Hi everyone, well I am really struggling with this emotional rollercoaster.
Yesterday my consultant confirmed my cancer looks stage 3 and that I will have treatment. I have to have a biopsy first to see what treatment it will be. She talked about possible outcomes of surgery, like a stoma and removal of spleen and it is has sent my mind into over drive!
I am thinking dark thoughts and worried that I can't come through this. People keep telling me having treatment is a positive thing, although it doesn't feel positive to be facing so much! :0(
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TR77
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Having a treatment has the good potential and hopefully you'll also have very positive outcomes. Try as much as you can to keep the dark thoughts away and start preparing yourself for the good fight, part of which is to have a positive outlook and a strong mind.
As for the surgery, it is the best to wait and hear all about it from the surgeon when its time comes.
As part of these discussions, they have to present you with all risks. You may need a stoma and you may not. You may have a splenectomy and again you hopefully may not. All can be clear, once the surgeon opens up and start working.
Keep strong and take things one day at a time. Each day is a gift and worthy fighting for.
Take care and all best wishes with your upcoming treatment.
I suppose turn your question around and ask how you would feel if you were offered no treatment. I saw a respiratory consultant last week re draining fluid from around my lungs and he was very upbeat I was being offered a third lot of chemo. Positive positive positive were his words. It is a huge rollercoaster of emotions but you just have to follow what the experts say. To begin with I was terrible for googling things but try and avoid that now. As the onc said at the time why would a bother going to medical school for years if I could just google things!!! Hope things work out well for you.
I’d say discussing treatment and surgery are all positives. Hearing the possibles is unnerving but they have to tell you what could happen but it doesn’t mean it will happen. That’s why they open you up as well as nothing replaces the surgeon’s eye in having a good look around. I was initially flagged as stage 3 possibly 4 (had to have some fluid on my lung drained) but that turned out not to be the case.
Try and focus on things you can control, get some nice nighties for when you do go into hospital, getting a chemo bag together, download some favourite programmes to a tablet to watch while having treatment. ♥️
thank you, I have done just this. Ordered pyjamas, started to pack a bag of things to do, now trying to help my racing mind by using some breathing techniques and meditation. x
As the others have all said, it’s definitely a good thing to be receiving treatment - but we do also understand the shock and panic of the diagnosis. Be kind to yourself, give yourself space to feel all the emotions, and find good things to focus on to stop you getting mired down in worry.
I , like you were in a complete panic . The thought of it all was worse than the actual thing , not wishing to trivialise it , because it’s no walk in the park . The surgeon has to say what he may have to do because you have to sign a consent form .My oncologist said to me one step at a time,so try not to overthink it otherwise it can be overwhelming.Good luck x
Try to put what you have been told into boxes. A box of what they have said that was a'maybe' and what was a 'definite' and deal only with the definite because the 'maybes' are what they have to tell you 'in case' they happen .You need to put your effort into dealing with the definites. I was completely floored by the consultant surgeon I saw prior to debulking surgery who covered every eventuality! (They have to)I came home and was petrified and confused that so much of what he said had not been mentioned previously. The next day I sat down and wrote down two list of what 'may'happen and thought 'ok that also means they may nothappen ' and a list of what was certain to happen. Not surprisingly that was a much smaller list. (Still scary but nowhere as bad) I came out of the operation with a lot of what he'd told me 'may' happen not having happened. I still had my spleen pancreas liver was ok and no stoma. Please try and separate the things you have been told. It's so horribly scary anyway but keeping a perspective will help you . Sending you positive vibes and peace. Xx
Yes I did. The omentum was removed along with the peritoneum and a full hysterectomy although no cancer was present in any of my reproductive bits. I am classed as having 'Primary peritoneal cancer' It is more common for it to be secondary to the ovaries when it's in the omentum but because it behaves in the same way it is comes under Gynecological cancers even when there is nothing present in that area.
I don't that there is a easier or less easy type as the standard treatment and surgery are the same. The only difference is that one starts in the ovaries and the other starts in the peritoneum. They both can spread and mutate in the same way. As I understand it. X
Hi TR77, it is truly a terrifying time trying to process all this information. I remember coming from the hospital after being consented for surgery and feeling completely shell shocked. I pulled over in my car, phoned my brother and just sobbed. After a few days, it sort of sinks in but it is still a very scary time. I've found over the last three years that I have accepted my 'new normal' and life has changed dramatically. I'm only 53 with two teenage daughters but we seem to have also seen some positives come out of this terrible disease. I hope you can come to terms with your diagnosis and slowly focus on your treatment and staying strong. This site has been a huge help to me and I hope it is to you too, Sticky3006 xx
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