An invitation to reflect: What would you tell yourself at diagnosis?

My husband is 12 months since they found he had oesophageal cancer. I think the main thing we would tell ourselves is push for the start of the chemo. They found it on 30 December last year and yet we didn’t start chemo until 8th March! It would have been a week later as the oncologist was going on holiday, but I pushed for someone else to sort it. They spent a long time looking at it. So much so that the scans showed it not invading other structures, but due to the delay, by the time of the operation they found it had wrapped around the aorta and if it had been left longer would have made surgery not an option. We are now just starting 25 days of chemoradiation as the margins from the surgery weren’t clear. Also, it is a marathon not a sprint and everyone needs to look after themselves including the carer. 

H JsyStevie, 

Thank you for leaving a comment and sharing some of your story and advice. 

I hope your husband's 25 days of chemoradiation go as well as possible. Please keep in mind that you or your husband can make use of our Support line if you ever need a listening ear. The Support Line teams are there to help every day from 8am to 8pm on 0808 808 00 00. You can also send an email or start a live webchat during the opening hours.

I would tell myself you will deal with it in your own time. Your journey is personal to you. Remain positive as there is always someone worse off than yourself and embrace every moment

Hi Mummyof2fighting, 

Thank you for sharing that with us. It's so important to keep in my mind that every journey is personal.