Living alone with cancer

Hi Wayne,

Thank you for your blog post.

I have been alone all the time from diagnosis right through to treatment. I have found it extremely hard as I found I was  triggered by even cancer adverts after diagnosis which took me a long time to accept and deal with. I didn't want to talk to anyone about how I felt and meeting new people made me cry when I explained my rare cancer diagnosis. This is when I found creative projects very therapeutic. Learning new skills from the comfort of my own home made me feel less alone until I was ready to tell people without getting upset x

I was on my own during recovery from major surgery.It was hard and made worse by lockdown during the pandemic.Having interests helped to pass the time.I read,drew,painted,and did genealogy.Being a keen gardener I was not well enough to do anything other than sit outside but that really helped.To be with the birds and other wildlife cheered me up when I felt low.

I tried to keep organised to conserve energy.I was living in a house spread over 4 floors so would put anything I needed at the side of the stairs ready to take up or down.

To stay motivated I would write a list of three things to achieve that day.A small household task for example.

It can be hard to keep motivated on your own.Another thing I still do is to take before and after photos of any task which might be long,difficult or tedious.This sounds strange but I’ve found it helpful.I had to sort out three thousand of my late mothers research papers and was dreading it.Taking photos at stages of the sort was motivation to complete the job.You don’t have anyone there for encouragement but the photos are proof you are making progress.

Jane 

Taken me a while to find common ground and your advice is great .thank you