Cancer Support thread 88 - virtual rage room currently empty, virtual collective afternoon tea - all welcome!

[LemonDrizzle10]

New thread

Evening all.

I had a call from the Colorectal surgeon this afternoon to tell me my lung and liver scans were clear. It seems crazy to be celebrating that when I have cancer in my colon, peritoneum and ovaries but I honestly wasn't expecting that so I'm putting it in the "good news" pile. Now waiting for an oncology appointment to see how much time that might buy me.

Welcome to the new thread to all who might have, do have or used to have cancer. It’s a friendly place to hang out with a Virtual rage room where you can smash up old crockery and electrical items when the anger needs dispersing. There is also a very old pub called the Patience Inn that some of us used to frequent. Now we also have the new and sparkly prospect of a Virtual Tea party on Friday at 4pm thanks to @LemonDrizzle10 Scones are fine as long as it’s cream first!

I am an old hand here as I have been having treatment since June 2020 when my first BC was found. Now I’m nearing the last stages of treatment for the second BC and heartily sick of the whole business. I have “chic lesbian” hair and no energy but I am still battling onward. I worked out today that I take my last chemo pills on October 5th.

@TwigTheWonderKid that sounds like good news in a crap situation so I am raising a glass of Hazy Jane AF Brewdog IPA to you. Celebrate every gain!

Hi all - I have had massive trouble keeping up with the thread now I’m back at work full time but huge hugs to anyone who needs them. I do feel like a fraud on here some times because although I had a pretty gruelling treatment regime the NHS has never let me down at all and I’ve had an amazing response to treament. Surgery next week - lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy. I am scared about that. I’m terrible at looking after myself but have to be disciplined but feel more alone than I have since this shit started.

I’ll be there on Friday though! Virtual tea party is go xx

Hello all! Would love to join the virtual tea party Friday I will bring gluten free cakes and sausage rolls as my body loves diseases starting with c…Crohn’s, coeliac and of course cancer…

I’m rubbish at replying to everyone but silently following the threads and sending you all strength! @scandi really hope your op goes well tomorrow.

Thanks for new thread.

Always up for an afternoon tea, had a ridiculous amount of scones, jam and cream recently. Current addictions are Frys Chocolate cream and the Portuguese tarts in morning. Better hope there's no truth in sugar causes cancer or I am stuffed. 😂

Have been swimming again tonight and finally got pip through after 6 months for DS.

Hi thanks for the new thread.

I'm a stage 4 melanoma patient, was stage 3 for 2 years and after progressing to stage 4 with a lot of brand new tumours (yay me)

I was put on a new type of immunotherapy for 2 months and found out yesterday all but one of my tumours have disappeared and the one that was not possible to remove has got small enough to remove, so I'm having that removed on Friday.

This is such a nice thread. I was here a few years ago with the lovely Leslie, hoped I'd never be back (no offence) but here I am

All the best for Friday Coach I was also on the lovely LeslieKnope's threads, so sad she died so young but her memory lives on, I was koala I think then. Just cancer tests for me then, ironically almost everyone but breast. Always remember Purple as well.

Hello, Mumsnet lurker... recently diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, 4 out of 12 rounds of chemo in.. it's so rough. Had my pet scan yesterday to see if I'm responding to treatment. Terrified of leaving my kids.

Welcome Looking Sorry about your diagnosis and rough time on chemo. The survival rates are much better than they once where so hopefully you'll be around for many years yet but it is scary with kids especially at the start. I found chemo very tough going but it does end and also tell your team and they may be able to adjust, help with side effects or let you have a break.

Welcome @lookingforadvice21 to the thread nobody wants to be on. What chemo are you having? Is it weekly or less frequent? I hope the wait for your scan result isn’t long. We hate that here! It’s one of the worst parts of cancer treatment waiting for results.

@CoachBeardsJane I know exactly what you mean about this thread. I had just about weaned myself off this time last year while I was sailing round the UK, then in August bam! Back to square one and off we go again. Still at least I’m still here live and kicking. I had a good day with plenty of spoons to play with!

@TopOfTheCliff Hurrah for more spoonage!

@Twig it's always good to hear good news.

@lookingforadvice sorry you're here, in the nicest possible way. It's bloody terrifying being confronted with your own mortality. Hoping your treatment goes well.

