I have, however, noticed upon speaking with others who are navigating the same illness waters as am I, that some people feel uncomfortable talking about their cancer simply because recounting any other health crisis feels somehow impolite given the terrible and immediate impacts of Covid-19.
There is a basic need to express my feelings on what is happening to me with a disease that takes people out within weeks and months even as people are succumbing to a mystery virus that can extirpate the victims within hours.
However, there are still things that many cancer fighters want to talk about publicly, but upon scrolling social media and seeing what others are encountering right now, we feel like we must employ a certain level of “this isn’t the time” or “keep it to yourself” into our social graces and we try to act accordingly.
I had just finished up my second bout of chemotherapy and had begun three weeks of radiation for Stage 3 breast cancer at the end of February when Covid-19 started to dominate our everyday conversations.
People in my immunocompromised situation went from seeing our teams of doctors a few times a week at our local hospitals and doctor offices to not seeing anyone at all.
