Coping with the limbo time - Waiting for scan results

I've previously referred to a life of limbo. We seem to live this life of waiting, waiting to see if the treatment is working, waiting for the next doc appointment, and the hard one, waiting for results. This life of limbo it often really hard to deal with, you are hoping for good results, but you really don't know. You want that call from the doc, but the early call from the doc may mean a bad outcome. You never want the doctors office to call you the day of your scan and ask you to be in his office first thing tomorrow morning, that's never good news.

So now heading into my next scan in a few weeks, I was thinking again about how I will handle it, what will I do to help me through it. I have read it referred to as "SCANXIETY", anxiety for scan results, good one. It shouldn't be underestimated the impact it can have on you. I read recently someones description of how they felt about waiting for scans.

“It’s like every six months, someone holds a gun to your head, and they slowly squeeze the trigger. You can hear the springs in the gun compressing, you feel the muzzle shake a little as their muscles quiver, and you tense up, anticipating the explosion. Adrenaline pours through your body. You try to keep from shaking, from crying, because the gun exploded twice before, and you don’t want to go through that again.This time, there’s a loud “click” of the hammer slamming down on an empty chamber. Just that sound explodes in your ears. Every muscle in your body jolts tight as the sound echoes – then rings away.No bullet this time.Good.But it takes awhile to recover.And no… you don’t ever get used to it.

Wow, I found that pretty close to what I have felt before. Always hard to sleep, to stop the anxious thoughts, and no, you never get used to it. So what are some of the things that I think I can do, and maybe others can consider.

What have you done before?
Are there ways that you have handled stressful situations in your work and home life before that have worked well? What are they? Can you use them in this situation?

Relax.
Are there techniques that you can help yourself to relax? Breathing exercises, mediation, reading, cooking, going for a walk? Often easier said than done right, but what do you normally do to relax and plan that into the few days.

Focus on the Positives.
Yes you will be thinking about it all, but the positive is no matter what you do now it is not going to change the result of the scan, what will be will be, so what is next in the various scenarios, what can you do to move on no matter what the result?

Talk about it.
Talk to others about it, partners, online blogs, put your thoughts down on paper. Problem shared perhaps? Make it clear when you talk about it that you are not looking for advice, you are just looking to bleed a bit, need a bit of empathy.

Accept that you are going to be anxious.
The worry is normal, it is something that will happen to everyone in this situation, and the point is, IT IS OK. Accept that you are OK to be concerned, but try not to spend too much time inside that emotion, try and bounce back with spending time with family and friends, laughing, chatting, just shooting the breeze. Don't let the worry be the single emotion that overtakes all others, that's not healthy for mind or body.

So the last couple of days have been pretty good, the fatigue this week seems to be improved, certainly better than the weekend. Great to catch up with JB and Cooky for brekky yesterday and see Mum and Dad. So with some preparation for the scan in a few weeks I will try and cope with the life in limbo and Scanxiety. School hols next week, will be good to have the boy home for a few days, looking forward to tomorrow as tomorrow is always another day.

Love.
Trev.

Onya JB.