Using Your Senses for Support Questions

What do I need ... or want for that matter?

Your friends, family, colleagues, and community members will want to support you when you are going through cancer diagnosis overwhelm, treatments, surgeries, or recovery. They will ask how to support you and you may struggle for an immediate answer.  

I do not find it easy to ask for (or answer requests offering) help or support. It was a big shift for me to allow love and support in during my healing.  But here is an example of listening to, and learning from others, that gave me the insight to use my 5 senses to quickly respond meaningfully when someone asked me what they could bring me or do for me... 

One day my friend Mary called to check in on me and asked what I needed or could use.  I answered in my typical fashion...

"I am fine.  I don't need anything, but thank you for thinking of me."

She was not going to allow this simple brush off. She started asking questions... and the one that caught my attention was "Are you thirsty?"... hmmm... my brain paused with this one...

I had been struggling with drinking enough fluids. Pushing water made me feel nauseous. I didn't love tea and coffee was upsetting my stomach at the time (too acidic).  This was an opportunity!  I finally gave in and said "yes, I am thirsty, but not sure what for!".  Mary ran with it and dropped off a variety of drinks (and a treat) on my front step. 

This was going to be an experiment to see what would taste okay AND not upset my stomach. 

She brought me 4 drinks that day - and the Starbucks Dragon Fruit Refresher was so delicious...

I drank it all down quickly. That beverage became a go-to on the days my stomach could not take much. I was grateful for Mary not taking NO for an answer that day.   

And my lesson in all of this... 

How could I use my 5 senses when I got the frequent offer to bring me something from loved ones?

Since I love to create... well, I made a template for this.  Easy to print off and write down some ideas before the support questions come in.  If you are interested in my FREE template, get it here.

Want more?  LoveMe Healing offers other templates and ideas for support (and a lot of other topics) in the Healing Journey.