When you are tossed into Cancerworld there are virtually no benefits. Like most folks would not want to trade places with you. (I am not discounting people who have been able to look back on their cancerworld travels and have seen that they have learned something, or had a revelation, or seen a silver lining. I am just saying, most folks don't want to be in cancerworld.)
That being said, I will say that I did find that my stage 4 diagnosis did provide me with some "cancertunities." (Which is totally a word we made up.). What I mean by that is that it can be an opportunity to inject some humor into a relationship, or a quick way to get out of a sales call, or a very credible excuse to avoid a social situation you probably would have had to attend if not for the cancer. The truth is that when we are traveling through cancerworld we often have less energy, or are dealing with more pain than we are used to. So just our presence in cancerworld means that we have limitations. And that can be aggravating and can mean we are grieving for those things that we are missing.
So, when we have emotional energy or are feeling mischievous, we might as well take all the cancertunities we can. Some examples...
We have super aggressive traveling sales people in our neighborhood that often ignore "no soliciting" signs. It pretty much stops the conversation when you can look them in the eye and say, "the only thing I am thinking about right now is fighting my cancer."
Or when you spouse asks you to...take out the trash, empty the dishwasher, etc it can inject some humor into the day if you can look at them and say, "sorry I can't, I have cancer."
Obviously I am not advocating using this to get out of traffic tickets or unpleasant visits with relatives. Really, all I am saying is the days when we can inject a little lightness into our situation can help us with all the work we have to do in cancerworld. It's a cancertunity.
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