Hi all!
This is my first post. I’m worried about my husband who has been ill for the past few months. He is awaiting results of blood tests, xrays and CT scan. Whilst waiting for these results his health has deteriorated a great deal. I am really worried about him and was wandering if anybody had any advice or suggestions.
Hi and welcome to the online community
I'm sorry to hear how worried you are about your husband. Waiting for the results of tests and scans is horrible and there's no easy answer on how to cope with this.
Talking to other people is one of the things you can do to help you cope so can I suggest that you join the carers group which is a safe and supportive place to discuss your worries.
To join just click on the link I've created and then choose 'join this group' on the page that opens. You can then introduce yourself after selecting 'start a discussion' or join in with existing conversations by clicking on 'reply'.
You haven't said what type of cancer your husband's doctors think he has but if you want to tell me then I could point you in the direction of a group to join where you can ask specific questions about such things as treatment.
When you feel ready it would be really useful if could pop something about your husband's journey so far into your profile as it helps others when answering or looking for someone with a similar diagnosis. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Edit Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
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"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
As you think it's some type of lymphoma I'm going to tag my friend Thehighlander as he looks after the lymphoma groups and will be able to advise you which one to join.
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"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi , I am Mike Thehighlander and I just picked up on my friend latchbrook has tagged me.
I have been on my Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma journey for over 20 years. The diagnosis of a Blood Cancer does take time and needs to be done very accurately as this is the information that, One - gives the type of the 80 types of Lymphoma and second - give his team the information for putting a treatment plan together.
Please understand that when a grade is given, it is not like that in solid tumour cancers, this grade will tell his team what type of treatment is required and for how long.
Blood Cancer on the whole, is very treatable, yes it can be hard work but very do-able.
We have a number of dedicated blood cancer forums. Once you know the exact type please join the closest group and I will be around to help you out.
General Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma
You are going to get a lot of information so it is important to be prepared.
I would always recommend you get a note book. The note book is the place where you record EVERY question that comes to mind. The note book goes to all appointments and when the Consultant says ‘have you any questions?’ the note book comes out.
A lot of people freeze at this point and are overwhelmed by information. So you can say ‘yes we have some question’ you go through each question one by one, making sure you write down all the answers you get. If you don’t understand something you stop the Consultant and ask them to put into language that you understand and remember the record everything they say and again if you don't understand, fold your arms and say 'explained that so we understand' You don't want to be going home after an appointment saying 'I wish we has asked ........'
The note book also helps your sleep!! As these questions often come at silly-o’clock so get the note book out and write the thoughts down and park them - it does help a lot and I would always recommend that there should be two people at appointments as two pair of ears take in far more and the onlooker will catch the stuff the patient will not hear.
The note book should have questions like:
What type of condition has been diagnosed? - exact name and grade etc.
What are the proposed treatments Chemo, Radiotherapy......?
What are the names of the Chemo Regime?
How many cycles of Chemo and how long will each cycle last?
Does this require inpatient time (over night)
How many sessions of Radiotherapy and how long will all the treatments take?
Remember to express any reservations about treatments........ an example - I have Thoratic & Lumber Spondylosis - Spinal Osteoarthritis so I found out in the early stages of my radiotherapy that I had to take some pain killers an hour before I had my treatments as I found it hard and painful to lay on the radiotherapy table for long periods of time.
I will keep an eye open for you.
