Why We Tell Our Stories
Photo by Briana Tozour on Unsplash
Have you ever had that stress dream where you find yourself having to take a test in a class you know nothing about, for which you didn’t even know you were registered?
In some ways, a breast cancer diagnosis is like that, except there is good news - it’s an open book test and you are not the one required to know all the answers. You are allowed to use all sorts of resources and call on experts. The problem is, some of us don’t know that those are the guidelines and we don’t know who the experts are. You feel like you are suddenly expected to retain so many details while your head is spinning with information overload.
There are many people besides your oncologists and their staff who are there for you. Medical social workers, nurse navigators, and case managers are responsible for helping guide patients through this time. There are support groups which work with hospitals or independent of them. Many people are encouraged by their family, friends, or faith community. It seems a bit unfair, but sometimes we may need to advocate for ourselves to make the connections to the support we need. We may have to interact with others just when we would like to crawl under a blanket and hide.
Frequently, we don’t want to share - and we all have our reasons. A breast cancer diagnosis is very personal, involving an intimate part of our bodies. We may not want to become that person who seems to always be talking about an illness. Perhaps we have come from a background where such a topic is taboo. We might become concerned as to how it affects our relationships - professional and personal.
Speaking to those of us who have previously been on this path, we need to tell our stories. There may be a friend of a friend who needs the encouragement from someone who has been through a similar experience. We may know resources of which their other support systems were unaware. I recently encountered a person who felt very alone in the process of her breast cancer diagnosis. My heart went out to this woman - no one should have to feel that way.
Why do we continue to tell our stories? Because we never know who may need to hear them.