Tag Archives: depression

Cancer Rant

One of the many annoying things about having cancer is that you are expected to “make the most of every day!” & “live each day to the fullest!”  Frankly that is too much pressure.  And yes, I know I am lucky to be alive.  Many of the people in my private FB Mesothelioma group are doing far worse than I am, or they have already died.  But I reject this pressure to live the perfect cancer life.  I refuse to drink green smoothies, post positive affirmations on social media and joyfully check off items on my bucket list.

Just like everyone else on this planet I have enough to worry about without this added “be the sparkling cancer inspiration girl” bullshit.  I worry about my aging parents who seem to have no long-term plan in place.  I grapple with how best to deal with my sibling who has a personality disorder.  I have relationship problems.  I am trying to figure out a new career path/going back to school, even though some days I am so exhausted and nauseous that I can’t even get off the couch.  I am navigating depression & anxiety.  I am experiencing that weird mid-life crisis, wondering “what does it all mean?”  I am feeling unsettled, missing the U.S. where I spent most of my adult life, but knowing that I will now never be able to move back there.  I am dealing with longing and sadness over the fact that many of my close friends and family live far away.  I am navigating life with our recently adopted senior dog who seems to be in great pain and so now the endless Vet visits begin.  The list goes on and on.  And of course I am indeed one of the very lucky ones because I don’t have to worry about keeping a roof over my head, or having enough money to put food on the table, or fearing for my children’s safety.  So although my worries are nothing compared to those of most people out there, they are enough.

This whole pressure – intensified a gazillion times by social media – to be endlessly grateful, joyful, spinning in positivity while you have cancer is f*cked up and I am not buying into it anymore.  And for the record, I don’t have a bucket list. But what I do have is a two item list of things I get to do when I get very sick, which my partner has agreed to:  1) I get to feed the squirrels peanuts – I know it’s not a good idea but it’s my list & 2) my Pit Bull Dexter The Elderbull gets to snuggle on the bed with me. 💖

Princess Please

Like many women, I suffer from CPPD: Chronic People Pleasing Disease.  Getting diagnosed with Cancer has helped me to become less of a pleaser, which apparently is cancer’s “gift” to me.  But even though I’ve been told that I have only a 50% chance of living five years, I still insist on squandering my days being a people pleaser.

The really insane part is that I often do it with people I don’t even know, yesterday was a perfect example.  I was fighting some type of infection and I was dealing with an episode of depression.  I felt so much grief over my mangled body, the loss of my former high-energy self, the intestine sticking out of my tummy, my missing female parts.  I wanted to cry and scream and yet nothing came out…except a lipsticked smile.

While in a law office getting paperwork notorized, I found myself having to explain Mesothelioma.  So I stood there, feeling ill and deeply depressed and then like a PR Wizard I proceeded to spin an almost upbeat tale about my experience with this “crazy cancer caused by asbestos!”  The pre-programmed Chronic People Pleaser in me didn’t want to make anyone feel “uncomfortable,” so I pretended that everything was essentially fine.  And this is what I do almost every single day. It is exhausting and yet like an addict I can’t seem to stop.

Just as a woman might hide her bad skin under a layer of foundation, I hide my true emotions under a layer of faux “happiness.”  I know this behavior only worsens my depression because each time you don’t speak your truth, you lose a little bit of your soul.  What would happen if I started saying “no.”  What would happen if I started saying “I feel desperate.”  What would happen if I made someone feel uncomfortable?  What would happen if I let people be angry with me?  I need to find out, my soul is begging me.