How Becoming an Active Patient Likely Saved My Husband's Life

When my husband was diagnosed with Stage IV Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma back in 1999, we were devastated. Like the millions of other people around the world who learn they have cancer every year, we journeyed through the common five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Sometimes we might go through all five stages in one day. Sometimes we might spend weeks stuck on one stage, feeling completely paralyzed and unable to move forward. And why is it exactly that we grieved and that millions of others grieve annually in the face of a diagnosis? It's simple. When a doctor presents a diagnosis such as cancer, it forever changes your life. It's a "Point of No Return." Things never quite go back to the way they used to be, and depending on the aggressiveness of the cancer, the road ahead of you will look nothing like what you might've planned for yourself. Coming to this realization can be overwhelming, stressful, and heartbreaking. You grieve therefore for the normal life that must be laid to rest, the one that is no longer yours for the taking, the one that has been replaced with endless hospital visits, bad news from oncologists, and chemo treatments that you leave you physically exhausted, mentally drained, and sometimes spiritually bankrupt. It doesn't help that in the beginning, your feet are firmly planted in Stage 1 of Grief: Denial. You freeze. You're in absolute shock. How could this be happening to you? Cancer is something that happens to ...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news