Thread 49 - Covid GCSE Cohort - The nights are drawing in...

[OrangeSpicedBun]

Autumn 🍂 well and truly underway, has been chilly this week !

This is a support thread for our young adults post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting, and their results ( or life updates for those who went into work or have had results earlier). It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, uni vs employment please don't within this thread.

Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue. We were previously on the secondary board and then further education, now we shall be here in 'Parents of Adult Children' gulp

Our DS/DD may continue down various pathways ( employment, apprenticeships, higher ed). Experience is that everyone is welcomed wherever, whatever their child is doing we have some in work, gap years , apprenticeships etc too. Lots of contributors with different experiences and always sympathy and advice to be had.
Previous thread :

www.mumsnet.com/talk/parents_of_adult_children/4880640-thread-48-covid-gcse-cohort-summer-before-year-2-uni?latest=1

Thanks @Alsoplayspiccolo the appointment is at lunchtime, I’m meeting DH at the hospital. I feel fairly calm, perhaps because there is nothing I can do but I have been a bit restless all week and had to keep myself busy, fortunately I have had an interesting mini-project to do at work. Of course PC is all over the media today because of the King. I’ve been thinking of you too, have you heard anything more? Don’t reply if you don’t feel up to it

Best wishes for today @EerilyDecorated and @Alsoplayspiccolo

My appointment is lunchtime today too. I'm just grateful I didn't get a call at 8am to say my results weren't back.
It sounds like I'm in the same frame of mind as you - I'm kind of calmly resigned to whatever will be, albeit still feeling wobbly.
The royals news made me feel anxious too.

Thanks @craggyrat . Yes, wobbly is the right word. I am finding it hard to act normal in front of DD who doesn’t know about any of it.

That's really tough for you, Eerily, I'm sorry. DD was here last week when I came back from the follow up appointment, so we had to tell her, and DH went with DS to the offer holders day on Tuesday so he told him then.
In many ways, I'm more worried about them than I am about myself - the mum guilt at the thought of causing them pain is horrible.

Thinking of you both

Me too, I have managed to put it out of my mind a bit the last few days but the thought of telling them and the impact especially on DS is filling me with dread. DH has managed to avoid them finding out about appointments so far, they have been in work hours apart from the biopsy which was so early on a Sat that he was home before they got out of bed.

Thinking of @EerilyDecorated and @Alsoplayspiccolo , but remember that outcomes for both breast and prostate are very good, so even if the diagnosis is bad news, it will get better.

@Alsoplayspiccolo @EerilyDecorated sending enormous hugs for you both. I hope all the news is good. x

We're back, thank you all for your kind words. The news is OK, there is a small amount of the lowest grade cancer, the consultant has recommended active surveillance as at the moment the risks of treatment outweigh the likely benefits. So regular PSA tests and an MRI again in a year or sooner if the levels rise.

Thinking of you both ED & Piccolo.

@EerilyDecorated that sounds like a good plan. Hope you and your DH are doing okay

Feeling a bit shaky. DH has gone back to work, I am still in town (I only had a small amount of work on today and feel the need to walk to get rid of some energy). @Alsoplayspiccolo thinking of you xx

@EerilyDecorated I'm glad the appointment is over & the news seems as positive as it could possibly have been under the circumstances 💐
🤞@Piccolo.
Thank you @Monkey.
Surrey uni are very laid-back re. Ds returning.
They will only inform the student loan people when ds returns and starts the term.
So student loans still have him down as suspended & therefore no loan is due.
I'm concerned that he will have to cough up the tuition fees himself.

Sendmybag is excellent

Eerily- that sounds about as good as a diagnosis can be. Big hug to you and him and remember that it is always possible to ask about 2nd opinions for treatment if you are unsure about whether watch & wait or treatment is best. Either now or a few months down the line.

@EerilyDecorated A walk to dispel the tension in your body sounds an excellent plan. Pleased it is a diagnosis of the lowest grade and long may that remain the case.

Hope you walk helped @EerilyDecorated . Best wishes to you and to piccolo too. Its rough this time of our lives.

piccolo. Thinking of you💐

DD passed her driving test!

Sending love to @Alsoplayspiccolo and @EerilyDecorated x

Sorry for the late update - it's been a full-on day.
As suspected, it's cancer BUT the most common type and should be sorted with surgery, radiotherapy and Tamoxifen. I'm back tomorrow for more lymph node biopsies, and will need an MRI scan to check nothing's been missed.
No more HRT for me...I feel sorry for DH, having to deal with that!

Glad your DH's news was ok for now, EerilyDecorated. Sounds like they'll be keeping a close eye on him, at least.

So sorry to hear that bit glad that the prognosis is so good

Well done to dd @BlueMarigold !

So sorry to hear that @Alsoplayspiccolo but I’m glad it should be straight forward in terms of treatment (although not much fun I’m sure 😬)

Thanks for the update @Alsoplayspiccolo , I'm glad its not more serious, but it's still a lot to take on board. We will all be here for you .

Thanks also for all the kind words about DH. I managed to distract myself for the rest of the afternoon by going to the opticians (I had some new driving glasses to wear over my contact lenses at Christmas and the prescription wasn't right, phoned up and they could see me there and then, I saw a different optician who rose to the challenge, spent ages testing and tweaking and talking through the options as my prescription is complicated and I have come away with different contact lenses to try as well as getting the glasses changed). This is proving to be another one of the "joys" of middle age.

@Delphigirl the doctor said that if DH wanted to pursue treatment they were happy to discuss that at any time, he had had 3 PSA tests at 6 month intervals so far so has some useful baseline data (they have crept up but are still fairly borderline, they escalated this process because he has a strong family history of PC, dad and brother). They are sending him an app to schedule his appointments and test results, with links to treatment options and messaging straight to the team. We have been impressed with how efficient the process has been so far.

@BlueMarigold congrats to DD!

So today I'm back to PIP renewals and trying to think what to get DS for his birthday 🤦‍♀️.