When I was diagnosed with cancer, I was in complete and total shock. I had no idea where to turn or who to call. I knew absolutely nothing about breast cancer. I knew that it was a horrible disease, I knew that some people lost their hair, and I knew that some survived and some did not. Within the first few days after diagnosis, I was unindated with calls. The support from the Palo Alto Medical Group, my medical provider, was phenomenal, although I really did not realize it at the time. I was more upset by all of the calls and support just because I was in such shock.
My cancer liaison, Carol, told me about a support group called WomenCare located in Santa Cruz. I have never been part of a support group before. Throughout my life, I just always tried to handle most situations on my own. I did occasionally seek out a psychiatrist, especially after my Mom died and my brother died. I felt those were extreme cases where I needed some help and some support. When I was diagnosed with cancer, I knew I was not going to be able to travel this road alone. I really wanted to connect with other cancer patients and see what I could learn from others that were either going through it just ahead of me, or from the women who had been here before and were going through it again.
I cannot tell you how valuable this resource was! I felt out of place the first couple of weeks. However, as time went on and we all got to know each other, it became clear to me that there is a reason for support groups. DAH! SUPPORT! It is really hard to try and dump on your family constantly. You are with them on a daily basis, and it gets really old really fast to constantly be complaining, and in my case, to be constantly sick. In the beginning, it is really difficult to try and figure out how life is going to progress for you and your family.
I am a Type A personality. This makes it very difficult for me to be still. I have always constantly been on the move and involved in numerous things. Up to this point, even with all the circumstances that have happened to me, I was always able to push through pain, sickness or discomfort to continue with my life on a daily basis. Usually, if I got involved in something that would take my mind off of my circumstances, I could function pretty well. I would just kind of forget about the pain, sickness or discomfort.
But this proved to be totally different. I was deathly sick! I had never been this sick in my entire life. It proved to be very trying for me and my family. I could not will myself out of bed!
