Survey: My Biggest Worry
Posted 5/2/2009
Posted in
Some of you (hopefully) are aware of our Breast Cancer Support Net website: http://www.bidmc.org/breastcaresupport. This is the place to register for one of our online support groups/web chats, take a survey that changes every couple of weeks, or (when it is finally ready), participate in our online support group.
We changed the posted survey this week, and I want to share the results of the previous one. It was titled; "My Biggest Worry about Having Breast Cancer", and here are the results:
Recurrence 71.43%
Impact on my children 14.29%
Impact on my spouse/partner 0%
Finances 0%
Fatigue o%
Being very sick or in pain 0%
Other 14.29%
There aren't really any surprises here, but I am just as interested in the "0%"s as in the bigger worries. I know that all of these things are concerning to most of us, and it was expected that worry about recurrence would top the list. For more about this topic, you might want to read an earlier blog entry on "Fear"
I am most struck by the "0%" for impact on our spouses or partners. When I talk with women, I often hear about the impact of this diagnosis on our husbands and partners. I know we all worry about them and are aware that this is tough and scary for both of us. The fact that no one identified this concern as her biggest worry suggests, to me, that we also understand that, by and large, our spouses or partners are managing and will manage whatever happens. Of course, they can be afraid or exhausted or lonely or overburdened or sad, but they are adults and they can take care of themselves. We worry more about our children for all the obvious reasons.
I also am struck by the "0%" for finances and worry about physical suffering. Again I know that these are issues for many of us, but apparently not the biggest ones. Money, we realize, can't buy health and our doctors do a very good job of managing pain and other physical problems. These will be subjects of later blogs as, even if they aren't our biggest worries, they certainly are on the list.
Please take a moment to share your thoughts. And, since 14.29% voted for "other", I would love to know what you were thinking.
Also, take a moment to click on the link above and vote in the new survey about "The biggest silver lining about having breast cancer has been..."
TO MAKE A COMMENT, CLICK ON THE NUMBER NEXT TO THE WORD "COMMENTS"
Tags: