What cancer takes away

When one is diagnosed with cancer, many things tend to go through your mind. The question of whether you will survive or not never really has a clear answer as death seems to be nearer than it has ever been.

Cancer changes lives, not only in financially but emotionally, psychologically and physically, as one tends to become weaker and weaker as their treatment progresses especially if their treatments are not working.

Relationships are put to the test and, in some cases, families are torn apart due to the emotional strain that the disease puts on not only the patients but on their loved ones as well.

Below are some of the things that cancer takes away from those affected.

1. Joy of life

Cancer takes away all the joy and laughter as it brings uncertainty about tomorrow.

Many cancer patients are never sure if the treatment will work or. This uncertainty in addition to the idea of leaving your loved ones behind is more terrifying than anything in the world.

You live with fear every day and some patients struggle to find something to be cheerful about.

2. Cancer takes away your self-confidence

As the cancer treatment progresses, so do the physical needs of the patient as one becomes more and more dependent on the people around them.

Many partners, especially men will find it difficult to keep up with the physical needs of their partners like walking up the stairs, walking to the car, getting dressed and taking showers, and this causes one to lose their self-esteem as they start feeling worthless since they cannot do anything on their own.

If your partner gets sick, help them without complaining too much. Be their support and seek the support of your own so that you can remain in a positive frame of mind.

3. Emotional needs

Even though your partner and yourself will be there for each other, you still have different emotional needs that tend to change frequently. This coupled with the demands of the illness will make it harder for you to support each other adequately.

The partner caring for their loved one usually finds it hard to express their emotional needs as they feel like their partner already has too much to deal with and they do not want to overwhelm them with their needs.

When emotional needs are not met, people tend to look for what they are not being given somewhere else which leads to trust issues and at times, the couples might separate.

4. Sexual health and intimacy

Cancer treatment takes away your sexual life. Certain forms of treatment such as chemotherapy tend to have side effects such as vaginal dryness and erectile dysfunction. Stress and depression can also lower sex drive and make intercourse painful and difficult. This tends to cause a rift between couples as each of them to have different needs that cannot be met at the moment no matter how hard you try to be there for each other in different ways.

These issues can lead to partners feeling neglected and in the worst-case scenario, the marriage can break up.  

5. All your future plans

When diagnosed with cancer, everything in your world changes including all the plans you had made for the future such as plans for your retirement, travel and children might have to be postponed or even cancelled.

At this point, you are forced to re-evaluate your life and start thinking about now rather than thinking about the future.

Everything that seemed important suddenly stops being important and the most important thing in your life becomes your health and treatment.