Living with leukemia may change your holidays, but you can still have enjoyable and meaningful celebrations. Although leukemia may make some holiday traditions challenging, it doesn't mean you can't enjoy connecting with friends and family during the holiday season. By communicating your limitations due to leukemia, being flexible, and adjusting your expectations, you can help make sure the holidays are happy and memorable.
Communicate Your Needs
Let your loved ones know that connecting with them over the holidays is as important as ever to you, but leukemia treatment is making it hard to plan as usual due to side effects like extreme fatigue. You may also be immunosuppressed, making large gatherings during cold and flu season unwise. You need to put your health first or risk worsening your condition.
Be Flexible
Instead of saying "no," say "yes" to something else. If a family tradition no longer works for you since you were diagnosed with leukemia, it may be time to suggest an update.
If it's just not possible to get together in one place this year, consider using a video chat service such as Skype, Zoom, or FaceTime to have a special holiday call on a smartphone or laptop. During a video chat, you can:
Adjust Your Expectations
Even without cancer, holidays often come with high expectations that lead to disappointment and stress. Letting go of the illusion of a "perfect" holiday can help you keep expectations realistic and focus on what's most important about the holidays. For many people, that means connecting with loved ones, being thankful for what you have, and finding hope for the new year.
Here are some mindful tips from Johns Hopkins Medicine for adjusting holiday expectations:
During the holidays and year-round, the members of MyLeukemiaTeam are here for each other. Joining MyLeukemiaTeam means gaining a support group of thousands of others with leukemia who understand exactly what you're going through.
Have you found ways to celebrate the holidays despite leukemia? Share in the comments below or post on MyLeukemiaTeam.
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I lost my husband the year I was diagnosed and it has been hard the last 6yrs I've had quite a few serious problems but I am grateful for my family and my cll team!! God bless all of you
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