Dear all !

[Dana486]

Dear all !

I have recently diagnosed wit abdominal follicular lymphoma grade 1 stage 2 . Doctor for the moment recomanded ww . My anxiety is very high! How you manage with ?

[AdrianUK]

I think anxiety is a very natural reaction.

It is also an adaptive one.

We get anxious to force us to examine a scary problem and resolve it.

If we simply try to ignore our anxiety and surpress it then it will get worse and worse.

If we focus too much on our anxiety and dwell on it all the time it will get worse and worse.

What to do then?

Find ways to deliberately and specifically acknowledge your anxiety and explore it. This can include talking to a family or friend (be careful tho as not all of them will be able to cope with your raw emotions), a minister of religion if that’s your thing, a telephone Helpline (both leukaemia card and Bloodwise have great helplines and I don’t mind admitting I’ve called them both at times!), your medical team, and if you can get it professional counsellors.

Most people find that some knowledge helps to alleviate their anxiety in the long run tho it can make it worse in the short run!

You can also sit down with a pen and paper or electronic notebook and write what it is you are anxious about and how you will manage it. And of course come into the forum and ask questions as you so wisely have already!

Then, once you have sat down and written your list thinking about what you can and can’t do to manage the risks you are facing, then take the relevant actions and try to shelve the anxiety for a while till the next “anxiety appointment” you make! Sounds odd. But putting the worries in a box and on a shelf and then trying to distract yourself is fine provided you have those outlets I spoke about.

So some silly Netflix program. I watched Jane the Virgin of all things when I was at one of my lowest points. It made me laugh. And when I was watching it I was not thinking about cancer at all...until several seasons in one of the characters gets cancer! But oddly I found that quite cathartic tho I was annoyed at my secret refuge being invaded like that.

Also meditation and especially mindfulness can really help. As can healthy eating and managing your relationships and work/life balance. It’s somtimes like a tsunami has come into your world. You may we’ll find attending a face to face support group to meet others with similar experiences helps a lot as does attending courses set up by Charities such as Leukaemia care. One that looks very good and which I intend to go on myself sometime this year is Penny Brohen. They run a free residential course which looks pretty good and has good reviews. (It’s even run in some NHS settings but the idea of residential appeals to me!). pennybrohn.org.uk/find-help...

[Dana486 in reply to AdrianUK]

Dear Adrian ,

First appreciate you make some time to reply my comment !

I try my best to control my emotion and fear , but is just come in my mind all the time same think .... I start on healthy food beetroot , celery juice , salt, less meat , Evan CBD oil . I have 2 beautiful kids 2and 6 years old , they need me active and happy and I can not be the same right now , maybe is still the shock on diagnosis or I don t know ....

[AdrianUK in reply to Dana486]

You can’t control your feelings. You have to acknowledge and respect you. But don’t let THEM control you either. Do stuff ANYWAY even if you don’t feel like it.

[Smakwater]

Dana,

Our level of anxiety after being diagnosed with cancer is always influenced at some level by how we perceive what the physician tells us. Consider the possibility that it may help to reduce the anxiety by visiting with another physician and not necessarily just for a second opinion.

I believe that use of the term "second opinion" can be counter productive unless the purpose of that opinion is to produce either greater confidence in the first, provide a more desirable outcome, or to a produce a more clearly defined view from which to base expectations on.

Adrian offered some experience proven strategies that should help you balance the emotional chaos, and I believe he is right about anxiety and knowledge in the long run. It may be best to apply the strategies he mentioned before going hard after it. Our view of what a doctor presented at diagnosis is usually more manageable after some realigned thought.

Hope the Best for You,

JM

[2003UK]

Hi Dana, welcome to this site. The thoughts and feelings you describe come straight back to me when I was diagnosed in 2003. Don't forget that you have received potentially life changing news and I expect you are in complete shock. I have been a very lucky girl and been on Watch and Wait (active monitoring) for 16 years, We are all very special, unique people so other people have had different treatments options at different times. What I do remember is feeling in this bubble with the world going on around me and my emotions being on high alert for a very long while. We are all here to support you on this site but if you feel the need to talk to someone the Leukaemia Care Charity helpline is open Monday - Friday 9am until 5pm and they have a special evening service on a Thursday and Friday 7pm - 10pm. The number is freephone 08088 010 444, they also have some brilliant, reliable information on their website. I have found that it is worth writing down my fears, thoughts, feelings, symptoms and questions to ask my medical team. What I would suggest is that you are very kind to yourself and have the odd treats and keep posting.

[HAIRBEAR_UK]

Hi Dana, welcome at a difficult time, anxiety and diagnosis are unwanted bed fellows. It does get better but will take time as you become more familiar with your version of lymphoma and how it behaves in you. Keeping busy and learning as much as I could helped with anxiety at diagnosis, talking to the Nurse Specialist at the hospital and joining support groups also helped a lot, meeting others travelling the same path , most helpful of all..

As well as our helpline on freephone 08088 010 444 and information on the website you can check for local support groups here: leukaemiacare.org.uk/suppor... Lymphoma Action also have a support group listing here lymphoma-action.org.uk/supp.... Leukaemia Care also can provide access to counselling to help with the emotional challenges of diagnosis leukaemiacare.org.uk/suppor...

Best wishes

Nick