Cancer support thread 63 for a handhold or advice and anything in between

[purpleunicorns]

Continuation of the lovely Leslie's thread here as it was nearly full

If you're worried about symptoms, waiting for test results or just need a safe place to vent then pull up a seat, we're a friendly bunch and we don't bite too much

There's quite a variety of cancers on this thread so hopefully one of us will have some advice and hopefully you don't need to stay for long.

I'll start with my story:
Diagnosed with stage 2b cervical cancer in October 2017, 25 lots of radiotherapy, 4 internal radiotherapy and 5 lots of chemo. Was told last week that it's spread and is incurable, palliative chemo starts on 16th July

That's great news Mrspotter .

addle - yep, appointment tomorrow to find out what was seen .

purple - it's just before 10 but she usually runs late and then keeps you longer than the 7 minutes allowed. .

Brilliant news mrsp

Leslie it is an NHS appointment. I tried to join today to a cancer support centre next to the hospital where they do yoga and reflexology and other fab sounding stuff, so have had a chat with a lovely lady who could not have been more welcoming and filled out a joining form. Looking forward to making use of the facilities

TQ bloody workmen. I seem to have that no show issue all the time lately. I hope you are pleased with the end results when they eventually get started. I read upthread that you are a keen gardener, can you get some pots to add some flora etc if you do feel it looks too bare afterwards? I hope you get a good night of sleep tonight and they turn up 2mo (if they are supposed to!)

year glad you do not have too much longer to wait for the appt. I hope it is good news, but whatever the outcome, we are all here for support and actually it is less scary when you know what you are dealing with in my opinion. Good luck.

dulce I hope you feel better soon. Stay in bed with books & a box set if possible.

addle I hope the move is going well...

I have a new appointment for Friday. It is my marker placement one where they put a wire into the tumour via ultrasound incase the chemo shrinks it so much that they cannot see it when they come to do the operation. I hope it doesn't make my armpit hurt too much as that will make driving to Peppa Pig world more of a challenge!!

Grr lost my post

Year good luck for tomorrow

noodles it's almost a full time job at first with all the appointments! It'll calm down a bit once treatment starts :) good luck tomorrow. The cancer centre sounds lovely.

Morning!

purple I hope the early start was not too painful and no one has needed any first aid from you. Does that mean you can finish early and head back to your bed to catch up?

mymar sorry you are in the horrible waiting for results position. Keeping busy has sort of worked for me! My lounge is nearly painted and my dog is shattered!

Thanks Leslie I am weirdly looking forward to today's appt in an odd sort of way. I am nervous incase I get a secondary diagnosis, but am just keen to find out exactly what I am dealing with and what my treatment plan will be. I feel quite upbeat (today) mainly in part due to the speed of my appointments, the frank radiologist consultant, the nurses calling me to check I was ok, the lovely lady at the cancer centre yest was very reassuring too. This thread has helped so much and also so many friends have been fantastic. My parents are coming to stay on Sun for a couple of days, so I am feeling very loved & lucky too. Am sure once treatment starts this will probably all change, but I am hanging on to being as positive as possible right now.

Have a good day everyone, I hope the workmen show up today TQ and complete the job asap

Hello all.
Sorry you are feeling rubbish Dulce and Addled. At least it's the last one Dulce.
Great news MrsP on the PET scan.
Good luck with the appointments Noodles and year.
No news here apart from the dire rear is finally easing - a week after finishing treatment. Still on tablets but think I can start tapering down now.

Hi everyone.

I'm but shaky at the moment. Have told dh and one friend and typing this makes it real even though I'm being ridiculous.

At the moment they haven't found cancer but something is not right and doctor is concerned I'm at the pre-cancerous stage . She is not happy with the scan report so has referred me for more checks under the urgent two week system. I don't feel like I'm making any sense. I expected her to say I had fibroids which I don't however there is something wrong with the endometrial lining. I think.

