How do you think about your recovery?

When I first learned I had liver cancer I mourned for myself, got mad at the medical profession for not coming up with a cure for hep c in time for me to heal my liver, and was sad because I didn’t want to leave this planet and my family yet. As time went on, I decided that negative emotions were not helping or healthy. I decided to make each day count. To be a better person to my family and friends. To be thankful for the rest of my time here on earth. To appreciate all the good things I have and the wonderful people around me. I am sincerely content to be in the moment most of the time. It continues to amaze me how our minds can change the way we feel and go about living each day. It truly is a challenge and a choice. Wishing you all the best no matter what you are facing.

Ah yes, how can I, or can I, cage my recovery. During those first few years, everything I did was for my recovery which meant all I thought about was am I better then yesterday. Well it took me years, to figure out that yesterday doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is today. The "new normal" is just an old saying, I now live in the current normal. Somedays are better then some, but almost never worst, just different. After 20 years, judging my recovery is a way to slow me down. "Be here now" is my guidepost. Helping new survivors guide into their "new" life, lets my recovery continue to grow. Happy New Year everyone.

I live with the uncertainty that a cancer diagnosis brings. However, people with faith live with and live on uncertainty.

So I worry and it is hard to fully relax with good scan results. Why?

Well, it is cancer. Cancer likes to hide. Cancer has power.

Despite this, I am intentional with maintaining a good upbeat attitude. I work at it.

Cindy

My lifelong journey is one of physical, intellectual,emotional, & spiritual transformation. Despite years of anxiety, major depression, even bipolar disorder, a thyroidectomy 52 years ago from thyroid cancer, I love life today. My secret? 36 years in Al-Anon, 14 in AA, where I find love, support, and the willingness to change myself as necessary, in partnership with God. Alcoholism & medically prescribed/overprescribed chemical dependency have been the touchstones of loss & transformation for me. I look back on my illnesses as gifts: opportunities to change my attitude and actions. Will never forget a talk by Bernie Siegel, M.D., a noted author & cancer surgeon, in Honolulu, 1988. His suggestion to cancer patients & their families was this: If you don't have an alcoholic or addict in your family, get one. My most successful, recoveringcancer patients have changed their lives because they have a Power greater than themselves and daily practice the 12 Steps of spiritual recovery. When there is spiritual recovery, every other form of recovery falls into place. I bought that idea in 1988 and have lived to become healthier, happier, more creative at age 76 than at age 41. Thanks for opening this discussion.

Hello,
This is a first for me but I would be interested in your response. I have a diagnosis of Severe Periventricular White Matter disease. I've only recently connected the dots of a lifetime of events that culminated in this diagnosis. Bottom line is that there is no treatment for it nor is it curable. I probably won't die from it but rather from a stroke or heart failure. In the past Doctors have considered it incidental to the aging process and thereby had no methods of treatment or what to do with it. Best information that I can glean from research is that I will probably go into dementia so serious that I won't even be able to think - the last thing I would ever want. I do work with a Trainer for balance issues as I have fallen 22 times in the past two years. More than a few resulted in a free ambulance ride to the ER and resulting in 28 weeks in wound care clinic.
So, I don't know that I will have a "Recovery" to tell about. So few people want to talk about it so I mostly keep it to myself. I guess they can't know how if they don't understand the gravity of it. Thanks

The day after Christmas in 2022, I received a rectal cancer diagnosis. My immediate reaction was insomnia, until I could see the surgeon who had performed my transanal polyp resection. Once I had her explanation of my situation, I decided to move as quickly as possible for treatment. I also selected a group of friends and family members whom I knew would me supportive, especially on an emotional level, to share my diagnosis and the chosen treatment.

At the end of last November I had a new colonoscopy to get a good view of a rectovaginal fistula we knew I had developped due to the radiotherapy. The shock was that I already had a new pre-cancerous polyp at (almost) the same place as the previous one, which alarmed my new colorectal surgeon, my oncologist, and a oncology investigator. Separately, they all agreed I needed a complex surgery to get rid of the fistula and polyp, as well as to reduce the risk of new rectal polyps and cancer. I started showing signs of anxiety and I didn't want to talk to people but a very small circle about the new situation. I decided to look for support groups and found the Mayo Clinic Connect forums. I started psychotherapy, which has given me tools to manage my anger and anxiety. I have been sharing about my situation and surgery to whomever is willing to read my long messages or listen to me on the phone or video calls. This has brought me wonderful emotional support in ways I did not expect at times. Some of the persons I reached out to started sharing their own journey with me and it has been helpful.

Now I finally have the date of my surgery, Jan. 26, and the anxiety has subsided, following the psychotherapist's suggestions and tips some friends gave me that I felt would work for me. I'm preparing for what will be many call the "new normal" after the surgery, but I will adopt the way @ricj calls it, the "current normal". It sounds like a more positve way of embracing the reality.

Wishing you the very best of care, luck, courage and a speedy recovery from your surgery. It is amazing how it calms our minds when we have a diagnosis and a plan to deal with the issue. You are an inspiration to us all. Thank you.

Thank you, @parrot53