CANCER SUPPORT THREAD 58 - New thread, new year, but the lacies are still here! Please join us if you have any sort of cancer, or are waiting for test results

[WhatWouldLeslieKnopeDo]

Happy New Year! may 2017 bring health and happiness to us all

Welcome to oldies and to newbies. If you've just been diagnosed then this is the place for you. And if you're waiting for test results then please pull up a chair. We will hold your hand while you wait, and hopefully we will be able to send you on your way soon enough. If it isn't the news you hope for then we will be here for you.

Our previous thread is here

Following on from royalmama's suggestion (see, you're not just famous for typos!) I have compiled some of the excellent advice from the previous thread and I will post it below. I've divided it into sections to make it a bit more manageable. Please give me ideas on how to make it better for the next thread! :)

That's great news rocket

@rocket74 that is great news

Congratulations rocket

Hello everyone can I join you guys for a bit of support.
I have been referred by my GP for a colonoscopy. She has sent me for a routine appointment although I feel it should have been urgent.
Have a consultation appointment on Friday and hopefully he will give me a date for the colonoscopy . I am worried sick.
Apart from bleeding I have quite a few symptoms of bowel cancer . Well Dr Google tells me I do anyway.
Change in bowel habits lasting 5-6 weeks, bloating , excess sound coming from colon, mucus , swinging from constipation to loose bowels , lower back ache mainly on left and some discomfort on left around hip bone. Also last few days my stools seem quite thin in appearance.
I am in the process of doing a faeces test for blood .
I have been recently diagnosed with gallstones and thought it might be coming from that but GP says not likely .
There is a history of crohns and diverticulitis in my family as well as a grandmother who died of bowel cancer.

@VLCos welcome to the thread, I hope we can support you if you need us . I hope you don't.

My colonoscopy was in December and so I was remember the nerves of the unknown

@Tw1nsetAndPearls thank you so much .
It's the waiting and unknown which is hard work .
I have a 4 and 2 year old they keep me busy mostly but after bedtime the mind whirls of course !

Hi, I started my own thread and was advised to come here so here I am.
Found a breast lump last weekend, saw GP Friday afternoon who also felt the lump n said he's going to refer me to breast clinic.
I've read the stats but worried, well scared, I'm going to be the 1/10 and I've realised I don't want to die!
How do you cope with the waiting for the appt? It'll be either this week or next I presume. I've tried distraction but it's not worked so far.
Please help

@ilovechocolates I didn't cope that well if I am being honest.

At my colonoscopy I was told that everything was fine and so in the period between that and my actual cancer diagnosis I was fine. However the gap between finding out I had cancer and knowing how far spread it was - that was tough.

I read books about living with and surviving cancer. I spent time researching healthy diets and the meal planning. I tried to fill my time with days out or doing things I enjoyed. I started a blog which people responded to well. I still post on the blog and find it helpful. I also wasted time and energy googling at 4am.

@Tw1nsetAndPearls how could they have got it so wrong ?that is awful . I would love to read your blog if you have a link .

@ilovechocolates I had the experience of going to the breast clinic. The wait is awful , I spent a lot of time on Google which was not the correct thing to do. Once I got my appointment it came round very quickly and I was given the all clear. I hope you hear from the clinic soon x

Usual warning that I'm not a doc, and this isn't medical advice of any kind - just passing on info I've read.

Ibuprofen and other NSAID tablets appear to drastically reduce the chances of some cancer mets.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28500305
Big study looking prostate, breast, lung, and colorectal cancer patients. Generally, if taken before diagnosis, patients were some 30% less likely to get mets. If taken after diagnosis, patients were some 50% less likely to get mets.
NSAIDs can cause other difficulties with health, so that's a decision to take with the medical team. I know that big doses can cause heart problems in some people, for example.
But goodness me, that's a finding, eh. Might be worth a chat with the teams about this study. They will have the detail and will know whether it's relevant to any particular person.

That's good news Amber. I've been taking aspirin with the support of my oncologist for nearly three years now. At the time I started there was no evidence that it helped in breast cancer cases but he was very happy for me to try it. I'll carry on, it's a gastro friendly one and no ill effects so far.

