Our Lung Cancer Tribe!

They say our lung cancer community is one big tribe, but within our tribe, we have smaller tribes. I would like to think that I have a few smaller tribes within our big tribe. For instance, my ALK-positive tribe, I don’t know them all of course but I would hope if I reached out to my ALK family they would definitely have my back and support. And they have especially when I switched treatment, I was having horrible side effects. They were so helpful and understood what I was going through. I was given great advice and support and that’s what a tribe should do for each other. There are going to be differences within each other and that’s ok but at the end of the day, we are all still fighting lung cancer together.

We must unite and support each other

I was in a group and at one point we were all so close, but unfortunately, that ended. It’s ok if you don’t care for someone in the group and it’s ok to disagree on some stuff but we became family because of lung cancer and that support is very important. But to cut someone off or not include them anymore because of differences it’s very sad. What happened to that unity and support that we all need from each other?

They say when someone is diagnosed with a terminal illness they change. They become more humble, nicer, and even friendlier. But I’ve learned in this lung cancer journey that is not the case. You would think people will change for the better, but no they can still be as nasty as they were before their diagnosis. Is it because they are angry about their diagnosis? Upset and furious because they were told they have lung cancer? It’s ok to feel all those feelings because we are human beings, but it’s not ok to treat others badly because you are angry. To me, it’s a time to reflect on your life and see yourself doing better than you can while living with lung cancer.

Our voices deserve to be heard

It’s not ok to exclude others just because you don’t like them or because you don’t agree with what they do or stand for. Or because they speak their mind, they’re a blunt individual or a strong-willed person. Those individuals are still lung cancer sisters or brothers and they need the support, encouragement, and love from their lung cancer tribe. We need to learn to put our differences aside and be there for them just like you would want them to be there for you! None of us are saints but we shouldn’t create cliques within our small tribe, leave others out and make them feel bad.

We need to do better, and we can! I say this from experience, we are humans, and we all have feelings and we all hurt! I’m safe to say that others have experienced this and know where I’m coming from. So my tribe let’s do better and let us be here for each other.