Peer Support Fosters Lasting Friendships

by Rick Davis | Sep 26, 2019 | Cancer Resources, Brain Tumors, Cancer Caregivers, Health Resources, Men 'Speaking Freely', Men's Breast Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Prostate Cancer, Women's Breast Cancer

Yet again, our Moderator Peter Kafka offers wise words from his group meting reminder that many of you will find true! Thank you Peter ….. 

All of us in the AnCan community are volunteers.  At this juncture none of us are paid to moderate our calls or assist others in navigation or advocacy with their cancer journey.  This might change at some point as finances permit and circumstances evolve, but for now we remain no less passionate or committed to our calling.   There are of course benefits to the work we do, and for me one of the great benefits I have come to know is new friendships.  The men and women I have come to know through this work in these past five years have made a great impact on my life.

Friendship is an interesting human cultural phenomenon.  It is often noted that women tend to form closer and longer lasting friendships than men.  Men can become “lone wolves” in society, particularly as we age and our boyhood friendships fall away.  It takes work and commitment to initiate and maintain friendships as we grow older and our life purposes change and evolve.

The notion that new and significant friendships can form in the autumnal days of our lives is a foreign concept to most men.  The idea that there are men who are committed to being of help to perfect strangers who are trying to find their way through the weeds of prostate cancer decisions can no doubt seem suspicious.  “What’s the catch?”  Simply put, there is no catch!  For some unknown reason this disease seems to have propelled quite a few of us into a place where we just want to help others as best we can.

I always look forward to these on-line/telephone AnCan meetings.  Even though most of us are separated by many miles and may never meet each other in person, strong bonds are sometimes formed and significant friendships result.  Maybe I should end this with a string of clichés; We are not ships passing in the night – but rather all in the same boat and pulling for each other.

We at AnCan through our online/telephone weekly support meetings and advocacy work hard as peers to provide whatever support and backup as we can in your journey with prostate cancer.  But we don’t claim to have all the answers.  We encourage you to share your experiences.  We learn from each other. Keep connected, information is power!   We are always there for you.