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When you are diagnosed with cancer there is something that your brain tells you to just stay within yourself and handle your business like a grown adult. You want to cry and be depressed but there is a feeling that you cannot do that. You must, in fact, be smart enough to realize that you are going to have to go through this and that you must start taking care of business. The truth is that you cannot take care of this all by yourself. You might want to and no one can blame you for it but the reality is that you have to lean on others to help you. If you are thinking about setting up your own internal support system then here are some things to help that transition go smoother.
The first thing you should do is to make sure you know exactly what you need. Don’t approach family and friend until you have a concrete schedule in your head or until the doctors lay out your treatment plan. There is nothing a family member can do to help until they know that you are ready to be helped.
Once you have the treatment plan in place then you can talk to your family members. The best thing to do is to not overwhelm any one person. Ask multiple people and have them each help you out on a day. The easier it is for other to manage the responsibility the better off you are your family will be.
If you are finding that there is a day or two that it is hard to be helped on then ask your hospital if they know of a service that can help people in your condition. Your care is important and it’s never too soon to get it in order.