To not start an Instagram page about my journey

[Amibeingadick]

Ive either got or had skin cancer depending on the results of the second biopsy. First was a melanoma second hopefully isn’t.

i can’t even process anything myself let alone start a page for awareness or visibility.

how do people do this?

Why would you have to start one? Not everyone with an illness has to share it everywhere? If you want to then do it, but there’s no guilt for not doing it!

You don't have to, and you should not feel pressured to either.
Yep, a lot of people do post on SM about their journey, but even more people do not at all.

It's absolutely not compulsory. Some people do and some don't. Some people find it helpful to have loads of people commenting and offering messages of support, some people like to keep their privacy. I don't think either way is wrong although I think the ones who have an Amazon wishlist so their followers can send them presents are a bit cheeky.

Don’t start one. Focus on yourself because honestly, and with all due respect, nobody cares about your situation unless they are close to you. Use your energy wisely. This isn’t about anyone else but you.

Who is trying to make you? You don't have to share your health info with anyone.

Glad to hear that you have had successful treatment OP. Good luck with your results.
In my experience, breast cancer, there are two types of cancer”victims”. Those that go to great lengths to document every last minute and wring out the maximum sympathy from their audience and those that quietly plod through the experience then don’t look back.
SM is littered with cancer stories.
I think the best celebrity one is Sarah Beeny because it is wholly about the affect on her family. She doesn’t go on a crusade but quietly portrays the real side of cancer diagnosis and treatment. In contrast Julia Bradbury posted lots of pathetic selfies, championed the dubious alternative treatments and generally annoyed the breast cancer community although no one would actually publicly admit it.
People seem compelled to write stories about their journeys. I have no interest in reading about someone’s cancer journey, it would bring back so much of the experience I really want to forget.
However there are some good books about breast cancer, particularly one by a breast cancer surgeon who got breast cancer Dr Liz O’Riordan.
There are some great online support groups where you can freely share your journey with people who are genuinely interested, caring and supportive. Most cancer muggles are clueless and send hearts then try to forget about you.
I updated my nearest and dearest via a closed sm group so that my family were not bombarded with kindly enquiries. I now only tell three people the results of my yearly reviews because they were really there for me.
I have no time for the pink hair and tutu brigade I don’t intend to wear my cancer as a badge. Cancer is now in my past and that’s were it is staying, hopefully.

How are you being forced too?

Different coping mechanisms. Some want to hide away and deal with it privately on their own, others like having the support of many people even strangers on the Internet.

I'm of the first kind like yourself but I can understand needing support too.

Wish you well x

Sorry to hear about your illness and hope you get better soon, but what's the correlation between your title about Instagram and your post?

Is it something you want to do or is anyone pressuring you to start one?

Some people find it useful to have support from others o line, some don't. I'm not sure where there is a requirement to open an Instagram page. Best of luck with the results.

I really hope your results are good news and you can go forward in the knowledge that you’re in good health.

how do people do this? Well, with a few exceptions, they don’t. The cancer rate is currently one in two of us, I believe. If everyone who had cancer created an Instagram page, Instagram would be full of cancer stories and nothing else. You must have so much going through your head at the moment; I don’t really understand why you feel that involving social media in your illness is even a consideration, unless it’s something that you really want to do.

The people I know who have made blogs / pages etc out of difficult situations are generally people who “write to make sense of things”.

My friend who writes a blog about her son’s life limiting illness also has 2 finished and 4 unfinished novels in her sock drawer and has been writing a diary since she was at university. The only difference is that she presses “publish”.

@angrymum22 Amen to that from another bc survivor just moving on with my life. Four years on most friends have forgotten I've had a mastectomy. I'll always chat to someone going through treatment if they contact me but I consider my cancer a blip and couldn't imagine anything worse than documenting it.

I know what you mean. Some people are very good at communicating around their diagnosis. I think it helps them to have a battle with defined terms and outcomes and to share that. If you don’t feel like that and you wouldn’t benefit from having a battle and it being public then that’s fine too. You just carry on in your own way, there’s no right way to do it.

Good luck with your results op. Have you had a SLNB Too?

I have taken some pics and videos of skin cancer to document it for myself but can't imagine publicly publishing them. But each to their own. Perhaps if I got the 'all clear' to draw a line under it but my stage you don't ever get the 'all clear' long term even if you're NED.
I do follow some melanoma accounts though and they do share useful information which I wish I'd seen in my younger years.

I don't understand why people put anything personal on social media, and that includes nice things like holidays, let alone health issues.
You do whatever you like, OP - you don't have to share this with anyone at all, if you don't want to.

A bit off topic. I also feel uncomfortable with the terminology of 'battling' you're not battling, it's out of your hands. it just happens to you and you have to hope the doctors can successfully treat you.

Half of us get cancer. It’s nature I guess.
Hopefully no one is forcing you to do. SM ‚share Your journey‘ type thing. But for some people it’s a way of journaling and sharing their experiences with distant friends, family and others who can get some form of support or solidarity in times of struggle.
It’s not for you. It works for them.
Live and let live.

Obviously there is no expectation for you to start one but there is no need for your obvious judgement towards people who find it supportive to build a community who are in similar situations.

Some people process stuff by sharing loads and writing about it - some are the complete opposite and that is their complete nightmare. Neither way is right or wrong!

How are you doing @Amibeingadick did you get your second biopsy results back ?