As animals our bodies fortunately have the capacity for adapting to physical changes. As human beings, it is equally beneficial that our minds have the ability (with a little help from ourselves) to get used to emotional changes.
Before my diagnosis, I was losing some weight, feeling a little tired, looking a little pale, getting a little winded/raspy voice. Now (in hindsight) all of those things are obvious symptoms that something was wrong, but to the uninitiated, it wasn't anything really out of the ordinary for the life that I was leading - I was used to it. Remember: cancer doesn't hurt; which makes it really hard to tell there is something wrong - of that magnitude.
When I was in treatment I got used to those myriad changes. Getting poked a bunch with needles, going for chemo treatments twice a week for three months, the noticeable (though admittedly for me - not debilitating) side effects, losing my hair (and occasionally my lunch) - right after the stem cell transplant, working from home and then transitioning back into the active hoi polloi.
And now that I'm in the maintenance phase, I'm getting used to this new chapter of my life journey (surviving seems a bit melodramatic). It's all so common-place that at times I actually lose track of having had cancer (still have it - technically/medically). I take my meds, I try to be better about work/life balance, and I just keep rolling along (falling forward?). Ultimately feeling like I'm getting used to it.
Like the current of a river incessantly rushing over the rock bed below, the flow of life has a way of smoothing out the rough edges. If you are lucky, you too will be able to find a way to get used to your "it." TRUST me: “IT” AIN’T GOING AWAY!
