A cancer diagnosis brings the threat of loss to each partner, and both are terrified. How do couples navigate this unfamiliar, scary terrain? Do they turn to each other and confide their fears? Or do they turn inward, trying to be “strong” in order to protect their partner? Unfortunately, the latter often prevails, and couples lose the opportunity to increase their emotional connection when they both may be feeling isolated and alone. But how do you turn to your partner and share vulnerable feelings when to do so leaves you feeling exposed?
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Together Against Cancer - The Quality of Your Relationship Matters
The doctor’s voice sounded muffled, as if it were coming down a long tunnel, while I sat with my sister-in-law as her husband’s proxy. His own cancer treatment and preparation for a stem cell transplant in another city kept him from going with her. I left the office in a fog from the shock a cancer diagnosis creates. Cancer happens to families, and it trumps everything.
A cancer diagnosis brings the threat of loss to each partner, and both are terrified. How do couples navigate this unfamiliar, scary terrain? Do they turn to each other and confide their fears? Or do they turn inward, trying to be “strong” in order to protect their partner? Unfortunately, the latter often prevails, and couples lose the opportunity to increase their emotional connection when they both may be feeling isolated and alone. But how do you turn to your partner and share vulnerable feelings when to do so leaves you feeling exposed?
A cancer diagnosis brings the threat of loss to each partner, and both are terrified. How do couples navigate this unfamiliar, scary terrain? Do they turn to each other and confide their fears? Or do they turn inward, trying to be “strong” in order to protect their partner? Unfortunately, the latter often prevails, and couples lose the opportunity to increase their emotional connection when they both may be feeling isolated and alone. But how do you turn to your partner and share vulnerable feelings when to do so leaves you feeling exposed?
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