This afternoon I have to take dd to an appointment so will be out for at least four hours. Then dh is away all of tomorrow. Keep busy. Keep busy.

Year sorry to hear that it's not an all-clear if it's pre-cancerous then it's good they've found it early so they can deal with it before it becomes cancerous. But still worrying for you of course. Fingers crossed for your other tests.

Tayto I'm glad things are finally improving. I hope you're back to normal soon :)

noodle I'm glad you're feeling so well supported

That was meant to say I'm a bit shaky..

Thank you WWLKD.. Dh due home any minute and then it's take dd to her appointment then back briefly before dropping off DS so it will be hours before we can have an alone chat unless we can go somewhere private while dd has her appointment.

.

Good luck tomorrow Noodles. Do they put you to sleep to get the wire put in? I'm really squeamish when it comes to stuff like that

Year at least you know it's not cancer yet and they're caught it really early. If it definitely is pre cancer it is so much easier to treat and much more likely not to come back. I know it's not the news you wanted but you will get through this and once you know what treatment you'll be having you'll feel much more in control

I finished work at 8:00 and went straight back to bed for a few hours. I feel absolutely rubbish today. Soo tired and I keep getting hot flushes and my face goes all sweaty. Not sure what's going on I'm hoping an early night will help

Good news, it has not spread, the CT results were there and they are clear, so it is just cancer of the breast and lymph node I am dealing with. I feel so pleased & relieved. Who would have thought a month ago that this would be good news eh?!

I now need an mri, bone scan, heart US, marker placement (2mo) fortunately not too squeamish purple & then I meet the chemo specialist nurse and then my treatment starts. Probably in 2 weeks time...

Thanks for all the good wishes for today

year sorry it was not exactly the news you wanted, but at least pre cancer cells are better than a cancer diagnosis and hopefully easily treated. Lucky you picked it up when you did

Year I hope DD's appointment went well

purple did your previous treatment put you into menopause? I hope you will feel better after a good sleep

noodles that's excellent news. What a relief good luck tomorrow! And for all those other appointments. I hope you didn't have many plans for the next few weeks

I'm coughing lots today. Rather annoying. But I went to the podiatrist who has trimmed my troublesome toenail and I'm booked in for surgery in a few weeks to have it dealt with properly :)

Fantastic Noodles! Well as fantastic as it could get, it's crazy that "only" having it your breast and lymph node is good news but I'm so pleased that it hasn't gone anywhere else

Leslie yes they did say my last treatment would cause the menopause so maybe it is that starting. I have been rather grumpy lately too so I feel sorry for my poor DH if this is the start of it.
Hope you feel better soon, do you think it's your asthma playing up?

Hope your workmen turned up today or at least had an amazing excuse for not bothering yesterday TQ

I've got a day off work tomorrow and I'm looking after my nephew, he is officially the cutest little boy in the universe not at all biased 😁

I'm also waiting for some memory boxes to be delivered, I'm hoping they come when nobody else is home. I think I've managed about 5 days without crying now and if anyone asks about them I think it'll set me off again

Thank you purple. Barring any glitches I know I'll be seen within two weeks but I don't know if I'd get results there and then. I hope you get a decent nights sleep.

Thanks noodles.. It is not definite that it is pre cancer at the moment. Just what doctor thinks it might be. I've had the symptoms for quite a while so hoping if it is, it isn't too far gone.

WWLKD - from dh and my point of view DD's appointment went okay. Haven't asked DD's yet. Best to leave her for a while afterwards.

Dh leaving at 5am tomorrow and back at 8pm so I'm stressing a bit about the day on my own and having to do all he kids stuff alone.

l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.notanotherbunchofflowers.com%2Fcollections%2Fget-well-cards&h=AT3KfrweeUkpyBwNdUUYKYfMNgjJQKEoJvjhcYqugTZgPULNZvvchcMhKWXOPaxJVCgXJeM-mbXfAL8a4gNPWfwXq7Ddi7JYrGVlJ76pll6eUirfD5B-7LiHPm4JDQq-UScB11HZu19H&s=1

These are some cards I found on FB - they are empathy cards and I love them!!!! (In the same line as the zombie t shirts!)

