I attended the Living your life after Cancer (LYLAC) workshop today. Just a small group of us but such a worthwhile day, albeit quite emotionally tiring. Run by two ladies who are survivors of breast cancer, it was very much a day of sharing and supporting eachother, where there are no right or wrong answers, just the acceptance of each ones individual journey and experience. For example, we all came to realise that one of the hardest things is that, after the roller coaster of diagnosis, surgery and treatment, we all found ourselves going through emotional difficulty and feelings of suddenly being cast adrift, when everyone else thinks, you look well and, now your treatments are finished, you must be celebrating, Well actually, you couldnt be more wrong! For some, they feel they have lost the joy of things they used to enjoy - for the gentleman with us, now he cant enjoy watching footie or going fishing with his son, any longer. For another lady, shes found she now fears going out because shes in constant pain and cant cope without life outside of home. All these things are part of a grieving process and the feeling of no longer knowing quite who you are because, all your life compass points have changed. By the end of the day, I realised that, despite sometimes feeling emotionally confused, exhausted and tearful, the support Ive had at work, through friends and having the Cathedral Community to rely on, especially being able to go back to the Choir and be able to sing, Im actually much further forward in my own recovery journey than Id realised. It also made me realise how much I want to help others going through these traumas and to be able to offer them support, however inexpertly. So there you are, a tiring day but, Im so glad I went and met such an inspiring group of fellow survivors.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 22:14:35 +0000
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