Blood cancer- support needed

Hi,

Is it possible the low blood/platelet count could be left over side effects from your Melanoma treatment (for example did you have chemotherapy as this can cause many problems with the blood during and after treatment? )

Keep us informed. Good luck.

I don't have an experience of any cancer of the blood but i do have experience of a Male cancer that is both rare, little known about and awful. I will not go into details here but I think any Cancer sufferer can relate to your current state of mind.

I hope me reciting my own experience helps. You can contact me through a message if you want any help with anything, I am always happy and open to supporting others.

My wife is a Nurse and I was doing my initial Police Training when I was diagnosed with Cancer. I was 45 and had a full and happy married life and all I could see was it slipping away. With a high fatality rate of my Cancer that is all I could see and so, for 5 days I got drunk, bemoaned my fate and was, frankly, petrified. My wife let me stew for 5 days and then, when I said to her "I can't cope"  turned to me on the 5th night in a row where I was knocking back yet another bottle of whiskey and said "What's the alternative?"....

I asked her what she was talking about and she said "What's the alternative to coping?"

I sat and thought about it and I couldn't see any other way than Coping with it.

She then asked me what, apart from alcohol, was my coping mechanism?

I have to be honest it was pretty much always Alcohol, but now I had my training, for which I needed to get fit, lose weight and focus on something other than what I was going through mentally. So I did. 

Its not giving anything away to say that Police are highly trained in defence and techniques related to stopping people from inflicting violence in the safest way possible. What they don't teach you (and I didn't tell them) is a way to do 6 days of this while undergoing directly applied Chemotherapy cream. Where a certain part of your body literally has the skin melting away. Needless to say it was agony, but no one knew.

It wasn't until the Chemo hadn't worked and I had to have an invasive operation that I knew I had to talk to people about it. Now my wife will tell you that I don't do things by half and I didn't in this instance. I went on social media, I openly talked about it with colleagues and friends and the support I got was overwhelming. Since then I have talked about it often here (on the forum related to my Cancer) and like to think I have helped those who need to talk, those who need some strength and purpose.

And so I come back to your initial post. I don't think any one of us who has been through this experience has initially been able to process it. I know while I was waiting for a diagnosis I was hoping for something along the lines of an infection and then when it was diagnosed I struggled every step, but had my coping mechanism of a wife and Daughter in the medical services who helped me with advice and support and something to aim for, my training. I attested and went under the knife pretty much straight away and since then, 5 years ago, I have seen things and dealt with things I didn't know I could have. I have been in pain on and off, almost constantly. My skin is so stretched that I bleed from cracking and the internal scarring causes pain a lot. 

But I have me. I have who I am and what I do and who I choose to share my life with.

You have dealt with your melanoma so you have been there once. Don't let it beat you! Don't dwell on what could be, dwell on what you have and what is important to you and the fact that you have kicked it's arse once and can do so again, should the tests result in what you are worried about! Wear your scar and skin graft with pride, like a war wound! Because that's what it is! You have fought and won once, you will do so again should you need to!

Lastly, talk. Tell people. Let them know what you have gone through and what you are worried about. making people aware can only have one outcome and that is a people being more aware of Cancer and it's effects. 

Ultimately we all need a shoulder to cry on, some support. I do it daily in Work, but I am always happy to be there for anyone who needs a helping hand. I hope my experience and advice goes a little way towards you knowing that you aren't alone and that there are many of us out there who have been through a similar experience. We are all human. You aren't alone. 

I have hodgkin's lymphoma which is a type of blood cancer and I also have a friend who is treated for leukaemia and speaking from experience this doesn't sound good . Sorry to say that . Stay strong and keep us updated. You can ask me anything if i can help xxxxx