Breast cancer

Hi lucky3

Just happen to have a copy of this - so here ya go

https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cfs-file/__key/communityserver-discussions-components-files/738/5657.After_2D00_the_2D00_treatment_2D00_finishes_2D00_then_2D00_what.pdf

It's a great read, if a bit slow at the start.

G n' J

Thank you will let you know when I have read it

Lucky 3 

Hi Everyone,

I joined this group yesterday. I experienced first symptom on March the 8th of this year and had surgery on the 30th March. It was a race against time and I was on the last booked surgical list before operations were stopped due to COVID19. More on that in my profile. 

I am due to go back to work on Tuesday, got an email from my manager hoping that I felt like my old self again! 

I haven’t had time to catch up with myself. I have just read the Dr Peter Harvey article and am due to start the Macmillan online Hope course next month. I was planning to retire in a year to 18 months before I was diagnosed so had plenty of plans some of which may need to be revised. I liked that Dr Harvey highlighted that it is okay to tell people what is helpful and what is hurtful. I decided to tell just a few work colleagues one of whom told me that I was fortunate to get the cancer that I did, that was the one you want to get. I wasn’t feeling so fortunate as it happens.

I would like the opportunity to debrief then have a time of reflection, perhaps the Hope course will support this process.

I am so pleased to have found you all.

Best wishes

Honey 

Hi Hovehoney

A very warm welcome to you.  I have read your post and would like to reach out to you and give you some support.  

I was diagnosed almost 2 years ago with Ovarian Cancer and I am now in remission - you can read my profile by clicking on my name.  I too have read the Dr Peter Harey article and have found it to be a complete revelation as I can identify with everything within the framework he set out.  I found it helped me to settle my feet a bit as I felt very lost, confused and scared after what i had just come through - I did not recognise me anymore nor the landscape in front of me.  The article helped me to reflect and re-evalute the path I had trod so far from the day I received my diagnosis.  What I have learnt, with the help of others on this Community and from this document is that the recovery path needs at least an equal amount of attention  as does the diagnosis and treatment path that has gone on before it.  A cancer diagnosis can have a huge impact physically, mentally and emotionally and can also turn life on it's head, which it certainly has done for me.  I am in early remission and still getting to know myself and I still do not know the landscape in front of me but I am learning to feel my way through it and find it really is a one day/one step  at a time job - I manage what I can and leave what I can't and accept my limitations amongst it all - it has taken me time and practice to learn to do this as to try and deal with all the issues  thrown up  by the challenges of recovery  is too overwhelming as a whole, so breaking things down into manageable pieces and keeping in mind Dr Harvey's framework provides me with a platform where i can work on resolving my issues that the challenges bring.

It is early days for you and you have been through an awful lot and I am sure you will have your own thoughts and feelings about facing work again which may be challenging for you.  I too have experienced insensitive comments from others over the last coulple of years regarding my diagnosis and my situation which at the time have upset me but one thing I have learned along the way is that cancer is a lived experience and not everyone understands this path and those who truly do are those who live with a cancer diagnosis and all it entails, every day.  It is these people I learn from and I am very grateful to the point of humility as they really do shine the light where we all need it which helps to deal with the challenges we find ourselves facing.  You are not alone and you do not need to deal with this alone.

It is encouraging that you are about to start the Hope course next month as it is good you feel motivated to do this and also with making contact with the Community as these are good steps in helping to support you to cope with the challenges receovey brings.  Please let us know how you get on.

Support is  always here whenever you need it, keep taking those steady steps of progress and take your time, there is no rush.

Wishing you all the very best.

X  

Hi Honey Hovehoney and great that you made your way over to this little supportive corner of the Mac Community.

You are now on the last third of the cancer journey and indeed this can for some, be the hardest part to navigate.

The paper is a great tool that helps us all move out from our isolated cancer world where we felt we lived in an odd type of safety blanket and try and move on with life...... but often it’s not as we remember it to be and indeed, this new life does take on whole new dimension as we see life through different eyes.

We are around to help you at anytime using our experience to look back on.

Dear Ourgirlinthenorth,

I found your post comforting and soothing and It really touched me, thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom.

I have written down some of your wise words, I am keeping a journal. I do need reminding I am not alone and especially not to rush.

I look forward to sharing my journey with you all.

Honey

Hi Mike,

Thank you for your warm welcome, it is great that I will have such good company as I navigate the third part of this experience.

Best wishes

Honey

 @hovehoney

I certainly  can recommend the HOPE course, having done it in 2013.

Helo buttercup01

What is the Hope course  I keep hearing about it and how do you get on the course

Lucky3?

Help to Overcome Problems Efficiently is the HOPE course.It's run by Macmillan locally and is for 6 weeks. 

I can't remember being referred to it, but it's worth asking the helpline 0808 808 0000 or looking at "In your area" to see where the nearest one is and when. Or try asking your CNS.

It enables  you to step back n look at how you're feeling, where you want to go, in the company of folk similarly affected. There's usually about a dozen people max on the course, plus a couple of facilitators.

I'm sure there'll be more about it on the main website.

You don't need to get referred, you can just ask to go on it. That's if things haven't changed in the past 7 years.