Family just doesn't get "Watchful Waiting"

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allmost60
allmost60 Member Posts: 3,178 Member
edited March 2014 in Lymphoma (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin) #1
Hi all...We took a little mini trip to see some family over in Spokane Wa this week..(hubbys mom, brother and sister). They just can't accept or believe that "watchful waiting" is actually something I should be doing with having cancer in me. I explained in detail why I'm waiting to start treatment, but man oh man, they didn't hear a word I said to them. Even with my husband telling them it was "ok" to do this, they still insisted that chemo needed to be surging through my body in order to "cure" me. I finally gave up trying and told them they just needed to trust me and my doctors. The whole trip was consumed with them wanting to talk about the cancer, while all we wanted to do was to get away and forget about the cancer and just enjoy their company...ha! I know they love me and want me to be all well again, and as soon as possible, but thats just not the way this whole cancer thing works. We've decided our next mini trip is going to be to someplace where we can just relax and not have to discuss cancer. I think we will head out to the coast next week for a couple of days...do a little crabbing off the docks and R&R on the beach. Hope everyone here is doing good.

P.S..There's no place like "home" when you truely want to relax and be comfortable...ya know? I felt so tired after we got back and it felt great to lounge back in my recliner and sleep in my own bed! Must be a sign of getting "OLD"...ha!
Sue

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  • merrywinner
    merrywinner Member Posts: 626 Member
    #2
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    Hi Sue
    Sorry to hear about your spoiled vacation. I think the people who love us really want to help but don't always think before they speak. You have done your homework and know and understand that "watch and wait" is a treatment. But to try to explain it all starting from scratch is exhausting. I hope you still feel OK with the decisions that have been made regarding your care. Try to stay positive as I know you can. We all like to give our opinion about things we don't always know enough about and through my experience I have learned from this. Now when someone comes to me about illness or for that matter anything my first response is "How can I help"! All the best! Mary
  • allmost60
    allmost60 Member Posts: 3,178 Member
    #3
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    merrywinner said:

    Hi Sue
    Sorry to hear about your spoiled vacation. I think the people who love us really want to help but don't always think before they speak. You have done your homework and know and understand that "watch and wait" is a treatment. But to try to explain it all starting from scratch is exhausting. I hope you still feel OK with the decisions that have been made regarding your care. Try to stay positive as I know you can. We all like to give our opinion about things we don't always know enough about and through my experience I have learned from this. Now when someone comes to me about illness or for that matter anything my first response is "How can I help"! All the best! Mary

    Hi Mary
    Hi Mary...
    The trip wasn't totally spoiled, but it did get tiresome with all the explaining. Next week I go in for my second opinion, so maybe that will help with questions my family and myself need answers about. I'm still ok with waiting on treatment, but am anxious to hear a second opinion that what I'm doing is ok or not. I'm still feeling good, but do knowtice being a little more tired than I like. I'll keep you posted.
    Love....Sue
  • dixiegirl
    dixiegirl Member Posts: 1,043 Member
    #4
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    allmost60 said:

    Hi Mary
    Hi Mary...
    The trip wasn't totally spoiled, but it did get tiresome with all the explaining. Next week I go in for my second opinion, so maybe that will help with questions my family and myself need answers about. I'm still ok with waiting on treatment, but am anxious to hear a second opinion that what I'm doing is ok or not. I'm still feeling good, but do knowtice being a little more tired than I like. I'll keep you posted.
    Love....Sue

    Family
    I finally told my family to get on the net and read about lymphoma and the watch and wait. I got tired of trying to explain to my family and coworkers too. I still do to some degree. I guess they just don't understand that with low grade lymphoma that we will never be cancer free, but may go very long times when our cancer behaves itself.

    Keep up the good fight my friend and go enjoy yourselves!

    Take care,
    Beth

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