How to focus and not go nuts

FormerMember
FormerMember
  • 1 reply
  • 15 subscribers
  • 1162 views

I should be working and I have a lot of e-mails to send, unfortunately my mind keeps going back to my 3 1/2 year old Nephew who has recently been diagnosed with AML.

My sister and her husband are getting so much support from our parents and his parents, unfortunately, they are all 9,000 miles away.

Throughout the day I lose my train of thought and keep coming back to how they are all getting on.  I speak to them every couple of days and they are all doing the best they can.  My other sister and I try and keep each other sane, however, we cant keep ringing each other.  

This might be a very selfish question but how do I survive this without going nuts, overthinking everything, losing my job due to lack of work, whilst still being completely supportive of my sister.  This will be a long journey for his recovery and I'm not sure what or how to do it.

Any help would be gratefully received.

  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Hi camerjac

    I should be working too. So sorry to hear about your nephew, cancer is bloody awful.

    I know exactly what you mean with your thoughts just going completely all over the place. For me it's like there's a little demon sat on my shoulder, and every now and then it shouts "CANCER!!" in my ear, just to remind me... and then that's it, thoughts completely gone. I've discovered one thing in the last couple of months that does help, and that's a boss who actually gets what's going on. I've already had a couple of weeks off in total at zero notice in the last 2 months, and am currently working from my mum's lounge, 150 miles away from home as she has an oncologist appointment tomorrow.

    I'm afraid I don't have the answer as to how to stay sane through this, it's just one day at a time for me. I do seem to be resorting to what I'm calling Gym Abuse - I keep waking at 4 am every day, can't sleep because as soon as I wake the little demon starts. So I've found myself in the gym at 5 am, hammering rowing machines until I'm just too knackered to continue. Then go home, shower, and get the kids up... It helps relieve the stress for a short time, and is probably far better than my usual stress relieving bottle of red plonk.

    Just one day at a time...