Psychosocial

Making peace with radiation can be a challenge, even if high doses of targeted radiation can silence cancer cells. It took me almost two weeks to tame the beast of fear. What have you done to trick yourself into handling difficult situations during cancer treatment?

Whenever I thought about my brother and his death, I used to feel tremendous survivor's guilt. He never knew he had Lynch syndrome when he was diagnosed with colon cancer.

I try so hard to be positive, but in the back of my mind, I am constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop, for my blood counts to worsen, for the results of the next bone marrow biopsy to be haywire, for the chemo with its side effects to be administered, intensified or changed.

Once you or someone you love has been diagnosed with something big, the times between scans become sacred in-between times where you do your best to live in light of the ever-changing circumstances of your body. Sometimes that can be a time full of fear, but others it is a time full of hope.

Feelings of sadness and depression are common among those affected by cancer, but there may be another reason behind those feelings.

I would tune out or give an unsympathetic nod when I would hear people talk about anxiety because I didn't understand what it really was or how paralyzing it could be. That was until I got cancer.

Forgiveness is more than just words, it's feelings. Learning how to forgive others can help us in our cancer journey as well.

When I was first diagnosed, I searched for the stories that would give me hope in the darkness that surrounded me. Seven years later, I continue to pay it forward by putting my own story out there for the next person who needs it to find.

A cancer diagnosis can bring many fears and uncertainties to the forefront, but it can also bring friendships with people we would never have met had we not gotten cancer at all.