It took a good two weeks before they could tell me it was cancer - As time went on myself, husband Ken and all our family and friends new that the outcome was inevitably going to be the big 'C' or 'that' as many of my loved ones put it – conversations would go as follows:
"It couldn't be that could it Mel?"
"No it couldn't be you know what I mean not that could it?"
I got to the point of saying "What - you mean cancer? You need to say it, you need to say the word cancer."
I think at that point it was said more for myself than any-one else as a way of preparing for the final outcome.
And when our worst fears were finally realised nobody could still say the word - nobody could say cancer as at the time everyone was terrified of what that meant.
Images of hospital beds and tubes and looking ill all the time crossed my mind as at the time that was my only experience of cancer - the images I saw on television which always showed the worst case scenario.
But I know better now - I know that it dosen't always mean the worst and that while cancer has taken me on a very bumpy ride it has empowered me in more ways than I know. It has given me the gift of seeing what an amazing circle of family and friends I have surrounding me and for that I will always be grateful.
What about you?
What was your experience before your diagnosis or that of a family member?
Let me know your thoughts.
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