Cancer friends. Why they’re so important to me.
No-one quite gets it like another cancer patient
What do you see in this photo?
Two girls riding bikes?
For me, this photo is significantly more.
This is a picture of two girls who have both fought cancer recently.
My friend and I are both still getting our heads around what ‘after cancer’ looks like.
It’s complicated.
But some things are very simple.
Exercise, time in nature and friends.
These are some of the best medicines.
They are helping us figure it out. Helping us regain control. Helping us feel normal.
In this picture, we’re chatting about our post cancer symptoms. Our ongoing side effects. What we’re both doing to try and get better. Recent podcasts we’ve listened to. Sharing tips for how to rest, recover and adapt now that our bodies are different.
We have had different cancers but the shared experience is similar. There is an unspoken solidarity.
We both know what it’s like to fear for your life. To get into a PET scanner, not knowing if you are coming out with a life or death sentence. We both know what it feels like to be pumped full of poisonous chemotherapy. To feel so ill but to pull it together for the sake of our kids. To want to do anything we can to see our children grow up.
We also both know the powerful joy, positivity and camaraderie we get from exercising with friends.
There is no substitute.
Riding my bike is my social life.
It’s on my bike that I catch up with my friends, share news, discuss life, fears, hopes, plans, kids, partners … it’s my therapy!
I feel very grateful that exercising is just a part of my life. I rarely meet my mates for drinks in a bar or a meal out. I see them to walk, bike, run, climb.
Generally, exercising comes naturally to me. Which I’m grateful for, given how important it is for cancer patients and survivors.
But, like everyone, I’m not always motivated.
And if I’m not, it’s friends that make me want to do it.
So, next time you’re wavering with motivation, make it social. You’ll be amazed how much easier it is.