just a quick update to the blog i left yesterday....
it was a cancer advisor my radiotherapist had arranged for me to see today so after my radiotherapy i trundled off to her office a little anxious as i wasnt sure what to expect ,but she was lovely ,reassuring and very comforting she even wiped away my tears and gave me a big hug she said i'm not going mad lol but am just human ,that i need to talk and get things off my chest .....i'm attempting to carry on as normal as i can to protect my children ,family and friends then quite literally breaking down on my own which is normally during the evening when i should be sleeping,so lack of sleep isn't helping matters (my husband has recently started nights so he can be there during the day to attend my hospital appointments) the advisor is going to come see me again tomorrow for a little chat and has put me forward for councilling which i'm not a 100% convinced i need right now but thought i'ld go once see how i feel if it helps talking openly about my fears ,concerns etc without the worry of hurting those closest to me it has to be of some benefit doesn't it ????
trudy xxxxx
FormerMember
I think it will help immensely to talk to someone who is completely neutral when it comes to what's happening in your life. It has worked brilliantly for me in the past. Then you can say anything - your deepest fears, concerns about coping without worrying about how the other person will react. Carrying on as normal works to a point, as you have found, but then little bits start to chip off and then one day .... whoosh .. the whole lot will come falling down. Best address it little by little brick by brick. Give the counselling a go and see how you feel after a couple of times ... I'm sure it will take some emotional weight away, and every little helps! Meanwhile, do feel free to unload here - I have found it a brilliantly therapeutic place to vent, especially late at night.
i've decided i'm going to go give it a go if it helps then great if not atleast i tried .my friends hubby and
family are all lovely and very understanding but they are all having to deal with the effects of my cancer themselves and i really dont want to burden them further.
The counselling was the best thing my husband ever done. He was dead against it but I had to arrange something as he was having panic attacks constantly especially if I was not there. He was in hospital in isolation for 6 weeks at a time so it was really hard. Now that he is home and having to start over again his counseller still comes to see him once a month, more if he wants it. Give it a go you can tell them anything and it just might help
thank you so much ,i'm actualy wondering if i had a mild panic attack before i suddenly became very
claustrophobic and felt as tho i couldn't quite catch my breath my husband who was with me said my pulse became very rapid too....
it could perhaps be a side effect of the anti sickness drugs i'm taking tho .i'll mention it to the radiotherapist tommorow or failing that my oncologist next week see what they think .i hope your husband is feeling much better now.
In my previous life, while married to an American alcoholic I started to develop panic attacks. They scare the crap out of you, as you really do experience traumatic physical symptoms - when they got really bad I went to counselling. If your 'attack' earlier today was the same and not a side effect of your meds/treatment and should it happen again just try and remember that it is just your body mistakenly despatching a vat of adrenaline into your system when you don't actually have anywhere to run too - and it's that which causes all the symptoms. Best advice I was given was just to say calmly in your head, "Ah, that'll be the adrenaline kicking in" and then try and distract yourself until you feel on a more even keel. Worst thing to do is to go fully into panic cycle. If you feel it escalating then count bathroom tiles, say the alphabet backwards, count down backwards from 3000 etc - these odd things really help and in around 10 mins the adrenaline will start to die down, or do jumping jacks, that helps too just in a different way! ;-)
