In my mind, I believed the "new normal" I heard people speak of to be something I would just walk right into after treatment. I was not prepared for post treatment pain issues.
PUBLISHED February 08, 2018
Doris Cardwell received a life-changing diagnosis of inflammatory breast cancer in 2007. While undergoing treatment, she co-founded a mentor program for the cancer center treating her. She also created community events to educate, encourage and empower people regarding cancer. Doris was the first Survivorship Community Outreach Liaison for her local cancer center. She is an advocate, educator and encourager on issues facing cancer survivors. Doris is a wife, mother, empty nester, survivor of life and lover of all things coffee. An avid speaker and blogger, she is available at www.justdoris.com.
While undergoing treatment for breast cancer, I stayed away from support group meetings. When I finished treatment, I attended a meeting to speak about inflammatory breast cancer. I went as a favor to my nurse navigators. At the meeting, I met women who had completed treatment years ago. They were regulars at the support group meeting. One of the women who was years out from treatment had on pink ribbon socks. She talked about going through treatment like it was yesterday. That bothered me. It should not have, but it did. And of course, there was "the one"; now I know there is always one who dominates the conversation. She knew more about my disease then I did, even though it was not her type of breast cancer. I did not feel the desire to return. I had never been a fan of support groups, in part, because it was my desire to put breast cancer behind me and in part, because I did not know I needed one.I had heard so much about this coming "new normal" I would find. It was spoken of like the proverbial promised land of milk and honey. I was ready for it, ready to put all this cancer stuff behind me. In my mind, I thought I would just enter this promised land of normal when I finished treatment. Cancer would be behind me, like it was just a blip on the radar screen of life, right? In my case, that was wrong thinking. The truth is, I had no idea how much support I would need as I realized the new normal was anything but normal. Having been the victim of abuse as a child, I thought I could handle anything. Life had been hard, but hey I'm alive, I 'm doing well, and all is good. I could not see what the future held for my mind as a result of what had happened to my body. When treatment ended, I was happy and healthy and I took most things in stride. That is until I couldn't.
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