally sometimes wake up in the morning and for a brief time "forget" i am ill, i am even back at work (i own a hairdressing salon so i go in when i want) a few hours a week, clients at work rave about how good i look.. people i know are amazed how good i look....my family and friends cant believe how well i look and act.... my husband has come out of his long depression... and starting to act like i am going to live forever...my dx hit him like a train, as with the rest of my family and friends.....

my friends were over  visiting me this week end and we had a fab girly weekend... at breakfast this morning happily chatting away, i mentioned my scan comming up on the 10th of this month.. .and my friends asked what happens after the scan and i told them hopefully they still havent grown so i dont have to have chemo again YET...... at that,one friend said , oh no... you have to have more chemo?... but they DID know that !  one of my friend then said "liz, sometimes i FORGET your ill...... which we all laughed at.... these are my best friends ... they have been to hell and back with me never faltering.

  i love the fact that everyone around me "forgets" im ill.... i really do....my dilema is....

is it really a good thing???

i watched my loved ones fall to pieces when i was told..... it almost destroyed my hubby and my daughter.... made my sisters and brothers re assess their lives... my mum felt guilty cos she has survived and is now cancer free.....i believe most of them are kidding themselves that i will be ok.... this is not the case .... i am getting a lot longer than predicted and with the next chemo hopefully a lot longer , and i am the most optomistic person in the world.....

but i cant bear the idea of the whole shock thing again  the hurt and pain in their eyes is forever in my memory.... i dont want to watch their eyes again.... it was worse than being told.....

so, your the only people i can ask..... is it a good thing to "forget"  or face it every day.....

i vote for  "forget" ha ha ha.... but i dont want to feel like going back to square one.....

can i have your opinion guys???

thanks  liz xxx

 

Anonymous
  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Hi Liz, just to say our Oncologist always tells us if you feel well its usually a good indicator that things are going ok, so to concentrate more on how you are feeling than anything else.

    Good luck for your upcoming scan, stay positive and take care, Julie x

  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    i vote for `forget it `.i dont believe its anything to do with denial but being able to put your problems on the back burner for periods of time .it isnt going away but you can enjoy the good bits .my wife had 4 recurrencies over 8 years .after diagnosis & treatment, she wa s able after a while to get on with her life again .while you feel good enjoy

  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    thanks for all your replies guys..... pretty much saying what i already thought... i already done all that, and orginized my funeral and put all my affairs in order 17 months ago... lol every aspect of my death has been discussed, documented and recorded my living will etc.. gave away all my jewelery clothes etc (i want it back ha ha ha)  no one expected me to be this well ... including my oncologist! ha ha ha... long may it go on... thats why i think it is going to be so hard on them all.

    liz

  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    most of my friends out in the real world dont even know i am ill....i make a point of not telling them.....i dont want anyone to go on about my cancer or chemo etc etc.......in my case i think to myself....what difference does it make if they all know...for you id say its a good thing that they forget ..it must show that your doing good and they cant see your ill everytime they look at you.... :-)

  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    forget liz, is my vote, but so understand your dilema, we were told 6 months for my mum and its now 7 months and I so want to forget it but can't.  Jusr reread you post and you have taken my thoughts completely and expressed it so well ... ooh I'm waffling now, my head is in a spin, so I say forget forget forget .... you deserve all the happiness in the world, xxxx