Instead, it may be directed at problems of living that are related only tangentially to cancer. On the other hand, some problems of living with cancer are directly related to the illness. One set of challenges is financial and work-related. People lose their jobs, or they are treated badly at work, or they cannot leave a job they detest because they depend on their insurance policy, or they cannot find new employment because of their history of cancer. A second set of challenges is in relationships.
Husbands stop having sex with wives who have had mastectomies.
Friends do not know how to relate to a person with cancer. A mother with life-threatening cancer is as torn by the grief over the future of her child as she is by her own struggle with the illness. The cancer patient may conclude that his work situation or relationships no longer fit with the new phase he is moving into. The problems are not those of being rejected by a mate or friend, or of rejection at work, but rather of increasingly vivid recognition that old relationships or old jobs no longer meet emerging and vitally important inner needs. Many inspirational books for people with cancer are available.