Coping with Skin Cancer and Multiple Health Issues
A diagnosis of skin cancer is often alarming, scary, and can make you feel mentally exhausted. All of this is multiplied for those who are coping with skin cancer and multiple health issues at the same time. While everyone is different, here are a few mechanisms to help you adapt if you’re someone who feels overwhelmed.
Comorbidities can be overwhelming
As mentioned, some get overwhelmed when dealing with multiple health issues. There’s the physical part where you have to cope with various aches and pains, different specialists, and various medicines.
Impacts on mental health
There’s also the mental part. Some feel as if they have bad luck or that their body has failed them. It doesn’t even have to be life-threatening issues, either. Personally, I’ve had skin cancer more than once, I deal with fibromyalgia, and I’m pre-diabetic.
The point is not to try to adopt a woe-is-me attitude. But it can be disheartening to feel as if you got a bad deal in the health department. You might think, “I have enough on my plate with this one thing, now I have others to worry about.” That’s natural to think that way, and we get it.
Don’t go it alone
Choose a caretaker. If you have a friend or family member, this helps you have emotional support, as well as support with appointments, medicines, and more.
Your insurance provider. Another thing to keep in mind is your insurance provider. Many insurance providers also cover care management services. Your care manager (who works directly with your doctor) can have regular phone consultations with you in between your appointments to see how you are doing with your management plan. You can also ask your care manager questions about your medication or any other health concerns you have. At the very least, check into it to see if that’s possible, and it is included in your plan.
Use a tracking plan or program
Keeping up with everything is daunting at times - no matter who you are. By tracking your symptoms, medicines, appointments, and more, you have a better grasp of taking control of your health.
If you’re comfortable using apps and your smartphone, there are plenty to check into such as MediSafe, myMedicalinfo, and Symple. iPhones Androids have health apps too, and are usual tools you probably have with you at all times.
Coping with skin cancer and multiple health issues
Having multiple health issues isn’t easy for anyone. And combining skin cancer along with other health problems causes a multitude of feelings - sadness, overwhelming feelings, and feeling scared.
Remember that you are not the sum of your health issues. You didn’t do something to cause this. Your health issues can be anything from genetics to the luck of the draw. The important thing is to have a backup system of support, keep up with your health tracking, and use all the tools you have at your disposal.
You really can find some normalcy with your multiple diagnoses and live a life that is more free from worries over your condition.
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