Can anyone else smell the cancer?

[MargaretJ]

Since I had chemo my sense of smell is very acute and when the cancer is active my sweat smells sweet and sickly, especially in my armpits. My sister, who has just had treatment for breast cancer said she smelled it on herself. Has anyone else had the same experience?

[wendydee]

Hi Margaret'

That may link up to work done with dogs who were trained to sniff another type of cancer. I think it was skin cancer. I remember reading a report about it a while back.

Or it may be your sense of smell being altered by the chemo drugs.

All the best,

Wendy xx

[MargaretJ]

Thanks Wendy! The smell comes and goes whereas the alteration to my sense of smell seems permanent! I just wondered if anyone else had the experience!

[suzieque]

Hi Margaret ,

I remember years ago when as an auxiliary nurse I nursed a lady with cancer.There was always a smell emanating from her , which resembled pear drops. I'm not sure if it was her breath or sweat , but it was quite a distinctive aroma.

I'm forever smelling my wee when I think I have a water infection,my head is straight down the pan !! Haha. I've had a quite a few over the last 12 months and the smell is always there before the discomfort .I've been right every time .Not a pear drop smell , just a very strong , sweet urine smell. Touch wood I haven't had one in a while.

Hope everyone is well out there .

Best wishes

Suzie que xxxxxx

[MargaretJ]

With me it is my armpits, sweet and sickly! Glad I am not the only one. I have avoided the dreaded urinary infections, probably because I drink litres of water - quite literally!

I am having a bad day today, unable to raise enthusiasm to go out despite a ticket for a concert tonight. I am avoiding alcohol in an attempt to get my weight under control but tonight might be the night that I say b****r the concert tickets and open my bottle of wine!

Take no notice these sessions never last long!

Margaret!

[Jane]

it definitely has a distinct smell, traditional healers in other countries use it to identify it and after my father died from cancer with hindisght we recognised that his smell changed once he was ill, before his diagnosis. I have just been to a clinic in Germany where the head doctor said he can smell if therapy is working. I think it's one of those things we've lost touch with.

Jane

[MargaretJ]

I thought so! I can definitely smell it. It worries me because I have started smelling it again over the last few weeks!

[BusyLizzie in reply to MargaretJ]

Hi Margaret,

Can you get a CA125 test done to put your mind at rest? I hope you are wrong. Like Wendy, I have heard animals can detect it, but I have never heard of humans being able to. You may have an alternative career ahead of you

Love Lizzie

X

[MargaretJ]

Unfortunately only on me! I am due a CA125 test in two or three weeks before I see the gynaecologist again. Thanks for the wishes though! I am in no hurry to beback on chemo as I feel quite well at present, if it were not for the stoma that is! LOL!