Lucky for me, I finally have a diagnosis and treatment for a condition I’ve been suffering for 2 years! I am very happy to be getting well, at last. However. . .
If you have ever been diagnosed with something, and chances are you have if you are human and alive, you have no doubt experienced a plethora of advice and horror stories that can greatly diminish any optimism you might have held.
It is the horror stories that are the worst. Advice I can ignore.
A floodgate of terror is opened when you tell someone you’ve got something. You’ll hear about how their uncles best friend got it and suffered and was never the same, died a horrible death and left his family destitute. It will always be a story that even the best fiction writers couldn’t dream up.
Sympathy? My employer asked me if I had a list of all the job sites to advertise my job, just in case they have to do without me.
Excuse me?
The best thing ever said to me, many years ago when I was very upset about an illness was, “I am so sorry you are going through this, if there is anything I can do, please let me know”.
Thank you kind and wise co-worker Judy B!
It is a phrase I have tried to adopt when faced with another’s pain.
I realize we don’t know what to say or do in terrible circumstances, but I do think the best things we can do is listen and offer to help.