I'm 35, just about to finish up 25 x external radiotherapy, 5 chemos and 3 brachytherapy sessions for stage 3 cervical cancer. One more brachy to go and then the wait to see if it's worked.

Hmm, yesterday's napping has not been conducive to a good night's sleep hence the time posting. Maybe I'll do some baking for the tea party! Sleep is all over the place at the minute.

@CoachBeardsJane that sounds fantastic news. Good luck with the removal.

Sorry for multiple posts - on the app I can't scroll back and type without losing my post so can't see who I'm tagging.

@Silkierabbit love a pastel de nata! I occasionally go through phases of worrying about sugar, carbs and whatever else is the current carcinogenic de jour...which is ironic considering I was a smoker for twenty years (stopped now) and am in this situation because stupidly I never went for smear tests.

It wasn't even a conscious choice not to go for a smear test, I just never registered with a GP when I left home and managed to get through two decades without ever needing to see one so was never invited...I was aware that I ought to be having them and registering was always on my to-do list but I just never got round to it.

Now I'm going through this I suspect I will be at the GP much more often with every niggle to get it checked out!

Thanks for the new thread. And good luck to people having surgery this week @CoachBeardsJane and Scandi

Honestly, things though that now pass for good news that we would've thought was horrendous news a few years ago, like "I only have a bit of cancer not as much as I thought" just shows how much our lives have changed.

Last year, I had a hysterectomy and chemo for endometrial and a small spot of ovarian cancer (the latter only spotted on a private second opinion). I had a pretty bad time with the NHS, and in some ways feel more traumatised by that then the actual cancer. However, hopefully all mine has gone, although I had my 6 (actually 7.5) month scan last week so I'm feeling very jumpy about the phone going. I also got Covid and another couple of infections after my chemo ended, none of them, particularly bad but it has meant my blood results seem to be taking a very slow time to get back to normal and I'm very tired.

It's my mum's 90th birthday on Friday, so I may not make it to the tea party, but maybe next time!

Btw @ClashCityRocker, smoking is actually shown to be protective against endometrial cancer in research! I couldn't believe it when I read the research, but apparently it's theorised to be something to do with smoking's effect on oestrogen and weight, it's odd it's not the same for breast cancer though, which can also be oestrogen driven.

Morning all! Hope you're all doing alright?

I'm off for an appointment with my consultant this morning - it's a half hour ish bus ride & the building is near a big ish park with a burger van & ice cream van so looking forward to it 🙈 so long as it doesn't rain. They did suggest all appointments by phone since I'm on the bus but I don't mind if the weather's nice & I get fed, gets me out the house. Sure that's likely to change when the weather does though!

I'm up for 4pm afternoon tea, I'll get my tea set out just for that - it's usually reserved for weekend mornings. Shall I make some sandwiches? Marvin will definitely be grumbly by then.

Prom day tomorrow & dd's shoes and jewellery still haven't arrived despite chasing. Royal Mail tracking just says they're expecting it. Thank goodness we didn't decide to wait and see at the weekend!

She's rooted out a pair of sparkly sliders to change into after their photos are taken 🤣 just hope she doesn't fall over her dress since it's perfect length with 3.5" heels!

Tan and toe nails to sort this evening...think I may disappear to bed for an hour beforehand since she likes to shower late & wants a "full shower apart from hair wash" 🙄 oh and she needs to stick lashes but they might have to be a tomorrow job so she can wash tan off her face. The stressing about what to do when is quite amusing - my schedule is better & means everything will be fresh, and I get to rest a bit too, but dd isn't convinced.

Anyway, enough rambling - off to get dressed when I've drunk my brew! Hope you all have a good (as can be) day 🙂

Morning everyone and thank you for the new thread. Another breast cancer patient here - grade 3 tumour and 4 positive nodes, diagnosed last August, after I stupidly put off going to the GP about my lump for months as it was painful and had appeared just beneath an infected spot on my areola so I thought it couldn't be anything sinister. I'm 50 with teenager daughters. I've done surgery, chemo and radio, with lots of delays along the way, and am now waiting to start abemaciclib - signed off by consultant, need hospital pharmacy to set it up, no sign of progress.

