I really have been making a lot of mistakes since the diagnosis. Some of them with time-consuming results.
What is really important for me now is: thinking back to before the diagnosis and even before the callback for additional mammogram films. Some of my mistakes that seem big actually started before the latest mammograms. So, the confusion is not from DCIS. For instance, an email gift wasn't received because I've always had the wrong email address in my contacts list.
Also, I told a friend (who also has DCIS) that I feel a little depressed some days. She reminded me that this disease, and anything that starts with the word cancer, is stressful and can be overwhelming. Add this to moving twice in two years - once to a different state- and overwhelm is practically a given.
I also need to remember the old joke, "After a certain age, mood swings don't count as exercise."
She talked with me awhile, and her diagnosis was that I'm having a "Human Attack." She advised being nice to myself.
Also, I went into the building the other day for my radiation appointment, and in the lobby was a man a lot younger than I am, in a wheelchair, accompanied by his family. And while in the reception room, I heard someone say to a patient, "So you'll go to chemo after radiation today?" I need to be grateful every day that chemo is not on my To Do list. And be kind to people who may be doing both.
What do you do when a depression elbows its way into your day?
PS Breast Cancer Action SF is having a survey on what members think the group should tackle for the new 5-Year plan.
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