


Receiving the news was a shock to you and it will be to your loved ones as well.

You also shouldn’t feel pressured to break the news to anyone right now. No matter how much time you have left, the important thing is keeping yourself comfortable, so don’t be afraid to indulge in a lot of extra self-care right now. You might also want to find comfort in one of your favorite places or activities. For example, you can treat yourself by indulging in frequent meals from your favorite restaurants or enjoying your favorite cocktail. Instead, you want to cushion yourself from the blow by surrounding yourself with as many comforts and coping mechanisms as possible. So, don’t try to pressure yourself into accepting the harsh reality of your diagnosis right away. So, what can you do to prepare for receiving a terminal diagnosis? The authors believe that, above all, self-care is critical. That’s why the authors want to help other people from experiencing this same trauma. As a result, diagnoses can leave us floundering and shell-shocked. We prepare for many other things - tests, surgeries, marriage, parenthood - but our culture of toxic positivity means that we often prefer to avoid death instead of preparing for it. And that’s why it’s important to prepare for the end before it hits. Although we often think of tragedies as being things that happen to “other people,” the sad truth is that trauma can befall any of us atany time. But unfortunately, it can also be a very common moment. There’s no doubt that the pronouncement of a terminal diagnosis is a terrible and traumatic moment. All of a sudden, everything you know and everything you’ve planned would be different. This discovery would, quite literally, turn your whole world upside down. But in reality, being told that you only have a short time left to live would hurt like a punch to the gut.

Similarly, movies like The Fault in Our Stars romanticize the discovery of a terminal diagnosis as being the primary source of conflict in the plot. This question is frequently tossed out as a motivational challenge to help us re-evaluate our life choices and priorities.