That's interesting. When I was having chemo I was taking to a lady who was just finishing her treatment. She said she had been asked to participate in a 10 year trial involving Aspirin. I wonder if it works if you already have mets?

At my check up on Thursday, my oncologist told me about the aspirin studies going on. Whilst he couldn't advise me to take it or prescribe it - he would not be unhappy if I did. So a roundabout way of telling me - but I got the message! I've started a half tablet a day.

chewing sorry your notes weren't of much use. I hope your consultant answers all your questions satisfactorily.

VLCos welcome. Good luck at Friday's appointment. There's a lot of overlap between the symptoms of bowel cancer and of all the other bowel disorders. Actually I barely had any noticeable symptoms, despite advanced bowel cancer, and most of the people I know didn't have any major symptoms either. So having lots of symptoms isnt necessarily a bad sign :)

ilovechocolate welcome too. Sorry you were up so late. I hope you managed to get some sleep. Distraction s about the only thing to do, though it doesn't always work. It's just a case of grinning and bearing it. The waiting is the worst bit. Even if it's bad news, there's a bit of a relief that at least you know. Have you read the post right at the start of the thread called amber's words of wisdom? Even if you're the 1 in 10 who has cancer, and I'm not suggesting that is likely, you are still very unlikely to die of it.

rocket that is fantastic news

amber thank you. That's very interesting :)

It's busy in here at the moment! I hope everyone has had a good weekend

The thread is getting full so before it's time to start a new one, a couple of "housekeeping" questions...

Have people found the information at the top helpful? Should I copy and paste it into the next thread?

And does anyone have anything to add to it? Please post it here or send me a PM :)

I found the information at the top of the thread very useful

Yh I'm not sleeping great. Compared to what some of u are going thru, this is nothing. I feel so selfish sorry.

The information at the top of the post was useful, altho I've only came here yest

You're not selfish. Things always seem worse at night. I've been incredibly lucky that this hasn't affected my sleep. But lots of others have struggled with sleepless nights at various times! I hope you manage to nod off soon.

Thanks so do I cos I'm at work in the morning!

Morning Leslie. Yes, info at top is v useful. Thanks for being curator! Busy thread is sad in one way but good that folks are finding their way here and finding that it helps.

Ilovechocolates not selfish at all, cancer is cancer and all of it is bad.

The most beautiful red & mauve sunrise here this morning - something I wouldn't normally see! Best day possible to all the lacies. xx

@WhatWouldLeslieKnopeDo thank you Leslie I appreciate your words !

I too find the information helpful !

Bit dreary here today I hope everyone has a good of a week as they can :-)

@WhatWouldLeslieKnopeDo thank you Leslie I appreciate your words !

I too find the information helpful !

Bit dreary here today I hope everyone has a good of a week as they can :-)

Just had a quick thought re medications and iphones for those who have them. Are you all aware that you can put your medical details in on the front page in case of emergency? I've just amended mine from tamoxifen to anastrazole and remembered to add aspirin this time, could be crucial if I get run over by a bus.

Morning all, I hope the NHS is up and running for all those who need it this week.

mrsrhod thanks for the reminder. I need to update mine too!

Argy yes it's sad people need it, but good that they're here :) sunset sounds lovely

ilovechocolate I hope that you got some sleep and that work today is a good distraction!

VLCos I hope you are feeling OK this morning

Thanks for the feedback. I'll copy the information over. Have a good day everyone

I'm still keeping an eye on this thread while waiting for the day of my breast clinic appointment to come round at the end of next week.

Not coping very well to be honest. Anxiety has really got the better of me and am struggling to eat or sleep. I just need to know.

Google is definitely not my friend (as you have already told me!) and I'm sure that I can feel all sorts of aches and pains and swelling in my breast, which is convincing me that it might be the early stages of inflammatory breast cancer.

Like ilovechocolates - i'm sorry to be moaning to you all. I know that at moment my situation pales into insignificance compared to some of yours. Need to pull myself together but it is easier said than done!