Aloha, friends! We have some wonderful thoughts once again from our Board Chair, moderator, and most important, our dear friend Peter Kafka. We love you, Peter!
THE LEARNING CURVE
Yesterday I made the leap and upgraded my smart phone from my old Samsung android which was not functioning or charging very well to a new I-phone. I was warned that there would be a learning curve to navigate, and I feel I am up for the challenge. Of course, I have mentors close at hand like my son and daughter-in-law and grandchildren, but their fingers fly so fast over the keys and apps that my brain just can’t keep up and I get lost. I suspect you know the feeling well.
I bring this experience up because it reminds me of the steep learning curve that most of us face when diagnosed with prostate cancer at any level. There is a hell of a lot to learn to say the least! Our AnCan motto for our support groups is; “Be Your Own Best Advocate”. This admonition can be quite an ambitious goal for many of us. I noticed my own over eager attempt to “educate” a recently diagnosed man who found his way to my phone number the other day, not unlike my grand daughter’s attempt to furiously try to teach me the secrets of all the apps on my new phone. How quickly the mind can zone out.
Then there are the numerous inherent “handicaps” (if that is still a politically correct choice of words) that we face including;
- Age: Prostate cancer seems to strike most of us in our 60’s when our mental capacity and acumen is not in its prime. (Go ahead and say; “speak for yourself!”, just saying….
- Medical Terminology: Few if any of us are trained as medical professionals and acquiring understanding in the field of cancer can be quite daunting.
- Advancements: The field of medicine is changing and progressing rapidly. “Warp Speed” is no longer a science fiction term.
- Brain Fog: The treatments that many of us endure certainly don’t help the cause.
Add your own: Be my guest…
If you have attended any of our live online AnCan support group meetings you will have noticed that many of us are “regulars”. We are not GROUPIES following bands like The Grateful Dead around the country, but rather just guys trying to wrap our heads around this strange disease and better understand what our options are going forward. The light doesn’t come on with a flip of the switch, at least that has been my experience.
For information on our peer-led video chat PROSTATE CANCER VIRTUAL SUPPORT GROUPS, click here.
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