Meet Claudia

Claudia Chaney is one of the most bad ass people I know. We 'met' on Instagram when she started following the C Word. Claudia has been through more than a person should by 20-years of age!

I chatted with Claudia a few weeks ago (you can view that here) and learned more about her experience of childhood cancer. She had a rare allergic reaction to a bone marrow transplant which left her with life long disabilities. Claudia is a budding writer and fellow animal lover and she'll be a regular contributor to the C Word blog. Check out her latest writing project Pawsitive Tales here.

After years of hospital treatments Claudia started experiencing symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In her first blog for The C Word, Claudia gives insight into what it's like to live with PTSD and how she found a way through.

Pictured: Claudia and Wren

Trauma and Cancer

Cancer is a diagnosis that has an immense amount of weight to it. Radiation, chemotherapy, surgeries are just some of what an individual may endure. These can be hugely traumatic, not just on one’s body, but also mentally.

Being in the hospital with cancer can be incredibly a terrifying and anxiety-inducing time. There are so many unknown elements with cancer, and this is scary. The fear lingers after treatment ends.

Leaving hospital for the first time after being in the oncology ward was such a big relief for me. But the relief was quickly replaced with a sense of dread, a constant fear I couldn't shake. When you're going through cancer treatment you are facing life and death. You are facing uncertainty and many forms of harrowing treatments.

My cancer had been 'cured' but the trauma spilled out soaking through all areas of my life.

There are many reminders that can send me mentally back to my past experiences. Visiting the ward I was on, seeing the people who treated me, or even seeing, smelling, hearing, or feeling something that takes me right back to treatment. The beeping in a supermarket can sound like an alarm in a hospital room. The smells around a construction site may remind me of anaesthetic gas.

It wasn’t until many years later that I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This wasn’t something I had even thought of. When I told peers, they often replied with something along the lines of “but how/why?” I was often told it couldn’t be PTSD as I hadn’t fought in a war. While, yes PTSD is extremely prevalent in soldiers and war veterans, others can be impacted. I feel that going through cancer, is a battle. It is a war that one has to fight through.

I feel that PTSD for those who have experienced cancer, or any long-term health issue/s, is a lot more common than people realise. These periods are traumatic, for a lot of people the lasting effects can cause a lot of distress. This is why one of my big beliefs is that to have good overall health, we need to look after all areas of our being. This means our mental and physical as a whole.

Understanding why I feel or react to certain things has empowered me to find treatment. It is hard but I don't want to give cancer any more space in my life than it has already taken.

Claudia