STUPID THINGS PEOPLE SAY TO CANCER PATIENTS

Nancy over at Nancy's Point recently blogged about a phenomenon that many of us have to deal with post cancer: people saying stupid stuff to us.

As Nancy points out, "There are way too many people telling patients how to feel, how to act, how to do cancer and yes, how to do survivor-ship." True, dat.

(Copyright 2015 TheBigCandMe)

And dat got me thinking. (Play along with me here.)

See if you can recall something someone said to you during (or after) your cancer treatment. A comment that struck a negative chord inside you. Maybe it was something like, "You'll feel stronger soon, and then you'll be able to put this whole event behind you." Or "You'll be back to normal in no time." Or maybe they said nothing at all. 

RENN'S TOP 20 BLOGGY IDEAS

(Copyright © 2013 The Big C and Me)  

While I've been busy not blogging, I've been amassing a large number of potential blog posts. Some are half written; others are merely a headline. Some describe experiences I've had yesterday; others occurred long ago. All include insight gleaned from my breast cancer experience. 

This bulging list of ideas overwhelms me...

OF FUNERALS AND FRIENDS

We had a death in the family. My husband's only sibling died suddenly three weeks ago. He was not young; he was not old. He was middle aged. And his death sent shock waves throughout the family. 

(Copyright © 2013 The Big C and Me)

Which reminded me that the rituals surrounding death, while varied, exist for a reason: Society has been following mourning rituals for thousands of years — because they work. No matter what those rituals are, they're important, and they're in place to help soften death's blow. These traditions have vast intrinsic value in helping to push us gently along our own pathways of grief...