Hello,
I was diagnosed with testicular cancer on 24th Dec 20, I have had my operation on the 6th Jan & 1 shot of Carboplatin (which I opted for over active surveillance).
I was a smoker when diagnosed and have now quit, 21 days ago.
Since my chemotherapy treatment I have had this feeling of impending doom that something bad is going to happen?
I do suffer with anxiety and always used the cigarettes as my anxiety release / go to, now that isn't an option.
I have also been seeing a counsellor which is helping.
Are these feeling of dread normal? I think quitting smoking as well as trying to process the cancer combined are hard to deal with.
The diagnosis was out of the blue also and I found the tumour by accident, so the surprise of it all I think plays into my thoughts.
Hi and welcome to this little corner of the Community.
First a few congratulations, for getting through your treatment and stopping smoking. Having never been a smoker I will not have an appreciation as to how hard this can be and indeed the ‘left over’ challenges after making this decision.
When it comes to cancer I think ai have become an expert as I have been on my cancer journey for over 21 years now (hit my name to see my story)
I will never see a cure, but what I was told back in 1999 was I would also never be in remission. This was proved wrong in Sep 2016....... so for me, I am living the dream.
I will highlight that my cancer is asleep and due to the years of skin treatments I am most likely going to develop skin cancer at some point in time.
I can understand your “sense of doom/dread” as cancer is all encompassing. With my many years experience walking this road I have developed the ability to pigeon hole the “what if’s” and put all my concentration into the “what now’s?”...... I am always looking for opportunities to ‘live’ the life I have been gifted because of the treatments ai tecived,
When you arrive on the cancer path we see two signs placed the length of the path.
One sign points to Pessimism, a mindset that always sees the worst will happen, not appreciating that cancer can be treated and for some cured, where stress and worry controls every aspect of your life and as a result the journey is made extremely hard and draining.
The other sign points to Optimism, a mindset that is full of hopefulness, determination, confidence about the future and appreciates that most cancers are now very treatable. It’s important to continually seek to choose the optimistic direction as this simple thing can define how you walk the cancer journey.
You may find it helpful to make a cuppa and have a look at this great paper After Treatment Finishes - Then What? by Dr Peter Harvey as it highlights the post treatment milestones we all have to navigate.
Happy to talk more
I only hear positives in your reply Rob.
For many people, the post treatment part can be very challenging as you have to navigate an unknown path.
I don’t like the term ‘finding my new normal’ that is used a lot...... l prefer to think it as being presented with ‘new opportunities’........ keep pushing the forward doors not the exits.