They are brill Mrsp! Etsy do some funny ones too. I find this picture far more amusing than I should do, I think it's the face

I have to pinch that for my friend - she's 7 years clear of BC but will still appreciate it!!!!

Mrspotter how was your appointment?

Year that's a long day! I hope everything is going smoothly :)

purple I hope you're having a lovely day with your nephew. Hopefully the boxes will arrived in unmarked packaging so you don't have to explain them. That must've been a difficult purchase

I've bought some nice cancer cards from Etsy in the past.

WWLKD - it's going okay so far but I'm starving so having a very early tea. Dh is on his way home and I just need to go out to get DS at 7 and then I'm in. Busy day tomorrow so hoping for some time with dh on Sunday.

Hi to everyone else.

mrsp how did the oncologist appt go? I have seen those cards before and thought they hit just the right note.

purple great card! I hope you've had a good day with your nephew. Also ditto what Leslie said regarding the boxes.

I had my markers put into my tumour & node today. It was done under local anaesthetic and was quite similar to the biopsies. I then had to have a mammogram afterwards so they have pictures of exactly where the markers are too. That was fairly uncomfortable & as the anaesthetic is wearing off, my lymph node especially is throbbing.
Bone scan next Mon & MRI the following Mon. These appts are a full time job! I still have a few more to come through before the chemo starts.

I was elated yesterday that it has not spread, but today they called about my appt to move it forward and I crumbled a bit when I came off the phone. It hit me that I was thinking I was ok but actually, I still have the minor business of breast cancer in the breast & node and now am about to start 6 months of chemo. Have wobbled a bit today.

Hope everyone has had a good day & nice stuff planned on the weekend.

Ive had a lovely day although no energy to do much more than walk to the local shops with him. Far too hot today
Luckily my boxes are at the post office so I can go and pick them up when I have the house to myself

Noodles everyone had a wobble now and then, even the people who have been having treatment for years. I think there would be something wrong if you didn't have a wobble. It's good that they've brought it forward as the sooner you start the sooner you'll finish. Keep your painkillers topped up and take it easy

Thanks purple

Glad you had a good day with your nephew. It is too hot to do too much, especially if you have the added pleasure of hot flushes at the moment.

I have been looking into the cold cap a bit today. I spoke to a lady whose attitude was that she wanted the chemo to get to every part of her body, which I kind of agree with. I think I may well not bother with it. My friend who has been with me at most of my appts thinks chemo is enough to deal with, without the added discomfort of the cold cap. I have bought a few bold beanies today as not sure I want anything very fussy or too much material. There are some lovely designs if anyone is looking at headwear. The lady who started the business did so because there was nothing like that when she had cancer and they are really soft. Apparently fab to wear in bed too.
I think I will miss my eyelashes the most though!

Ooh those hats on bold beanies do look comfortable. I might get one to wear for bed, as Leslie says it's going to be chilly with no hair. I'm not bothering with the cold cap either, it sounds uncomfortable and there's no guarantees that it will work anyway. I'm more bothered about my eyelashes and eyebrows too. It's going to be a right faff on drawing my eyebrows on everyday!

I looked into microblading but the prices start at around £200 and I'm too close to chemo now to get them done anyway as I don't want to risk any infections

The caps are really soft and comfy. I messed up when I measured my head somehow, so ordered large ones. When they arrived, they looked wrinkly as too big, so I posted them back today and ordered the standard size. They felt as soft as silk though.

Never heard of microblading so will have a look. I doubt
I will try anything as don't have that long either b4 my chemo starts. Is yours starting next week? I remember it was July, but if I scroll back, I will lose my post!