Joannie

Hi:
I did in fact seek help from a profesisonal therapist after I completed chemo. I had a wonderful support system, great doctors, but no one really knew what feelings I had deep in my gut. I felt like my surgeon took care of surgery, onc. took care of chemo, plastic surgeon rebuilt my boobs, but no one in the medical profession ever asked "How are you doing mentally?" After I finished chemo, I felt a lump in my throat. It really scared me. My onc. sent me to an internist, who listened to my story and basically told me I was suffering from anxiety. The lump in my throat was caused from stress. No real lump, just a feeling. At that time, I knew I needed to deal with all I had been through over the past few months. For me, going through all the surgery and chemo, I felt like I was just in survival mode. I sought help from a therapist for about 6 months. I told him I wanted to learn to get rid of the stress of having had cancer. He told me, you will never get rid of the stress, but you will learn to deal with it and live with it. He was so helpful in my journey of healing. I also learned many things from him on dealing with stress in my life from family issues. His time and input changed my life. I wish more doctors would take the time to at least send us to someone to help us with our emotional well being. Sometimes I think if we didn't have the know how, stuff would never get done! I hope this helps and I would encourage you to find someone you can speak to. Someone you can open up to completely; it helps! P.S. My insurance paid for everything but my co-pay!