I’m really struggling to stay hydrated recently. The lady struggled with poking me the other day. I’ve been having a lot of staying on top of fluid intake and eating properly and consistently. I’ve always struggled with executive dysfunction and consistency, but it was better when I felt healthier. Does anyone have any tips for this? Especially for drinking more water? Thanks.
Received Gifts of Love Cuddly Bear recently after wanting her for so long 😭 I’ve been going through some health issues for the past while, so it cheered me up :’)
Putting this out here in case anyone relates. I am just feeling a bit sad because I don’t feel as if I’m the “model cancer patient” that would just make things easier for everyone. I have lived my entire life wishing I was more normal, and now it just bleeds into this area of my life as well, which sucks. My doctor told me recently she gets the impression (from messages), that my oncologist was frustrated because she feels as if I ramble about irrelevant topics (they don’t feel irrelevant to me…) and ask too many questions.
My doctor disagreed with this attitude and told me a lot of people in that field expect a “model cancer patient” who doesn’t ask many questions, is positive, and doesn’t have as many concerns/fears. I am being referred to someone else now due to this and other issues, but I am still sad and worried. I just wish I was a “normal” patient who acted in ways that are more conventionally understandable to people.
I am in my 20s and trying to get my life together. I understand her job is very hard and that it might take a certain coldness to deal with young cancer patients everyday, I just wish she understood that as hard as her job might be, it is also very hard to be in my position. Dealing with these health issues while also feeling dismissed. I wish I was less anxious, less skeptical, and more socially adept/obedient. But I can’t seem to turn those parts off.
I don’t know if this is odd to say, but I guess it’s just something I wanted to express just in case someone else can relate as well, because maybe someone else can feel less alone in it.
I’m in my mid-20s. It certainly is an odd feeling experience, not only necessarily being a younger cancer patient, but dealing with significant and impactful health issues while you’re starting adulthood. Because life doesn’t stop. Reality cannot empathize with you when you feel the people around you are failing you or just being inconsiderate at times. And societal pressures to succeed conventionally don’t disappear just because you’re sick and struggling. People won’t always be understanding to you just because you were rejected from the clinical trial you wanted due to your cancer not being simple and low risk enough. The pressures to seem put together and not be “broke” don’t stop just because you’ve been seeing your oncologist for about 2 years and she still doesn’t know your first name.
I’m a young adult and I’m expected to have my shit together either financially, romantically, shelter-wise, or academically. Those expectations can be reasonable for some. Unfortunately, I’m just not there. What hurts a lot is that I am trying my best. I am trying so hard to get my shit together and build a life for myself in the middle of all this with the limited energy I have, and it’s still not enough. The reality that some of us face is this: sometimes we don’t even know if we’ll even be alive to see the fruits of what we’ve been working for, especially when you have a disease that specifically can have an impact on your survival at the beginning of adulthood. I don’t have the worst case scenario ever, but it still stings. I’m already trying so hard, will it all end up being pointless? Will all of my efforts be in vain?
It really hurts to feel as if you are trying your best to build a life for yourself just to turn around and question if you’ll even be alive to witness and experience finally “getting there” and succeeding conventionally. I am a person who grew up in poverty and oppressive generational cycles, and it hurts to feel as if I may not even live long enough to see myself break them.
It really troubles me because not only is that goal often extremely hard for a person of better health and ability, it is also very hard for me and I’m faced with health conditions that make it so that me reaching that or witnessing that is not guaranteed. If my current health issues and circumstances do not kill me whenever, which I hope they probably won’t, how will they scar me? How will they impact my quality of life moving forward and the ability to follow my dreams? People occasionally say stuff like “so and so didn’t make it until 50” to be inspirational. I get the point and all, but it just lands a little bit less when you’re a person who questions if you’ll even make it to that age at all.
I don't want to give the impression that my life is more at risk than what is true. I'm just hoping maybe another person going through this can relate and feel more seen after reading this, even if it is mostly about me.