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On your doctor’s insistence, you get all your tests done. The tests came back positive and notify you of the cancer. The oncologist drops the bomb on you and offers assistance if you need it. You nod along and leave the office.
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At such a stage in your life, what is the best course of action for you? Should you hide from the world or should you go ahead and face it headstrong?
While you may feel a compelling urge to hide in a shell because of your condition, understand also, that it may not be the wisest thing to do. If your mind is under pressure and you add to it by drowning in depression, it will be difficult for you to fight your illness. Instead, go to a friend, a confidante and talk to them. You don’t have to have a prelude or a conclusion to your speech. Don’t bother about putting words together correctly, the tone or any other inconsequential thing. Just say it, out loud.
If you find yourself walking up to your friend’s house and turning back in hesitance, consider taking professional help. Talking to a psychologist seems easy for some people because there is no obligation of any kind involved. You talk, you share your feelings, you find calm and you return for further sessions. In this way, none of your friends and family know of your condition. But breaking the news to them becomes easier because the sessions help you accept your condition and give you the strength to fight it.
If you come out the doctor’s office with a view that you will be unable to talk to your psychologist or your friends, you can always join a cancer group or association in your locality. Since the members in the group will have gone through most of what you are experiencing now, you will feel more at ease with them. By swapping stories, you can hope to overcome your anxiety and move forward in life by facing your obstacles head-on.