Crack open the wine... it's CANCER SUPPORT THREAD 61!

[WhatWouldLeslieKnopeDo]

Some of us have been here a while and others have only just joined. If you're lurking, feel free to say hello. We are quite friendly really.

You are welcome to join us, whatever sort of cancer you have, or if you're waiting for tests to find out whether you have cancer or not (we hope not!)

Our previous thread is here. Do check it out if you're new as there's lots of useful information in the first few posts.

Best wishes to everyone who finds themselves here

Good @ggirl I'm pleased to hear you will.

Not sure what the pain is Leslie but I'm on painkillers, if it gets worse or no better by the end of the week they will do a scan.

Telling children who 'get it' must be tough. I suppose I'm lucky that mine are so little (15m and a couple of months shy of 3) that they don't really get it, though DD1 is aware I'm not well and that during my chemo week I can't give her cuddles etc. DD2 is just confused as to why I stopped bfing her last month! At least they'll grow up knowing about it and it means we can talk about it as if it's normal and every day, so should make the eventual outcome easier to deal with for them.

So today was a giant fucking shit storm. The team I've been referred to know me because I work on the oncology unit. I don't know if it was because I am known to them but I had a very frank discussion with the haematologist and he's very confident it's lymphoma due to my age and symptoms. However they have to have the diagnosis signed off by 3 pathologists so there's still a wait.
Balls. We were thinking of starting a family this year. I'm only 26. Hope everyone else's day has gone well xx

mumpelstiltskin So sorry to hear that.

When you're feeling up to I would look into IVF, at your age there's an excellent chance of it working first time. I did it 13 years ago. Make sure the clinic uses the better method of freezing with higher success rates and I went on the short 2 week cycle which then had same success rates as long one. My SIL did donor eggs but has a lovely little girl. Pretty amazing what they can do now.

Thinking of you and wishing you all the best.

Sorry to hear that @mumpelstiltskin

Hi I was wondering if I could join but to discuss my mum?
She is 57 and has Lupus and Schogrens. She went into hospital 5 weeks ago with a kidney infection. A routine CT lead to a biopsy which then showed up that she has lymphoma but we don't know what type/grade. She had another biopsy yesterday on 'something' they thought looked different to all the other lymph nodes.
She's possibly getting out of hospital day but we are still waiting on all these results and I'm scared they don't follow up or she gets lost in a system somewhere 😕

Hi hurdygurdy81 I'm afraid I don't know about what your mum is facing but I would say, if you feel communiction is not happening as you've been promised then keep pestering them. I can't lie to you and say it always runs smoothly. Sometimes things get lost, results don't arrive etc. It's very frustrating and upsetting but you have to stand your ground. The system is strained and the staff are generally very nice and helpful but don't just sit back and wait if you feel something is amiss.

Sorry to hear about your Mum Hurdygurdy Cancer should get prioritised so everything should come through fairly fast though they will obviously need time to analyse results etc. I think its useful to keep track of things yourself but if you are just dealing with the one hospital it should be fine but do phone and check if you are worried. Once they have the grade / type and treatment plan you will know a lot more. Lots of info on Macmillan etc sites. Our friend who had it Hodgkins lymphoma stage 2 it was gone in 3 months of treatment but will depends on type / stage etc. At least she has a lovely daughter who is looking out for her, I'm sure that will mean a lot.

Morning!

at new people (fairly new myself.

mumplestilskin I have suspected lymphoma too. Snap!

Just been for my pre-op this morning, & they don't seem to be sure if it's a biopsy or a removal of the lymph-node

That's going on the list of questions for Friday, anyway.

It's so sad to see how young lots of you are on this thread. I thought I had it bad at 42!

So sorry to hear that Mumple. I've known a couple of teenagers who've had lymphoma and they are right as rain now and have been for years. Take good care and hi to everyone else.

Sorry to hear that mumple. I would echo what Penguins has said about IVF. I had my eggs frozen prior to chemo the first time round. As you're married you could also consider freezing embryos, which have a higher success rate. If it's something you would like to do then unfortunately you don't have much time to think about it so please do ask your medical team at the earliest opportunity

likeazebra I hope the pain is improving

Miles I hope you get some clarification about the procedure soon

Waving to everyone else

Very sorry to hear your news mumple. I wish things were different for you. But I am glad you found this thread, as I think you are getting excellent advice from people with knowledge and experience.
Hurdygurdy I am sorry about your mum; you are a good daughter helping her look out for test results and follow the process, especially as she is probably overwhelmed and frightened right now.
to both of you, and everyone else

Hi everyone!

