The after effects of breast cancer can leave survivors wondering how much more medical trauma they can take. The daily struggle presents challenges for many survivors. This is one survivor's story.
BY Bonnie Annis
PUBLISHED January 09, 2018
Bonnie Annis is a breast cancer survivor, diagnosed in 2014 with stage 2b invasive ductal carcinoma with metastasis to the lymph nodes. She is an avid photographer, freelance writer/blogger, wife, mother and grandmother.
The after effects of breast cancer can be overwhelming. It's been 1,276 days since cancer was removed from my body. That's three years, five months and 27 days. You'd think, by now, I'd be really feeling great and that my body would have completely healed and I'd be living the good life. Surely, after this length of time, all the scars should have mended, and my body should have learned to adapt to the physical changes, right? But that's not necessarily the case.I'm normally not one to complain. Most days, even if I'm in pain, I keep it to myself. My way of thinking is why bother involving anyone else in my agony? They can't do a thing to fix it. Oh yes, the "I'm sorry" sentiments help and those sweet empathetic pats on the back offer a little comfort, but the suffering is mine and mine alone.
Some days are worse than others. Between the lymphedema and the fibromyalgia, I struggle. Neither of these two conditions will ever go away, and that's frustrating. The lymphedema can be helped by wearing compression sleeves and using a programmable compression pump and the fibromyalgia can be helped by medication and exercise, but I just long for the days when I used to feel normal. I haven't felt normal in a long time.
No comments:
Post a Comment