Siblings and Cancer

[Kane Weinberg]

A few days ago, I was reminiscing about the first time I went to the hospital for my cancer diagnosis and it led me to realize that I have never had a conversation with my sister (age 21) about how my leukemia affected her. When a person goes through cancer treatment, most of the attention is focused on the patient and not on the sibling(s), and so I am left to wonder. I imagine most of them share in the fear and uncertainty that accompanies such a situation, but to what extent? Perhaps they feel slightly neglected due to the fact that so much focus is placed elsewhere. Regardless, my sister was very supportive and caring through the whole ordeal. She did everything she could to make my life and my parents’ lives easier. On days when I finally felt like eating, she would always go out and make sure that I had one of my favorite meals. She embraced the role of caretaker whenever I needed her and I am extremely thankful for that. 

[Allison DeSoto]

I too realized that I had never directly asked my siblings or even my parents about their experiences in finding out my diagnosis and handling it from there.  From my perspective they handled it very well, but I never asked how terrifying it was for them internally (since they always maintained a strong front for me).  I plan on asking them next time I am home to see what they say.  Stay posted ;b