I went to visit family over the weekend, hence radio silence. The dire rear was just some random rush so it righted itself quite quickly. I’d contacted the haem team as I have to do for anything which might be a sign of infection, and instead of doing ‘gratitude’ counting (a wellbeing thing) I was counting loo trips. Fortunately didn’t make it to the worrying number.

To both introduce myself on lovely fresh thread and to answer miles’ questions (and to reach out a friendly hand to mumplestilskin ), I have a form of leukaemia (CML) which was diagnosed last October, following a blood test for something completely different, I am now stable with normal blood counts on a biologically targeted cytotoxic drug (one tablet a day) and have just passed my first milestone (where they burrowed into my bone marrow again and discovered that the proportion of crappy junk cells is down to 4% - a good response).

One bizarre thing for me is that at no point did I feel ill, and I’m basically fine at the moment. I now have longer intervals between appointments and blood tests, which is a throughly Good Thing big which has been surprisingly unnerving in the immediate run up to an appt.

genie is this the day you go back for your post surgery results? I hope that goes well and the treatment plan is as you expect.

Morning everyone.

Feeling a bit weepy, as Dh has just given me a beautiful locket, with hair from the children & him inside, 'so we can be with you all the time'.

This is most out of character, and all the more precious because of it.

miles - that’s lovely

And I hope they find you have one of the treatable forms of lymphoma which means you’ll be wearing it for years to come.

There’s nothing like a crisis for making sure you say the things that matter!

What a thoughtful, fabulous present Miles. That is just lovely.

DD3 still has protein in her urine. They've repeated tests today so we'll have to wait again. They're obviously concerned about her kidneys, which is a worry. They're not very joined up - the surgery didn't know what they were testing for although the hospital said they would contact them with details. She's got no discharge info either. And she's still feeling rubbish, bad throat, phlegm, coughing, cold etc.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! P

Good luck today genie

TQ how is your daughter?

Miles what a lovely gift :)

That's good news iVampire

Waving to everyone

Cross-posted. Sorry to hear she's still not well. I hope the new tests show some improvement :)

Happy Galentine's lacies , I'm checking in on the new thread (thank you Leslie).

A recap about me - I was dx with Stage 3a multi focal HER2+/ER+/PR+ breast cancer in Nov 2016 aged 44, less than 1 year after my DP died from renal cancer. I had mx, recon, chemo, rads, herceptin (no pertuzumab in Scotland - still! ) which will finish after three more treatments. I have zoladex injectionsand take letrozole. I also take metformin and statins which I hope will prevent recurrence. My DS is 9 and totally and utterly amazing. I lurk on this thread and chip in from time to time!

Thank you, thank you Leslie and mrsrhodg. You are very sweet to remember! I'm leaving soon for my appointment and suddenly feeling very sick and jittery, but trying to remain calm and hopeful... I know you'll understand! xx
Twitter I'm sorry your daughter is still feeling ill. :(
Miles that is a truly lovely Valentines gift.

genie I'm sure we all know that feeling! I once considered just running away whilst in the waiting room just breathe and focus on getting through the next minute at a time

Flippy happy Galentine's to you too

LeslieKnope kudos for finding a picture of yourself to make a funny (sorry FlippyNeck ).

iVampire really glad your results are what you were hoping for!

TwitterQueen1 any new on your daughter?

puttingthegenieback hope your appointment went ok.

Night everyone X

Haha - happy Galentine's! Although reading that card, I've got none of those parts so I'll stick to hoes before bros! Great news on your results iVampire. Fingers crossed for yours genie. What a lovely gift MilesJupp - I'd have had a good old blub at that! How are you doing this cycle TQ? I feel less sick than last time so far - do you? I'm having the ascites drained on Friday, thank god; I'm the size of a pregnant brontosaurus, so hopefully I'll feel immeasurably more comfortable once that's done. Glad the dye went ok in your port Leslie - when do you get your results? A big Valentine's squeeze to you all x