The first time I came into contact with the word cancer I was 15 years old. At that time my mum had colon cancer but she survived thanks to the right treatment.
To suffer in silence, to be lost among your feelings and questions, far too big to handle on your own.
But for my part, my whole world had fallen into ruins. I didn't know how to deal with this experience. I hadn't received any support and I had no one to turn to either. About what it meant to have cancer and everything to do with death. I suffered in silence until university when I started actively seeking help for this, especially together with Ung Cancer. I learned to deal with the feelings and the experience in a healthy way through creative expression by drawing and painting. The grief continued but I had learned to deal with grief in a healthier way.
16 years later my dad died of lung cancer. And a year later my mum died of metastatic breast cancer. The world collapsed again but I have learned to deal with my feelings and dare to talk about it in a healthier way than when I was just a teenager.
I really want to highlight how important it is to take care of the whole family when someone receives a cancer diagnosis. Not just those affected but also their relatives. No one should have to feel abandoned.
This is what my lecture is about.
