What a great essay! I couldn’t have said it better.
. It really made me think about how I have reacted to offers of help in the past and the caregiver part is important. People offered to help me and not my husband . What you said about helping the caregiver is really helping the patient is SO TRUE!!! Everything else you have written ticks all the boxes!
The first time I got sick I was given a poor prognosis…I happened to walk in on one friend telling another how they were breaking a date to spend time with me because. We don’t know how long…. Then she saw me standing there. Not good. Anyway , I obviously am still here 27 yrs later, which everyone was surprised by and then I got sick again 3 yrs ago.
One thing I have to add to the list is people who constantly ask “how’s your health?”. If you see a patient walking around like a normal person … don’t ask that. First of all , do you really want an honest answer with all the ins and outs and whathaveyous?? Likely not.
Secondly , I don’t want the pressure, no patient does, if we have an announcement about our health we will tell you.
Also we can have cancer and also a cold, just cause we may go to bed doesn’t mean we’re checking out and you don’t have to panic that we’re keeping something from you. I have a cold right now so…..I have had to make that clear to some friends… it’s just a runny nose, nothing else.
