I have cancer

Gentle hugs fellow patient, and linger all you want and need in that hug, tissues are nearby too if you need them. Hopefully along the way someone other than that first doctor along the way will help more than just a pamphlet or diagnosis or other techno jargon that they all like to use. My own experience (severe autoimmune kidney disorder which is leading to dialysis) has been that once you get further into a diagnosis, there are many more people there who will open up to help care more than just that doctor's appointment. My husband also went through his second round of cancer last year at the same time of needing neck surgery for an old injury and he found the same, once he was further in, the medical staff were much more supportive, even now some of his favorite doctors. Hopefully it will open up for you soon, and if you're still feeling like it isn't, you have every right to reach out to your own family doctor for more help. There are also other various mental health resources both online and now using the telehealth model too.

As for people, many can't imagine being where you are now because they have no experience of their own similar to yours, so they inadvertently cross-compare their ills to your own, which they are trying to help relate, even if at times it seems just the opposite. My own parents have acted and said the same things you mentioned that yours have done and said, as have extended family, which they have been worse. Some people will be more receptive to good open communication than others, and it's taken time to train the people near me with that, but that as well as learning to accept my own limitations, especially on bad days, and treating myself with more love and kindness have been the biggest helps. Hopefully the people around you are receptive to better communication and giving you time and space for self-care too when you need it.

/r/WitchesVsPatriarchy Thread