One year my best friend became ill. She started having tummy problems and no one could tell her why or how it was happening. Finally, the doctors ordered a colonoscopy, and we found out that she had colon cancer. I remember the day she told me. I was on vacation with my family, and I remember her sending me a message saying that the mass was indeed cancer. I literally fell to the ground. My husband at the time had to pick me up and carry me to the bedroom we were staying in and I cried for hours. My best friend is like my sister, and she will forever hold me heart. Besides my daughter, she is the most important person in my life. However, after that day, I decided that I couldn’t break down and that I would have to be her strength. Therefore, I researched information on how to deal with your best friend having cancer and this is what worked for me.
Being a best friend – As the best friend, it will be your job to be there when they need you. They will entrust you with information that they can’t tell anyone else. You will need to realize what emotions that they need to express every day. Whether its sadness, anger, or humor, you need to be on the same page. You can’t express sadness when they are angry and you can’t express humor when they are sad. It will backfire on you and can cause more harm than good.
Cancer is a family affair – When I read about this I knew that this would be one of the hardest things for me. As far as my best friend and I are concern, we are family, but I did indeed take a step back when it came to her real family members. The only time I stepped in was when I was asked to do so, which in my case was quite often.
Keeping friends involved – This step will be incredibly hard, because as the best friend one of your duties will be to relay information to other friends and co-workers. My best friend was an incredibly private person, therefore there was only a certain amount of information that I could discuss with others. They would press me for information, but I couldn’t divulge the things that she didn’t want me to. I don’t know how many times people would get mad at me because of it, but I had to stand my ground and obey my friend’s wishes.
In the end, my best friend survived colon cancer, and now she is fighting lung cancer. She is a survivor and will not give up. I truly believe that she will beat it and come out victorious once again. If you have a best friend that is facing cancer, I encourage you to research and prepare yourself for all that it will entail. It is not going to be an easy road. You, however, cannot give up hope, because if you do, your friend will too. Good luck and may God be with you during this trying and stressful time.
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