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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Horrible situation that has devastated me

206 replies

PetraStorm · 13/02/2026 03:49

N/C for this. Apologies, it's long. A few months ago, I received a message from a man that I used to have a casual relationship with years ago. We went our separate ways as friends, with no issues, sent Happy Birthday/Christmas texts etc. He asked how I was doing after my illness? I have breast cancer (3 years post op) and have undergone surgery and reconstruction, radiotherapy etc and I'm still receiving adjuvant therapy. We went for a drink and had a brilliant time. I asked if he was seeing anyone, he said no, he'd been single for years and lived alone. Didn't meet again for a while as I was ill. Texted frequently. We talked about everything including sex, we always had amazing sex; we were both majorly into kink and were very compatible. I told him I had been celibate since my surgery, and I was feeling vulnerable about my scars. We talked about it and he was understanding, kind and reassuring. He said all the right things. We had sex numerous times, and it was amazing.

Now, to last Saturday. He said he was going to a gig with his daughter and her girlfriend. He said the small venue was unusual, a tattoo/barbers' and bar combined. It sounded interesting, so I looked it up. There was a video of Saturday's gig, and you guessed it; there he was with his girlfriend/fiancée/wife. I felt physically sick. I would never have had any contact with him if I had known he was in a relationship. I feel incredibly sorry for his partner. She thinks she is in a happy, monogamous relationship with a man who loves her. Instead, he's sexting, sending explicit photos, and having kinky sex with another woman. Everything he told me was a lie. I have known this man for decades and considered him a friend. He knows what cancer has done to me, physically and emotionally yet lied to me so he could have the type of sex he really enjoys. I have thought about telling his partner but don't know if it's the right thing to do. The stress is awful and I feel guilty because I believed everything he told me. In addition, I found out today my last mammogram showed abnormalities and now I need a biopsy to find out if my cancer has returned. I feel defeated by life and used by a man I trusted.

OP posts:
StrangePond · 14/02/2026 16:03

PetraStorm · 14/02/2026 16:00

Let me reiterate, we were supposed to be in a relationship, an exclusive relationship with each other. In the last three years I have had chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and massive doses of steroids. My immune system is terrible. If I contracted an STI, it would be horrific. It could cause long term harm to my health, and I am not going to sleep with a man who is sleeping with other women. One of the reasons I am so annoyed is because of what he could have exposed me to to.

You're obviously completely faultless in all of this, OP, but surely you were using a condom in a fairly new sexual relationship? Or is his 'kink' not using one?

PetraStorm · 14/02/2026 16:14

StrangePond · 14/02/2026 16:03

You're obviously completely faultless in all of this, OP, but surely you were using a condom in a fairly new sexual relationship? Or is his 'kink' not using one?

No, no condoms. I believed him when he said he was single. I realise now that was stupid and I'm normally not so blasé with my health and I take full responsibility for that. I always insist on condoms in a new relationship but he was so kind and reassuring I never doubted what he told me about being single. He knows about my cancer and my treatment and I never thought he would lie and expose me to potentially serious health problems. I am going to get checked out next week, just to make sure.

OP posts:
SaturdayFive · 14/02/2026 16:27

What a scumbag he is. What if you'd decided to turn up at the gig? He obviously felt completely untouchable, to tell you exactly where he was going, knowing he'd be there with his partner. Or did he want to get caught out? What an utter pig. At least you got some decent sex out of it, but I'm guessing you'd rather not have had it now. Hopefully he hasn't infected you with anything.
I would tell his partner, if you want to and if you can do it in a low stress way. You're likely not the only one he's been seeing on the side, if he can lie so easily. He doesn't deserve a relationship.

bigboykitty · 14/02/2026 16:28

ThatCyanCat · 14/02/2026 16:03

Who the fuck on here is shaming a woman with cancer for having sex within what she believes to be a committed monogamous relationship?

And thinking they're arbiters of morality?

They're just pathetic trolls. Same on lots of threads. Absolute fuckwits.

BuckChuckets · 14/02/2026 17:16

PetraStorm · 14/02/2026 16:14

No, no condoms. I believed him when he said he was single. I realise now that was stupid and I'm normally not so blasé with my health and I take full responsibility for that. I always insist on condoms in a new relationship but he was so kind and reassuring I never doubted what he told me about being single. He knows about my cancer and my treatment and I never thought he would lie and expose me to potentially serious health problems. I am going to get checked out next week, just to make sure.

Even if he was single, he could still have an STI. You're still not to blame in the slightest for this situation, though, the man's a pig and I'm sorry he did this to you.

Definitely stick to condoms and both gettnig tested in the future, especially if you're even more at risk than most if you catch something.

LucyLoo1972 · 15/02/2026 06:19

im sorry this happened to you

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