Cancer support 67. Waiting for tests, just diagnosed or needing a handhold through treatment

[purpleunicorns]

Welcome to the 67th cancer support thread, the previous one can be found here.

If you're looking for advice, have any questions or just need some support while you're waiting for test results or treatment to start then pull up a seat and make yourself comfortable. You can rant, cry or scream if you need to but we do have some laughs along the way

No questions are silly so please don't feel embarrassed about anything you want to post. The chances are at least one of us has been there at some point!

There's a whole variety of people with different cancers at different stages and nobody goes unanswered, the people on here are amazing (even if I do say so myself ) and they have been a massive support to me over the last year.

If you have a friend or family member with cancer then there's a support thread for you here with lots of practical advice to help you support your loved ones

At the beginning of each thread we give a brief summary of who we are and what we have to save us trailing back through old threads

Here's mine: Im 35 and was diagnosed last October with cervical cancer, despite chemo and radiotherapy I found out in June that it had spread and I'm now having palliative chemo to keep me stable. A scan a few weeks ago showed that there was no new growth after 4 lots of chemo. 2 more chemos to go for me so I'm hoping it stays that way

Hello Borntobeamum. Hopefully you'll only be here for a flying visit are you having tests on Monday or is it a consultant appointment? (It seems to work differently in different areas.) Hopefully its a good sign that you weren't feeling unwell before your health check, but it sounds like a good thing that you had one. Will you be having cardiology tests too? I hope it all turns out well for you

Welcome Born. As you can see, we're a friendly bunch here. Monday isn't too long to wait thankfully, and hopefully you'll be gone again before you know it.

Leslie fingers crossed you don't get a chest infection. I'm suffering with a very irritating cough and cold, but not too badly. I do hope your breathing improves.

Lulu (if you're still here) I spent 4 years in Fenham, Newcastle, training to be a teacher. Love love love the NE. I wish I'd stayed up there after uni.

Purple hope you're comfortable and sorting out pain relief.

The messy side of cancer is not the one they show on tv is it? I wet myself once when I couldn't get my leggings down quick enough because of the cannula in my right hand...

Bladders, eh? Maybe we should all buy shares in Tena

Sorry I do t k ow how to do BOLD text!
The letter says it will be a 90minute appointment and may involve an 'intimate' examination.

I also have a cardiologist appointment for the end of Feb x x

Leslie, hello, hope everything gets better with the breathing (and the cheeks!), big hugs

I'm doing ok, just living life which now includes a lot of naps and, since the holidays, eating too much food! Feel quite tired and brain fogged, maybe because of the daily tamoxifen (?); kind of like I can do a few hours of being energised and appearing quite normal eg to work colleagues and school parents, most of whom do not know about my cancer and surgery, but my batteries go quite quickly. My DD passed away this summer and as an only child it was a difficult time dealing with it, but think I'm ok now.

Here's to everyone's ops going well, and to a much better New Year ahead! 🎉

DD = dad (sorry should have said DF!)

You just put a * either side of the word(s) you want to be bold.

Ah right. Sounds like you'll be seeing the consultant then. It might be worth making a list of any questions/symptoms etc. beforehand. I find my mind often goes blank in appointments and definitely write down what the doctor says as you will probably not remember even if you are absolutely convinced you will (I speak from experience!) :)

what Thank you x

Yay!!!!

javabean I'm sorry about your father lots of people seem to have similar with the Tamoxifen. Sorry, I can't remember now whether you also had chemo but that can take years to recover from. Even the anaesthetic from surgery supposedly takes 18 months or so to leave the system! So napping is definitely justified.

Thank you for the hugs. Always appreciated :)

Wow Leslie I didn't know that about chemo or anaesthetic!

I like the idea of random posts gate crashing our thread, say once a week, for discussion - anything for a distraction

Gosh, you ladies are an inspiring bunch. So glad I found you.

Have had a colposcopy, two lesions removed, and a lot of biopsies taken. The surgeon doesn’t seem to think it very likely I’ll get an all-clear: at one point he suggested we might get some imaging done before the follow-up appointment, but then changed his mind. Appointment in 10 days. Dd’s Birthday, New Year’s Eve and DH’s birthday to get through before then! It will be good to get some clarity and a plan at some point.

My brother died of cancer when he was 35 (about 25 years ago), so lots of old feelings are coming back but in reverse, if you see what I mean.

On the plus side, I have a good book to read for distraction purposes!

Toofar you'll feel better once you know for certain what's happening and it's good that you'll be busy and have plenty of distractions until your appointment.

