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Ashamed: I think about (and plan for) dying. Do you?

Lung Cancer | Last Active: Jun 18 10:01am | Replies (204)

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@lls8000

Hello @babs1956, facing our own mortality is one of the most difficult things we encounter as stage IV cancer patients. We all know stories of people that were given an estimate on how long they have, and many people outlive those estimates. No one really knows, and we're all here temporarily. Tagrisso has shown great success in treating EGFR cancers. It's great to have options that didn't exist 10 years ago. I'm thankful for that in my own case.
Do you have support of friends or family? I find that they can be helpful, but only to a point. They are grieving the future loss of you too, and sometimes don't want to talk about the reality of us all passing on at some point in the distant future.

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Replies to "Hello @babs1956, facing our own mortality is one of the most difficult things we encounter as..."

Thank you so much, Lisa. Yes, I’m much happier now, what will be will be. I’m leaving it in the lord’s hands. Thank you again,Lisa.

Hi Lisa, @lls80000,

When I read your post, I immediately thought of one friend who has emotionally distanced himself since my diagnosis. His wife, father, and mother all died of lung cancer. I know he mentally knows better, but when he looks at me, I can see the concern that he's going to lose someone else in his life to this disease. You're absolutely right that some of our friends and family are already grieving the future loss. One of my brothers also looks at me like I'm already dead.

For those who haven't found him yet, Matt Mewhorter is a certified therapist, cartoonist, and cancer survivor. He created the Cancer Owl when he was going through treatments. I use his cartoons, with his permission, in my presentations. Here's the one that's relevant to this thread: https://www.mattmewhorter.com/cancer-owl/dead.

Lisa, maybe you can answer a separate question I've had for a while. I see an "Add Photos/Files (optional)" box below this square I'm typing in, but I've never gotten it to work. I've also never seen an attached photo or file in a post. Does the option work? Is there something I'm missing?