Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Telling the Family

Until we talk to the surgeon on Monday,  our lives are on hold. Which is difficult because I have been gunning for 9+ months with schooling, tests, holidays, anniversary, roof replacement on our house, and more. And now there is an empty void of activity . 

I don't have much concern for the surgery expect two things: (1) Several days of pain. I have never had to experience high levels of pain so I am sure whatever pain this will be is going to be my personal maximum. (2) I have heard weight loss is impossible without a thyroid. I have to do more research on that topic because my entire adult life - since the age of 13 or more, has been concerned with my weight. I need to get that clarified. 

Yesterday, we told my mother and the kids about my cancer. They took it well. I focused the conversation on what they cared about instead of focus on the cancer and that approach worked well. The kids are concerned about getting to finally stay home for a summer because they are tired of our summer vacation trips. They are concerned about getting their trip presents and the video games we buy to occupy them during the trip. I assured them the cancer was OK and would be taken care of, and that is all they wanted to know. The rest was about "How does this effect me?"  For my mother, I used the approach of complaining that we couldn't get our vacation money refunded, and that was the topic she focused on.

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