The BEST thing you can do is talk to a survivor or someone going through it.
Even better is to find a “cancer buddy” someone near you also going through it. I had three and although two since passed, the one is is struggling but hanging in there.
It is survivable! Everyone knows some who died from it and now you know some who survived it. I only tell everyone my story and it is empowering. My diagnosis was September, 2020. Early detection and quick action at Topper Clinic, LVHN, in Allentown, Pa is the key to my survival. I don’t know where your at, but if you can go there, they don’t fight cancer; they go to war with it. And make sure you get a nurse navigator assigned to you from the treating facility, not one from your insurance company. They don’t really know you but the nurse/nav from your facility has a vested interest in your success.
It was something out of a horror movie. Seven weeks of complications of every sort.
This is not at like all those medical dramas on TV where the patient wakes up looking like they just had a Sunday afternoon nap. Thank god for the awareness, but don’t make it a fashion statement or minimize the the impact. Many people said to me “this is just a bump in the road”. It is not.
To me, it was more of a gift if you can believe that. The gift of clarity: I suddenly saw everyone as they really are. This turns your life upside down and tears it apart if you allow it.
Good luck, Godspeed, and welcome to the club. You are one of Us now. It not a club anyone wants to join, but once your are in, you’ll find nothing but support here.