cancer connection and our pandemic of the world by shay

The last time I wrote an article COVID19 was not something we were so worried about in the United States. It was just something we were watching unfold in China and Italy, but in a blink of an eye start to unfold in New York City. I think a lot of us, myself included thought that this was not that big of a deal, we are the most powerful country in the world with some of the most advanced healthcare systems.  As I saw one of America’s beautiful cities start to crumble the death toll start to rise so did my and my fellow cancer survivor’s anxiety.

Maybe it is because COVID19, a little like cancer, is so unknown. You do not know who is going to get it, how it will affect you, or if you will survive. These are the same thoughts that a cancer patient goes through the first days of “you have cancer”. What type of treatment will I have, how aggressive is it? How will I survive? Scary at first with all the what if’s? We already understand what it means to “shelter in” and stay away from people, germs in particular. When going through treatments your white blood cells are too low so you must be extra cautious since your immune system is already compromised. It was like we already had some inside information on how to get through this time as the world shut down around us.

For me personally, I did what always do and jumped into action.  I set up an online yoga and spin classes, to keep my health and mindset above the line, I knew somehow in the back of my mind that we were in this for the long haul. My friends were hopeful that this would be over in a few weeks. Then those days turned into weeks and as the reality set in the days turned to months, hope turned to fears, and fears turned to anxiety, with many. Social media outlets bred worry, doubt, and anger. Breakdowns of friendships and relationships of people who you never thought would have disagreements on had openly unfriendly fire right in front of our eyes. Heated tensions rose. With the news talking about the virus daily and the political aspects, with the social media outlets talking about it our cancer community was scared to leave their home fearful of death once more. All this a sensory overload in my heart. Everyone has a valid reason for the fears of the unknown.

So, six months later we wait and see what will happen. Fears and anxiety high. A long pause in life again but this time for all to take a real good look at what is most important, to take a step back and really enjoy a moment, or really re-evaluate what your future will be. If you can change your mindset to see what you have been given vs. what has been taken away it might be easier to accept change and then pivot what your future look like. Only time will tell – but ask yourself to do you have the courage to embrace change – because one thing is for sure…it is inevitable.

xo

Shay