What is the grieving process like after a colon cancer diagnosis?
You don’t receive a manual when you are diagnosed with colon cancer. The time after hearing such news can be very difficult. Beverly Yoches has dealt with this in her role as a cancer counselor.
It is common to experience a range of emotions before being able to settle down and see things clearly. For more on the grieving process after a colon cancer diagnosis, watch Dr. Beverly Yoches in the video below:
Beverly Yoches: Numbers on this lab that is with cancer, it’s a shock. So, the very first thing you may need to start thinking is that this does not make sense, I don’t feel sick enough to have cancer and because, you know, last Tuesday before I went to the doctor, I didn’t have cancer, now all of a sudden this Tuesday I do because the numbers on this lab came up elevated.
So, there is a part of denial and it’s not denial that you are not believing your doctor, but it’s just unbelievable. Usually, when you get past that kind of shock, the initial shock, you may feel angry, you may think, you know, why me, why now and you may even think about other people that may be don’t take as good of care of their body as they should.
Why is this happening to your family, you know, you have done everything that you can, why me, why now. After the anger period, there is usually a bargaining and this is where people may go doctor shopping, may be get a second opinion or may be even bargaining with god, you know, it’s a time of feeling vulnerable and scared, you know, you can’t stay in denial, you can’t stay mad, so now you have got to figure out a way and that’s usually when treatment starts, it is when you are in the bargaining phase.
After that, you are usually in treatment, by then you have found a bargain, you have found the doctor and so the next part will be sadness where you are actually going through the treatment and you are feeling all of the side effects of the treatment whether you are losing your hair, you are losing your job, your financial status, soon all of the life changes, really start to settle and there is just that sadness. Usually after you get past the sadness, there is a period of acceptance and a lot of people think, well if I just get to acceptance then I have somehow reached the end, but I disagree because I believe that as human beings, we can come to accept just about anything, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we are happy or that it’s meaningful, and so I think that the important piece of going through this treatment is finding meaningfulness, so be kind to yourself if you are in denial or if you are angry one day or you may be bargaining or afraid to do treatment because when you go through all of this, understand and trust that there will be meaningfulness to you from this, and I think that’s important.
