[2021-05-04] Coaching
Several friends had encouraged me to get a coach to help me on my cancer journey. While I've been doing well, both physically and mentally, and therefore didn't feel a tremendous need for a coach, I also knew that there were no downsides to having one. And I considered that perhaps I didn't know what I was missing.
So late last week, I signed up with the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation by submitting an online registration form via the ORCF Register for Cancer Coaching webpage. The ORCF supports cancer survivors and their families in Eastern Ontario through its coaching program. It was created in 1995 at a time when "cancer was a very tough subject to talk about." The ORCF site notes that, back then, "most people were afraid to discuss it, and had a hard time coming to terms with the realities of the disease." Today, by contrast, more and more people are surviving cancer and living longer. "It no longer means the end, but the beginning of a different journey and one that is centred on each person."
Today, I had my first call with my coach, a healthcare professional with a background in oncology.
My coach's role is to work with me to identify what’s most important to me in my care. She can provide support, education, practical guidance and navigation assistance to help me meet my health and wellness goals and improve my quality of life.
It was a very fruitful conversation. A little part of me wondered whether I would break down in tears as I told my story to an empathetic person. But I didn't. In fact, I felt immediately at ease, confident that the conversation would go no further than the two of us.
My current priority is gathering information to assist in my decision about preventive steps to avoid breast cancer, given my faulty BRCA2 gene. My coach provided some helpful suggestions that I hadn't thought of, so the value of the coaching was already demonstrated.
Mostly, though, the session was an opportunity for me to talk about what I'm doing to maintain my physical and mental health (I took the call while out for my morning walk). It's always comforting when someone listens to what we're already doing and validates that we're on the right track. My coach noted that, sometimes, coaching is about giving coachees an opportunity to hear their own voice. That reminded me of last night's post on Processing emotions: a how-to. Coaching is a helpful technique for identifying, expressing and working through emotions and, in my view, sits neatly between formal psychotherapy and individual pursuits.
After creating my profile last week, I downloaded the NexJ app (available as NexJ Health Coach or NexJ Connected Wellness in your phone's app store). Among other things, the app allows me to connect with my coach in a secure environment and to send and receive requests for appointments. I can also log into my account on my laptop, which gives me another platform for accessing documents.
I'm very happy that I took my friends' advice to seek out a coach. I did have a little fear before registering, since starting such a dialogue would necessitate my talking about my cancer. And, honestly, sometimes it's nice not to think about cancer at all. But my session today felt very natural and positive. I'm already looking forward to the next call with my coach.
