I went to a support group for women with metastatic cancer. It was the first time I’ve been to a support group. Before this, everything I knew about support groups I learned from watching the movie Fight Club.

Fight Club gets a lot right about support groups:

• Guided meditation: Our group started with one that was about, among other things, finding your happy place. 
• Talking about feelings: After the meditation, we went around and shared what kind of week we had. But not in a superficial, “it was fine” way. More like a “here’s what I really struggled with this week” sort of way. The conversation then unfolded from there, based on what we each shared.
• There was some guy there who was just pretending to belong: Wait, no. That didn’t happen. That only happened in the movie.

It’s not lost on me that I’m thinking of the movie Fight Club while I’m in a fight against cancer. I’m trying to keep the fight against cancer and not against parts of myself. It’s one thing that I have cancer, but it’s another thing that I feel like cancer has changed my personality. I’m an anxious person now, and never was before. I feel armored against the world and just want to hunker down in my apartment; that’s new, too. These changes are part of why I started this blog — to reconnect to the parts of me that can take delight in everyday things like spoon covers, ice cream, and simply sitting outside.

One of the ways the support group was helpful is that it made me feel more normal. I haven’t been spending any time with other people who have cancer and so it has been hard for me to know how to think about some of the ways I’ve been feeling. Am I the only person who feels this way, or is this something that is more universal?

During the group I said what was going on for me, despite my loathing of forced participation in group settings. I told them about my aimlessness and hopelessness, feeling trapped/stuck, the anxiety — and it was clear that I am not alone in these feelings. The participants recommended going outside more, doing art projects, and talking to my anxiety as things that have worked for them.

So, support groups. Another tool in the toolbox to be grateful for.