Family Times With Blood Cancer

It’s hard to consider thoughts of enjoying some portion of life in this new phase as a blood cancer survivor. The word has a way of putting such a negative stain on “moving on “or “Enjoying Life”.

Blood cancer has a way of shutting down doors and, at times, limiting family conversations to what is happening in the present. We all know there’s a process of capturing the dos and don’ts with blood cancer, and at times it feels like there’s a whole list of the cants and don’ts.

Unseen burden on the family

The problem for most is that the family dynamics may become challenged, and bringing an unforeseen load to the family. This is a load no one seeks to intentionally do, but this is what it is.

So, how do we move forward with this elephant "cancer?"

Start with transparency

It’s probably a good idea to sit everyone down and, together, digest what is happening and how this may affect the dynamics of the household. This conversation may work better for older children who can comprehend the subject better.

Cancer is a scary subject, but you may find those around you may follow your lead on how you face this battle. If you face it scared as you may rightfully be, then the family may be scared. If you show a smile through it all, but one day, simmer and show the face of not being your best, then the family will adjust to help make it a doable day or weekfor you. Having full transparency with your loved ones, especially those that are sharing your home, is a way of breaking those walls of open and important discussions such as this.

Continue with family nights

Well of course, it may depend on how you’re feeling, and it may take a bit of strategy to try and make fanily nights work. Unfortunately, the body has a way of shutting down and that fade of fatigue or pain has a way of ruining the show. You can only proceed based on how you feel, but there are a few tips to make a family night a feasible experience, despite the negatives of the cancer.

Family night may need to be reworked depending on when your treatment takes place. If treatment is on a Thursday, you may need a day or so to readjust, so a subtle family night may take place on Saturday or Sunday.

What does family night entail? It’s all up to what you liked to do before a diagnosis. If movie night was a thing, then check what’s streaming at home where the whole family can make it fun with popcorn, pop, and a good movie. If you’re up to a crowd and the outdoors...maybe even a movie night at a theatre and dinner may be a treat. Family night maybe might be just sitting around playing games (cards, checkers, puzzles, video).

Vacations can still happen

Travel can still be part of your family thing to do. Again, part of the strategy will be working around treatment and the specific times that are your physical downtime. If vacation involved sun and the beach then, hey, why not? You may need to rethink how you plan it, instead of the hottest day of the year, choose a time when the weather is more workable so you can be comfortable while on medication, and also giving everyone else a good time. Everyone will work around what you have going on and adjustments are part of the teamwork!

It can be a trial to bring some form of normalcy into the home when frankly, normalcy is truly in the past. However, allowing the family as a whole work through this in moments is a start.

The time to fight is now, with integrity, grace, hope, and a smile…when you feel like it