Their Struggle Part 1

Everyone who has gone through cancer knows how hard it is to deal with all the aftermath of one doctors appointment. What was supposed to be routine all of a sudden changes your entire life. Cancer patients face several different challenges when they are battling cancer. The initial struggle comes in a mental form, and can be debilitating. Cancer patients and those diagnosed with a terminal illness also face great financial burden and challenges to receive treatment and ensure their affairs are in order.

I will discuss this from a perspective of a spouse who had witnessed the struggles first hand. I have heard so many stories from others and the battles and struggles they faced. Over the next few months we will be covering the experience from the initial doctors appointment to the final days. Our journey begins at that first doctors appointment when your entire life changes.

Imagine how one day life could change forever, not just yours but every person you know. One doctors appointment for what you thought was just a minor issue turns out to be a biopsy and further testing, this is when the stress starts. The next step is waiting for the appointment and trying to be positive, it could just be nothing you tell yourself. Then the day of the test comes and you almost don't want to go, because then its real. Next you wait for your test results to come back, you start researching your own symptoms, you go down so many rabbit holes that just drive you further into the dark. Then the day comes when the doctor calls you in for an appointment, you know the news isn't good.

You have the best intentions of holding it together when you arrive at the doctors office but nothing can prepare you for this news. You hold your partner's or loved one's hand and you squeeze, you are not ready to hear this. The doctor tells you the results, you have cancer. He explains what the results show and for some people the type of cancer it is. The doctor then explains that a specialist will be in touch to discuss treatment, you don't know how to digest this information. How do you tell your loved ones? How can you possibly take on their grief while learning how to deal with your own? This is your life now, nothing will ever be the same again.