(no subject)
Jun. 15th, 2016 09:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
My psychiatrist thinks I should find a breast cancer support group, either in person or online. Google hasn't shown me many face to face options. There's a weekly group that meets downtown (I think) in a bank on Wednesday evenings. I could go to that some weeks and not others because we have other things going on on Wednesday evenings. If it is downtown, the bus might even be an option, even after 6 p.m.
There's also a monthly group on Monday evenings at St. Joe's, but that's a pretty long car or bus ride away, and I'm not convinced I'd want to do it. If I did get there by bus, getting home the same way would be much more difficult. The buses run later now than they used to, but they're not, on most routes, more frequent. Hm. Yes, the bus website says that the bus from St. Joe's to downtown runs hourly after 6:30. I'd have a forty minute wait after the meeting and a twenty five minute ride to downtown. The bus from there to home wouldn't leave for another forty minutes. The bus station lobby would be open. I suppose the A-Ride is an option. The time involved would be similar, and $3-$5 each way isn't terrible.
As to online, I know my sister does stuff on Facebook, but... Facebook. The American Cancer Society has online forums, and those are probably okay. I mean, at least I know the organization isn't some fly-by-night thing that's going to sell my data to snake oil salesmen. The other site I found was breastcancer.org, and I'm not convinced. All of the pages say they were last updated in April of 2015, and I can't find any indication of more recent content. It may be there, but it's not public. There are personal stories listed, lots and lots of them, but not one is dated as to when it was posted.
I just hate signing up for things like that. Loathe it. Also, from what my sister says, there are some folks in the community who won't consider me a 'real' survivor because I didn't do chemo (and don't consider her a real survivor because she didn't do either radiation or chemo). I really don't want to deal with assholes on the subject. Really, really not.
There's also a monthly group on Monday evenings at St. Joe's, but that's a pretty long car or bus ride away, and I'm not convinced I'd want to do it. If I did get there by bus, getting home the same way would be much more difficult. The buses run later now than they used to, but they're not, on most routes, more frequent. Hm. Yes, the bus website says that the bus from St. Joe's to downtown runs hourly after 6:30. I'd have a forty minute wait after the meeting and a twenty five minute ride to downtown. The bus from there to home wouldn't leave for another forty minutes. The bus station lobby would be open. I suppose the A-Ride is an option. The time involved would be similar, and $3-$5 each way isn't terrible.
As to online, I know my sister does stuff on Facebook, but... Facebook. The American Cancer Society has online forums, and those are probably okay. I mean, at least I know the organization isn't some fly-by-night thing that's going to sell my data to snake oil salesmen. The other site I found was breastcancer.org, and I'm not convinced. All of the pages say they were last updated in April of 2015, and I can't find any indication of more recent content. It may be there, but it's not public. There are personal stories listed, lots and lots of them, but not one is dated as to when it was posted.
I just hate signing up for things like that. Loathe it. Also, from what my sister says, there are some folks in the community who won't consider me a 'real' survivor because I didn't do chemo (and don't consider her a real survivor because she didn't do either radiation or chemo). I really don't want to deal with assholes on the subject. Really, really not.
no subject
Date: 2016-06-15 06:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-06-17 12:00 am (UTC)I'm not finding anything encouraging, though.
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Date: 2016-06-15 02:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-06-16 06:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-06-15 03:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-06-15 06:14 pm (UTC)Online groups tend to fragment into very specific subsets, so it's easier to find a welcome with other people who've been in the same place. I think I'll have to join Facebook, however, and I really don't want to.
no subject
Date: 2016-06-15 07:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-06-16 06:23 pm (UTC)I also worry that dealing with an online support forum will be a chore, something that makes me more anxious and that I put off and put off.
no subject
Date: 2016-06-16 02:27 am (UTC)I know two other local people who have had breast cancer. If you would like to be put in touch with them (well, one is Chris and you know where to find her as well as I do :) ), maybe they have some advice about support groups, or maybe they themselves would be a resource to talk to?
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Date: 2016-06-16 06:27 pm (UTC)Chris rather suddenly stopped talking to me last fall. I'm not sure if my message got buried and she lost track of it or if she was too busy or what happened. I was too stressed out at the time to follow up and ask (and not sure how I'd deal with it if she didn't answer that message either). Prior to that, we'd been having lunch together about once a month during the school year.
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Date: 2016-06-16 08:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-06-16 08:18 pm (UTC)I went far enough down the list to get to groups that only matched one of my two search terms.