So sorry to hear about your brother, that must make things even tougher but just remember how much treatment has improved in the last 25 years. You're much more likely to survive now

I bought a kindle as soon as I was told I'll be having chemo. Best purchase I've ever made!

Mornibg@Toofaroutallmylife lovely to meet you but hopefully you're just swinging past..... like @purpleunicorns am never more than arms reach away from my kindle! My eldest two DC have one now too and DD3 is beginning to talk about having one but this close to Christmas she's been told she can save up for one!

Hi TooFar lots of us are in the colorectal club, and most importantly lots of people who pop in every now and then because they had treatment, all went really well and they are pretty well back to normal life (ha! Anyone ever had a normal life anyway?).

The treatments and their effectiveness have come on about a zillion percent in the last 25 years, and the last 5 years come to that. Hopefully you won’t need anything but if you do it’s a cancer with loads of research and loads of options.

In the meantime, we’re here to try to keep you sane. Waiting is absolutely the worst. And keep away from Dr Google!

Thanks everyone.

namechange - I’m in the vulval / cervical area (so to speak!) rather than colorectal, but I think knowledge generally has come on a long way.

So sorry! I think I had you and borntobe muddled in my little head (blame the chemo brain)

As you say, same applies for sure.

Hello to both of you, and here’s to you both getting good news very soon. Meanwhile there is always and

Morning,

I hope your breathing is better today Leslie .... Sorry you are not liking the bigger cheeks, but I bet it is only obvious to you, making you feel more self conscious of them. I have come to realise that a lot of stuff that bothers me (chemo side effects, including the lack of hair) other people bearly notice. My Mum even commented that my shampoo was low the other day & had no idea why I was laughing!

purple I hope you are sorted pain relief wise now (& the fact you were awake in the small hours is not because you were in pain) the palliative team seem to be very on the ball with what is most effective.

TQ I hope you didn't get any further side effects.

You are right about it not being a pretty business. On my last chemo I went from constipated to having a dire rear in one toilet trip and then simultaneously started being sick mid way through. I did wonder at the time if this was how Elvis departed (on the loo) as it was certainly not my finest moment!

My drain came out yesterday (at last!!) day 16 post op and it was apparently one of the toughest ones the nurse had removed as was welded in after so long! It was nearly like a cork coming out of a bottle!
So nice to not have that hanging round my neck any more.

To celebrate, I took my eldest to return a couple of Christmas gifts that were no good & Next looked decimated as if a plague of locusts had been through the sale rail... We went to Costa afterwards and the man behind me nudged my side to get to the card machine which was pretty painful & made me jump about 3 feet in the air. The lack of drain means no one can spot I have been recently operated on I guess!

toofar that sounds like it was a grim day yesterday for you. Once you have more information and a plan of action, you can feel like you are doing something positive. In the meantime, you sound to have a few good distractions sorry to hear about your brother too, as purple says, the treatments are vastly improved now. It must stir up a lot of old feelings though for you.

Another fan of the NE here too btw. We used to live in Newcastle but moved due to Dads job when I was about 4. We have had some lovely cottage holidays up there though, near Alnwick and also on the beach at Newton by the Sea (we watched Charles an Di marry when staying there, I have photos of a blank tv screen as proof!!) I have been back as an adult too with the dogs & did lots of walking on vast expanses of beach :)

KBG it's mainly the "chemo brain" and fatigue that can last years. There's a little bit about it here.

Toofar I hope you're not too sore sorry about your brother and all the difficult feelings. Hopefully you can try and focus on all those events while you're waiting for your follow up.

purple I hope you got some sleep :)

noodles yay for having your drain out! I remember the weird popping feeling and mine was only in a week. It must've been very odd grr at the man in the shop. He shouldn't be barging people anyway. Sadly my fat cheeks are very noticeable to everyone!

I think my breathing is getting a bit better.

Happy Saturday lacies

Just a quick note to say I had the full assessment today & my lumps are just fibrous.

Thanks for the support.

I'm a bit of a collector of weird facts, Elvis had a mega-impacted colon...

That's great news Waddsup

@Waddsup12 excellent news indeed

Great news waddsup and a fantastic obscure fact re my Elvis concerns!! Thanks for that

Glad that it helped. I didn't want to go into much detail, but basically I think it was a cardiac arrest, due to the impacted gut, etc.

On another note, fried peanut butter and jam sandwiches are amazing but may or may not have been responsible for said impaction.

I shall continue to lurk but wanted to post my thanks and send all my best wishes to you all.

Wadd am so pleased for you.