Cancer changes friendship and relationships

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❤️ Can we talk about something that isn't discussed very often?

Cancer doesn't just change our bodies...

Sometimes it changes our relationships too.

For me, it started with friends I'd known since high school. We used to talk, go out, laugh, and give each other advice. Somewhere along the way, life happened. I don't know if life simply pulled us in different directions or if they just didn't know how to come around after my diagnosis.

I was incredibly blessed with support from friends, family, neighbors, and even complete strangers. I'll never take that for granted.

But if I'm being honest...

The relationships that hurt the most were with my brothers.

I have three brothers.

It's been over two years since I've spoken to any of them. Since the day I was diagnosed, there has been silence.

During that time, two of them got married, and I wasn't there. I wasn't invited. I didn't even know until afterward.

That hurt.

Not because I'm angry.

But because I miss them.

I don't know much about their lives anymore except that they're doing well, and that genuinely makes me happy. I celebrate their happiness from a distance.

I just wish I could have been part of those moments... their excitement, their milestones, their joy.

Cancer teaches us many lessons.

One of mine has been that relationships sometimes change in ways we never expected.

Some people stay.

Some people leave.

Some don't know how to cope.

And sometimes... we never get the answers why.

Has cancer changed any of your relationships?

No judgment. Just an honest conversation. ❤️🦁