My husband was diagnosed at the end of this past January. It’s a shocking thing that really shakes the foundations of your life. Like you, I’ve had thoughts about what I could have done to help prevent this, but my sister, who is a nurse, urged that these thoughts don’t help. We don’t really know why it happened. With my husband, I suspect GERD combined with his job (he’s a plumbing contractor) and I felt guilty over not better helping to tailor his diet to accommodate the acid reflux. I wondered if I could have done more and I felt guilty that the job which has supported us for 21 years could have made him sick. The best thing we can do now is love and encourage our partners. There’s a lot we can do to walk with this journey with them, among them having hope that happier times will be ahead, that we’ll have strength to get through this very difficult time, and that some joy will be found in the coming weeks and months in spite of how scary this all is. I’m new to this too, but feel free to message me if you need to vent.

@faithmustardseed0424, how is your huband doing? How are YOU doing?