Hi. Yes it's totally normalto be thinking about it all the time. You will also notice all the celebrities dying from cancer, cancer adverts will be on the tv all the time and lots of tv story lines will involve cancer.
I finished my treatment in February and it's not on my mind quite as much but it's still there - just not quite as scary.
Keep coming on the forum, keep talking to us - it really helped me!
Hey girlies,
Well, kidney test day wasnt too bad. I was lucky as my bestie, Libs, came with me so we whiled away the hours playing cards.
It became just a bit more real yesterday. Sometimes something happens, and it makes it all very very real. Sometimes it's like it's all happening to someone else.
Yes, it does appear to be everywhere i look. Scarily, it is cropping up on my facebook page a lot too. Charity pages, shops for products like wigs & scarves, alsorts as suggested pages. V disconcerting. Could almost make one a lil paranoid about 'big brother' if u were that way inclined haha.
Teresa, the signature thing is somewhere in your account. I think u click on an 'edit' tab and it's somewhere there hun.
Rollercoaster is a good way to describe life now. Sometimes for just moments i actually forget, which is lovely. Even though its not for long it is a welcome relief. Not entirely sure how ive not had a blooming heart attack yet haha.
Hope u all have a great day today. I'm back at the hospital visiting the oncologist for the first time. Not sure what to expect from this meeting. Perhaps just a meet & greet? Hoping for mo more needles as i feel like a pin cushion after yesterday haha (im such a wuss when it comes to needles).
Much love to u all xxxx
Hi Emma glad yesterday went ok. I honestly believe the fear of the Unknown is worse than the actual tuning we're facing! I think a little knowledge before is good to try and settle our nerves a bit.
hope your meeting today goes ok - who are you seeing? I was under r cooper.
Yay! So glad the kidney thing went well. I'm seeing my gyno oncologist today too, so wishing us both the best possible meeting.
Good luck!
Oof! Well the oncology meeting was hard going. V intense and i felt v low & flat last night. Still feel a bit that way right now but going into work today so hopefully the kids will soon make me too busy to think.
Staging is 2b
I will have chemo all day 1x a week; radiotherapy everyday except sat & sun for 5 wks & during the last week of radio i will start a 3 wk course of brachytherapy which im v scared about but i know its all for the best so will suck it up.
MME im under dr cardale & she seems lovely. Also have Sadie Smith who is like my key worker there. Again. Lovely.
I now have more questions as I had a PET scan booked on tues 3rd may but they want me to have an EUA insteadat which time they will put the little markers in ready for the radiotherapy. But i thought they needed the pet scan to determine exactly where it all was???
Teresa, how.are u feeling today sweetie? Where r u being treated? Xxx
Hi. I found it better when I knew exactly what the treatment was going to be and I can honestly say I was very lucky and it wasn't as bad as I feared. Even the braccy.
I logged my treatment daily on here in a thread called finally started treatment
I did the same for the braccy. You might find it interesting to read and maybe quite reassuring at the same time.
During the next few weeks till your treatment starts do what you can to build up your immune system, get used to drinking loads and just look after yourself. There's another thread called top tips for treatment which might help too x
Hi Emma :-)
I just wanted to add that whilst most of us, for whatever reason, are more afraid of brachytherapy than anything else, it really is not the demon we imagine. Philleepa did a thread on it I believe - all very positive.
Be lucky :-)
Tivoli
Hi again Emma - another experience ticked off the list in your first meeting with the doctor. I only met her the once, she stood in for my doctor on my last brachytherapy.
I can't comment about the pet scan as I did have this prior to eua but I can tell you about eua - now had 3!!!! As your going in Tuesday you'll be in the brachytherapy suite - so this will give you an opportunity to meeting the nursing staff that will look after you each week. There's some waiting around in the morning as they bring everyone in together and decide on theatre slots at 8.30 that morning. The ladies having brachytherapy are seen to first. So bring some reading material or music to distract you for a few hours. You're not allowed to bring anyone with you (there's no space) so it can be a little lonely & quiet. When your slot comes up a nurse will come and walk you the short distance to the anaesthetic room. You'll be given a canula in the back of your hand - the next you'll know you'll be in recovery! I think I was in theatre for about 30 mins. Once back you'll be monitored and offered a lovely cup of tea & toast (or sandwich) and once you've been to the toilet your allowed to go home (as long as you've someone to look after you). There's no need to worry - honestly - just keep reminding yourself theyre there to give you the best possible treatment and make you better. The nursing team are fantastic - very chatty and friendly.
as for the brachytherapy - at this hospital its administered differently to where philleepa was. You arrive at 7.30am and the first person is in theatre by 8.45! You'll have a spinal block (like epidural) so your numb from the waist down and therefore awake in the theatre room. Don't be afraid you can't see anything as there is a screen and you certainly don't feel a thing (in fact you won't feel anything until about 4pm !). You will obviously hear the medical team talking to each other but your distracted as you'll have a nurse with you chatting all the way through. From memory you'll be in there about 15-20 minutes. Then you'll have the tour of the hospital where you'll be taken for an mri & ct scans (to make sure everything is positioned correctly). Then the best bit - back to recovery for a cup of tea & toast!!!!!! You'll be ready for this after being nil by mouth!
during all this your lying virtually flat unable to move as you've no feeling in your legs. Lots of ladies brought books to read - but to be honest trying to read when laid flat didnt work for me! I tended to watch the world go by (it's a busy area) and snooze. the actual administration of treatment starts about 3pm and for each lady only lasts about 10 mins. Once you've had treatment and the rods are removed (not painful so please don't listen to an scary stories) you need to wait for feeling to return to your legs and then you can home. I was usually back home for 6pm. They are 3 very long days - but are really nothing to be scared off.
i hope this helps reassure you - as always any questions we're all here to help. We've been there remember!
Hi Emma:
Glad you got your appointment out of the way and that you have a plan in place. Looks like a very similar plan to lots of ladies on here so I know that everyone will jump in with advice and tips. Rest up, eat well and take care of yourself so that you're at your stongest to get started.
Thanks for asking about my appointment. My gyno oncologist staged me at 1A1 which is better than the 1B that my regular ob gyn doctor had said. She said that the cone biopsy had got all the tumour and that the margins were clear. All of which is fabulous news. However, there are precancerous cells still hanging around in the cervix- maybe CIN2 in situ - so she has booked me in for a regular laparoscopic hysterectomy. Apparently, this is done robotically. I also have an MRI and PET scan booked in the next week so I have my fingers crossed that nothing shows up on those. I think you were scheduled for surgery until your MRI so I'm trying not to get too excited yet.
Back to waiting and worrying, although I do feel, and hope you do, a little better knowing I have a plan in place.
I'm being treated in the US which is where I live having married an American.
Take care. Big hug xxx
Yep, your braccy is different to mine. The rods still have to come out the same though lol x I can vouch it wasn't painful, just a bit uncomfortable but I didn't have an epidural x
Thank you again for all your chatting :)
My mind is huuuugely relieved by your experiences. I hope i can one day pay all this forward and relieve other women on here :)
Teresa, what wonderful news. Im so pleased for u. I know its still a hard journey for u but so much more positive than when we r second guessing and thinking the worst.
Big love xxxx
