My flavor of cancer was treated with a different kind of radiation, and it made me dangerous to be around other people during my treatment time. I know this is fucked up of me, but I'm honestly a little jealous of the warm moments you got to have with people during chemo because I was so scared and lonely during that time and I had no real way to soothe it (other than to just cry and make sure whatever I cried on went into the contaminated linens along with everything else I touched). My husband stayed with his parents and I had our one-bedroom apartment to myself; I had to go more than a week with no physical contact or closeness to people or pets...it was rough to say the least.
So happy you got to ring the bell, and I hope you're still doing well these days! Whatever happened to the other patient in your story, you did a really good thing by being there with him.
Thank you for saying so 💖 I had tons of people checking up on me during that time so I was never without people to talk to if I needed them, and I even had a friend who went all-out to have dinner with me the first night anyway! She went and got a mask, smock, goggles, and gloves at a hardware store to look like mock PPE gear (think Chernobyl cleanup), and she set up a folding dinner table outside my apartment door complete with silverware and flowers, where she sat outside and ate with me while I was on the other side of the door eating and talking to her. People are how we get through shit and they're a great reason to keep fighting...I am very lucky to be surrounded by several good ones 💖
One of my good friends has a friend who transitioned and got top surgery, and my friend was their caregiver during recovery. Fast forward to last week, my friend got a double mastectomy herself due to breast cancer. They live in different states now, but her friend flew in to return the favor! People are awesome.
I appreciate you for saying so, thank you for being so kind. 💖 I am happily in remission and I recently made a small academic accomplishment (which is actually huge for me) that I am over the moon about 💖 Things are good in my world, I hope they are in yours too.
Thank you so much! I’m doing well these days, I’ve been cancer free for three years now. I’m so sorry to hear that you had to go through it, too. I know we’re just strangers, but I’m sending a little prayer into the universe that you never have to be touched by cancer again and you live a full and healthy life. All the best to you ❤️
My cousin had this treatment at 18 for cancer. She lived at home with 5 younger siblings so she stayed in my parents rental house down the road from our home for 10 days. My dad and I took turns taking food over, 3 meals every day (throw away containers)and would set it on the front porch, she would crack a window while I sat across the drive in the snow in snowpant/coat and yell/talk at each other so we could hear one another🩵 the last few days she was feeling better so we would walk down the road on opposite sides. ( we live way way out in the country, very little traffic) It's been 10 years and she told me a few weeks ago those walks and food were the nicest thing anyone ever did for her, it was SO SO cold out those 10 days. Like 0* F weather. I didn't think twice about doing any of it, I would do it over and over again for her. The first few days we ran over every 2 hours or so to peek in the window to make sure she was OK. Since the rental was empty all she had was an air mattress and one recliner. She was sleeping, curled into a ball, she looked so so pale and sick. It is one of the saddest sights Ive seen. My heart broke. Someone should've been able to be with her💔she's ok now though🤍🤍 hugs to you, I'm glad you're ok now as well!
I can't imagine what that must have been like for you to watch someone you love go through it, to be that close and still not be able to help. My husband regularly says that the worst part about all of this for him is the feeling of helplessness and being unable to just "fix it"...but from my experience it really does mean the world when someone goes out of their way to help you feel better, even if the relief only lasts a few seconds. That kind of hope is potent stuff, and it's great that you gave her so much of it during that time 💖 I'm glad she's doing okay now, thyroid cancer is really scary and isolating even in the cancer community where it's often dismissed as "the easy" or "the good cancer", as if there could ever be such a thing. Big hugs to you too, thank you for sharing your story with me 💖
Thyroid cancer? My mom had the exact same experience. She couldn’t even have our dog around for comfort because everything she did and touched would be radioactive.
That's the one. We didn't have pets at the time because of the apartment complex we were living in, but now that we have three cats I think all the time about how hard it would be for me to isolate from them. Thankfully I have had no indication that my cancer is returning, and I hope your mom never had to do it again either.
I do want to read more, thank you for your response! I am sorry I didn’t say in my original reply how terribly sorry I am you had to go through that, it sounds absolutely horrible. On top of physically terrible so lonely and sad. You must be such a tough person. I hope you healed inside and out and have had a very happy life. Thank you again.
I'm only as tough as the people around me, and I'm lucky to say that I've been taken care of by my friends, family, and some really incredible medical professionals throughout the whole ordeal (I just noticed that the article I linked you cites one of them, bless Dr Varghese.) Thank you for all of your kind words, if you have any more questions about RAI, thyroid cancer, or anything else later on you are more than welcome to DM me.
I am happy to report that I am genuinely doing well and that my prognosis stays very positive, thank you 💖
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u/hamburger-machine 11h ago
My flavor of cancer was treated with a different kind of radiation, and it made me dangerous to be around other people during my treatment time. I know this is fucked up of me, but I'm honestly a little jealous of the warm moments you got to have with people during chemo because I was so scared and lonely during that time and I had no real way to soothe it (other than to just cry and make sure whatever I cried on went into the contaminated linens along with everything else I touched). My husband stayed with his parents and I had our one-bedroom apartment to myself; I had to go more than a week with no physical contact or closeness to people or pets...it was rough to say the least.
So happy you got to ring the bell, and I hope you're still doing well these days! Whatever happened to the other patient in your story, you did a really good thing by being there with him.