Saturday, 13 January 2018

Guilty

I wrote before about having middle-class guilt.

Now I have acquired another strain, of the survivor's variety. 
This is a common phenomenon; research articles and personal stories abound. 
So it's a thing, and I have a dose of it. It's one of those vicious circle ones - the more you think about it, the worse it gets.

Why am I doing so well, after getting a diagnosis that generally means it's all over? 
Even if/when it does go belly-up, I have had such good quality of life in the past three years (she says in rose-tinted hindsight), that I really can't complain. 

I have embraced social media for contacting and engaging with fellow cancerheads. It's been very reassuring and comforting to hear other people's stories and share experiences. But I feel like an imposter now, because I'm not receiving any treatment, I don't take any meds, I forget to get my bloods done, and scans have become so routine now I am back to enjoying them again (almost). 

The downside to making a load of new virtual friends with terminal cancer is, well, that they die. Or get sicker. Or go through the hell of repeated bad news. I feel that my story might be a comfort to them, but it could also just be a kick in the teeth. "Yeah yeah, bully for you with your miraculous recovery, you poxy wench", I hear them say (in me head). It is very upsetting to hear of people who have been in a similar boat to me, but theirs has capsized and is foundering. 

I have met the relatives of people whose cancer experience was just plain hard all the way to the end. There were no glimpses of light at the end of the tunnel, no moments of joyous dancing with their hands up in the air. Just pain and suffering and hard bloody work. 

So I feel bad that I feel good. And I worry about saying that, in case I jinx things.









2 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing this. I struggle with this too. I had a cancer recurrence in 2016. It was chopped out & I remain cancer free (well, what's visible on scans anyways). I am well & living my life fully. There are days that I forget that I have cancer that's described as terminal. Suppose we are appreciating our lives & grateful for what we have. Xx

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    1. There's the difference between what some people describe as the "all-clear" and what we know to be the truth; that it is unpredictable and ready to pounce at any time, but as time goes on we get used to the idea of being "cured".
      Fingers crossed for both of us Sinead!

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