I’ve stood on the sidelines as an observer and pitch-in helper while several family members went through cancer treatment - my mother-in- law, two brothers-in-law, my niece, my sister-in-law.
But I didn’t truly understand the overarching effect battling cancer has on the body, mind and spirit until my husband went through treatment for throat cancer a year ago.
His journey included surgery and radiation, the cancer was detected before chemotherapy was deemed necessary, but that still didn’t make the path much easier.
Like many cancer partners, I tried to be positive and supportive each step of the journey ... and I cried in the shower where he couldn’t see. It’s hard feeling helpless as you watch your life partner struggle with things we take for granted, like eating a meal, and as treatment takes its toll, doing simple things like walking an aisle or two in a grocery store without being exhausted.
As close as I was to his everyday challenges, I was keenly aware that I really didn’t know what it was like to be the one going through the treatments. Nor was I the one who had to face life post-cancer treatment, without much guidance, when the seven weeks of radiation ended. There’s always someone to ask questions of when you’re in treatment. But that support virtually disappears when they hand you the certificate that says you’ve successfully completed your treatment course. You’re left to figure out what comes next pretty much on your own, we learned.
My husband was lucky, by chance he reconnected with a former work colleague who had gone through the same type of diagnosis and treatment just a short time before him. And since then he’s reconnected with another former colleague who is also battling cancer, though a different form.
As much as I tried to offer post-treatment support and encouragement and help, I couldn’t provide what someone who had walked - or was walking- the same path could, I found.
It’s the same kind of realization Each Moment We’re Alive founder Cindy Sheridan Murphy came to following her own treatment for breast cancer. “That’s when I hit rock bottom,” Sheridan Murphy admitted. “I felt alone, I suffered with self-doubt.”
Sheridan-Murphy was lucky, she had skills from work as a sports and lifestyle coach that she could draw on to help her find a path to life post-cancer. Her experiences led to her connecting with a group of women who, too, were struggling with life post-cancer. The insights from that group became the foundation for Sheridan-Murphy’s nonprofit, Each Moment We’re Alive, with a focus on helping women cope with the aftereffects of breast and other cancer treatments through programming and support groups, all free of charge.
You can read Sheridan-Murphy’s story here.
October is Depression Awareness Month
Depression doesn’t care what age you are, but symptoms can look different at various ages. In this month’s Three Big Questions, Kristy Navarro, clinical liaison/outreach coordinator for Golden Years Behavioral Health Group identifies the signs and symptoms, and offers some self-help ideas to combat depression.
Prime‘s alternative medicine writer, Jonathan Evans, offers more advice on combating depressive symptoms, with lifestyle and herbal supplements. Check out his advice on page 8.
And it wouldn’t be October without plenty of foliage, pumpkin, ghost and festival events to enjoy. Check out this month’s curated collection in the calendar.
Whatever you do this month, enjoy. And, thanks, as always, for reading,
Debbie Gardner
