Tuesday 5th July 2016
Moving On After Cancer – Session 4
I am writing this on 14th October – I suddenly realised it is several months since I have updated this Cancer Diary! I’ve been so busy with other things. Anyway, at the beginning of July was the fourth, and penultimate, session of the course.
This session was on Thinking, Feeling and Doing, and Body Image and Self-Esteem, and we covered quite a lot of ground. We examined thoughts and what they were, and whether they were facts – which they are not. Also the mind-body link, and how our thoughts can influence how our body feels, and how we can influence our situation by changing the way we think about it. In the latter part of the session we looked at body image and how cancer can change this, and how we deal with it.
Full details of these sessions can be found in the menu on my home page.
Tuesday 12th July 2016
Moving On After Cancer – Session 5
Continuing to write on 14th October.
The final session of the course, during which we evaluated what we had learnt during the entire course, and examined how we were feeling now, as opposed to our feelings at the outset of the course. Everybody agreed how much it had helped. We were encouraged to discuss our plans for the future and how we now felt about it.
We had all bonded during the course, and agreed that it would be a shame to drift apart and have no further contact. We arranged to meet up on a monthly basis in an informal way, just for coffee and chat, with no professionals involved. I agreed to arrange this.
Relaxation at the Lodge
For several months I have been attending the monthly relaxation sessions at the Lodge, run by a retired oncology nurse. They take place at lunch time on the first Friday of the month. Several of us from that group also get together for the informal sessions so there is now contact between members of both groups, which is very nice.
I have made friends in both groups. When we get together, we all agree that we can “talk in shorthand” and instantly understand where each of us is coming from, in a way that we feel that others don’t understand. It is hard to put into words, but the emotions associated with cancer are complex, and unless you have been through it, you don’t really know. We find it hard to sort out our own emotions, and sharing with others with the same common experience really helps.
