I seem to have been waiting and waiting worrying about my increasingly short lifespan without even an appointment to see an oncologist. Given the poor outcomes for pancreatic cancer, I’m so worried. And I have developed a hard lump on my belly. Is that cancerous?
Hi Jjjj,
Thanks for getting in touch. My name is Jo and I’m one of the Cancer Information Nurses on the Macmillan Support Line.
I am sorry to hear that you have been waiting for an appointment to see an oncologist since your pancreatic cancer diagnosis at the beginning of June. It is quite understandable that you are feeling so worried.
Unfortunately, as we are not part of the NHS here on the Macmillan support line, we don’t have access to your medical records. It would therefore not be possible for us to answer specific questions related to your symptoms and to say if the hard lump on your belly is due to cancer. However, we would always advise that you contact your GP, hospital team or seek urgent medical care if you develop any new or worsening symptoms.
Across the UK there are cancer waiting time targets to start treatment. Currently these aim to ensure that cancer treatment should start within 62 days of the hospital receiving an urgent suspected cancer referral.
I wonder whether you have tried to contact the hospital team about this prolonged wait for any further appointments. If not, then it would be as well to do so. If you have the phone number for a nurse specialist, then you could give them a call in the first instance. Alternatively, you could ask the hospital switchboard to put you through to the consultant’s secretary who should be able to look into this for you.
You could also speak to your GP or contact the hospital patient advice & liaison service (PALS).
It is normal to experience lots of different emotions when you have a cancer diagnosis, there is no right or wrong way to feel. It’s important that you don’t feel alone in dealing with these, and there are a number of ways that we here at Macmillan can offer help and support.
There is also support available through the pancreatic cancer forum on our online community, and the charity Pancreatic Cancer UK.
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to get back in touch. You can speak with the Macmillan Support Line on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or email us.
I hope this information is helpful.
Best wishes,
Jo
Cancer Information Nurse Specialist
Ref: JD/PW
