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I
say “weirdness” because I do not otherwise know how to explain it. I am not
sad. I don’t cry. As a matter of fact, the only time I have really cried at all
was in the days following my mastectomy, and that had more to do with being in a
ridiculous amount of pain and desperately wanting to sleep, and less to do with
sadness or fear about my diagnosis. I am not really scared. I do not dwell on
death. I can honestly say that I do not think about death any more these days
that I did prior to my diagnosis. I don’t dream about death. I dream bizarre
dreams about oatmeal cream pies and worms that turn into lo mein noodles (last
night’s dream). And I am not angry – at least no angrier than I was before my
diagnosis. I should be apoplectic with rage, but I don’t even feel a miniscule bubbling
of low-level outrage. I am more pissed about Ben Carson being named HUD Secretary
than I am about the last nine months of cancer treatment!
And
that’s the weird thing. When you hear about someone being diagnosed with cancer
– especially someone young (somewhat) and relatively healthy (somewhat) – you
assume they will feel sad, scared, and angry. Those are kind of the BIG THREE
when it comes to cancer emotionality. So what is wrong with me that I don’t
really feel any of these?
That’s
what I am hoping a therapist can tell me.
I’ll
tell you what I do feel. I feel numb. I feel numb a lot of the time. I see my
mother upset. I see Ruanita terrified. I see my kids reacting in ways that are
new to them this year. Nicky suddenly loves his “blankies” again and takes them
everywhere he goes. Lucas is apologetic to a fault – every real or imagined
trespass is immediately met with zealous amends. And Sophie is so hot and cold
with me that I don’t think even she knows if she likes me at any given moment.
She has mastered the irrational anger I should be feeling.
But
all I feel is numb. A sluggish numbness. Like I have fallen into a sort of
conscious coma. And in the meantime, I
have been replaced by a different person who I do not recognize. She goes to
work at my job. She lives with my family. She sleeps in the bed with my wife. She
has everyone fooled. They think she is me, but I’m the bystander off in the
corner. Watching quietly. Wondering if I will ever be me again.
That
sounds sort of insane, doesn’t it? Kind of Sybil-like? I promise I do not have
a split personality (that I am aware of). And it’s not like I do not appreciate
the pain and uncertainty that my family is experiencing. It breaks my heart
that they are suffering on my behalf. But I don’t seem to have those same deep emotional
currents. I don’t feel those highs and lows where my treatment is concerned. I
just feel numb. Detached from the whole shitty thing.
This
past Saturday marked the 33rd anniversary of my dad’s death from
brain cancer. He was thirty-three years old when he died. He’s now been dead and
gone for the same amount of time that he was alive and moving through the lives
of his friends and family. Unlike my
siblings who were too young to remember, I vividly remember his funeral. I
remember his casket in the front of the church. Everyone
around me was crying. I could not seem to get a tear to fall. I stared
wide-eyed – unblinking – at his casket. If I stared hard enough for long
enough, surely my eyes would water. Surely I could cry like everyone else. I
could show everyone that I loved him just as much as they did.
Even
then, at eleven years old, all I could muster was a sense of numb
inevitability. A blunt and listless detachment. Just as they are now, tears
seemed well beyond my grasp.
But
it’s not about tears, is it? It’s not about whether I can cry or not cry. Rage
or not rage. It’s about coming to terms. On my own terms. And as seemingly
positive as I am, I’m not sure that I have done that yet. I have this sinking
feeling that the only way I am going to be able to evict the bitch who has
taken over my life and step out of that corner once again is to face my
feelings about my inadequacies. To look at myself honestly and without bias and
learn to see the beauty and value that lies within – boobless or not. Tearful
or not. Angry or not. To look beyond my “weirdness” about my diagnosis and
truly believe that it is okay. However I feel. However I respond. It’s okay.
And to do that, I am certainly going to need some help. So I am seeing a
therapist for the first time in my adult life on Wednesday.
Wish
me luck.
Or
rather, wish her luck!
1 comments:
Yay! Talking about it to a professional can only help. I'm of the opinion that all adult humans would benefit from talking to a therapist, especially when going through tough times. It's a shame that it's not more common.
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