I've been feeling bleak recently, dwelling on my high risk of recurrence, but I'm trying to focus on work and my DDs just now, who've just finished GCSEs and A levels and have been amazingly resilient, all things considered (my DH also has recently diagnosed early onset Parkinsons, so they've been dealt a shitty hand). Had a night away in London earlier in the week, delivering them to a concert at the 02, and also have proms for both of them coming up. Neither of them are especially girly or into dressing up, so are slightly stressed about the whole thing. I have complicated alterations to finish on DD2s dress - it is tiered flouncy chiffon with a bias cut hem approximately 2 miles long that needs turning up, so I might be sewing at the tea party.

Sending love and strength to everyone, especially the new joiners. (And I'm very jealous of anyone who hasn't seen Ted Lasso yet. You are in for such a treat - except for the dreadful Christmas special in Series 2 which we will gloss over.)

Good morning everyone and sending positive vibes to all those heading to surgery, consultant appointments or just ploughing on through the chemo rounds.

I struggle to keep up with the thread but do pop in to read and ask for wonderful advice. Another breast cancer, grade 3, triple positive and I think it stage 3 although they won’t tell me until after surgery which should be in the next few weeks. Eek!

Love the afternoon tea idea but I have not one, but two sports day to attend on Friday. I’ll squirrel away a scone in a napkin to eat whilst watching the egg and spoon race!

Good morning everyone, welcome to all the newcomers and sorry you find yourself here. It really is the nicest place on MN full of the kindest people.

I've lived in Cancerland since February 2020 when I was diagnosed with 2 DVTs at the start of Covid. I was initially being investigated for a blood cancer which proved negative but an ovarian tumour was an incidental finding on a CT scan. I was diagnosed stage 3c with my only symptom being a couple of weeks of indigestion at this point.

The last cake I baked was for my DD's first birthday nearly 30 years ago so my offering for the tea party will be a bought cake!

@Scandi hoping all goes well for you today and thinking of you for Friday @CoachBeardsJane

So I've had some good news, and some possibly bad news, the good news is that my scan was clear, the bad news is that this morning I seemed to be bleeding, I originally thought it was in my urine, but I've been to get checked out by the GP and she can see what she thinks is a granulamatous skin tag developing around the scar at the top of my vagina. GP thinks it's probably just connected with scar tissue rather than a recurrence, though she can't be certain, the CNS was more circumspect, so now I'm waiting for another gynaecologist appointment. It never ends....

Bless your heart @SierraSapphire - good news with the scan and fingers crossed that the bleeding is nothing news - but it's another hurdle for you to jump. Hope you get it sorted asap, and that it's nothing to worry about (haha - like that'll ever stop!)

@SierraSapphire good news about your scan being clear! 🤞 the bleeding is nothing to worry about though...not like there isn't enough to worry about.

We're just in. Consultant appointment went well - she still seems a bit baffled about me choosing to make my own way there but I'm happy enough on the bus & having a wander to the park for now.

I've just picked up my prescriptions on the way back & they've given me metaclopramide and famotidine rather than lansaprozole & ondansetron. The famotidine doesn't work all day for me & the registrar switched the metaclopramide to ondansetron because of the still undiagnosed heart thing 🙄

My GP surgery are closed for training this afternoon, so I have little chance of getting the ondansetron this week. At least I have enough lansaprozole to last the weekend though. Hopefully they'll sort it tomorrow. I am properly eye rolling though. Why no-one's told me I'm getting something different is a mystery - both consultant and registrar agreed the changes together 🤷‍♀️

Oh, and, on the subject of the heart thing - my consultant seems to think that cardiology will already have reviewed notes/scans etc & be satisfied that I don't need seeing urgently which sort of explains the wait that feels like forever.

It sounds like they're going to go for the 18 weeks of paclitaxel too, since I've tolerated it well with minimal side effects, so far. They're going to hold off on anything hormone based & see how well the cancer responds first.

I'm sure I'll have forgotten something else too 🤣

@SierraSapphire such good news on your scan but I'm so sorry to hear you now have another issue. It's the relentlessness of all this which is just so wearing and worrying. I wonder if the CNS has been instructed by the oncologist to sit on the fence in instances such as these but that doesn't help you. I'm really hoping you can get some reassurance with the gynaecologist very soon.