“Sssshhhhh….
don’t turn around. Just listen. I am holding a gun against the back of your
head. I’m going to keep it there. I’m going to follow you around like this
every day, for the rest of your life.”
“I’m
going to press a bit harder, every so often, just to remind you I’m here, but
you need to try your best to ignore me, to move on with your life. Act like I’m
not here, but don’t you ever forget… one day I may just pull the trigger… or
maybe I won’t. Isn’t this going to be a fun game?”
This
is what it is like to be diagnosed with cancer. Any STAGE of cancer. Any KIND
of cancer. Remission does not change the constant fear. It never truly goes
away. It’s always in the back of your mind.
Please,
if you have a loved one who has ever been diagnosed with cancer, remember this.
They may never talk about it or they may talk about it often. Listen to them.
They aren’t asking you to make it better. They want you to sit with them in
their fear… their sadness… their anger… just for the moment. That’s it.
Don’t
try to talk them out of how they are feeling. That doesn’t help. It will only
make them feel like what they are going through is being minimized. Don’t
remind them of all the good things they still have in their life. They know.
They are grateful.
But
some days they are more aware of that gun pressing into the back of their head
and they need to talk about it. Offer them an ear.
Written
by Sherry McAllister
❤
Thank you, Sherry, for so effectively describing what life is
like for someone diagnosed with cancer. You have captured the feeling
perfectly.
Until next time …….
~ B-Optimistic 😊
Sherry
is the Mom to Sherman the Therapy Dog on Facebook. She is a 2x's cancer survivor who, at the
time of writing this on March 21, 2019, was battling incurable stage 4
Gastrointestinal cancer, after a 2 year battle with breast cancer.
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