I Keep Being Asked

My therapist and my meds therapist seem to think I should be getting over my depression. They call it 'post-cancer depression'. I feel some confusion there. Am I supposed to be magically better because I haven't had a cancer recurrence? Seriously. I feel not confusion, but more of a disconnect.

I was first told that I had depression when I first went to a therapist (years) after my first cancer diagnosis. I managed to keep my depression in check after a good deal of therapy and more years of being healthy. Then with my second cancer diagnosis, how funny was it that my depression returned? It didn't help that then my health really tanked.... And my depression hasn't gone away.

Maybe if I was healthy again, my depression wouldn't be as much of a factor in my life. I noticed a few weeks ago when I intentionally spent a day at home by myself that I needed to then spent the next few days out doing something with other people.

Another assumption on the part of my therapists. I guess I now have a project to deal with - training my treatment team. A big part of being a patient is managing your treatment team.

This is the same as an employee needing to manage up - train their manager on what to expect from them as an employee. I learned this lesson early in my career. If you want to grow as an employee you need to make sure your manager understands where you are coming from.

I hope by now you can see where this is going. The same as being a patient. When you see your doctor or a medical professional you need to make sure they understand what is happening in your life. Have you undergone any recent testing, have you had any changes in your recent health, etc. Has your life changed at all? How are they supposed to treat you appropriately if they do not stay up to date with what is going on with you?

So now I need to train my therapists so they can follow what I am doing and understand what is going on in my life. And they can stop their assumptions about my depression.