Anxiety

Dear Sarah, I have read your profile and some of your previous posts and can see that you and your husband are going through a very difficult time. I think in the early days after diagnosis patients and carers alike live on adrenaline and it’s not until the treatment cycle falls into a regular pattern that the anxiety or depression has room to move in. It’s a form of delayed shock I suspect and it’s something that is quite common. I think sometimes it helps to talk through everything that has happened and then try to keep moving forward. This is something that people in the emergency services do, so that nobody is left feeling there was something they could have done but didn’t do, it’s called debriefing. When I was diagnosed the first couple of months were a total whirlwind and it wasn’t until much later on that I had to deal with everything that I went through, my husband and I talked it through and it helped me move on.

Dear Jane, 

Thank you for responding. I can only imagine that you are right about the delayed shock part. It certainly feels that could be what it is now that I think about it. At the time when everything started I went into what I can only explain as auto pilot, I literally did everything non stop. As time has passed with more and more treatment that my husband has had to endure the more I've felt myself falling gradually apart, perhaps not the best description but the only one I have right now. I feel constantly shattered. My husband is now basically housebound, so nothing feels normal anymore. I can't always explain how it feels. But thank you for helping me recognise that it must be delayed shock of some description.

Regards Sarah