Good afternoon.I don't know if anyone can help or advise me? I had an endoscopy on 28th April, a suspicious lump was discovered and biopsies were taken. I was advised it was possibly cancer. I eventually got the diagnosis by letter from the consultant on the 20th May which stated that he would ring me by the end of this week. I have not heard anything form him yet. Is this normal at all?
Many thanks
Hi and welcome to the Online Community, although I am sorry to see you finding us and so sorry to hear about you receiving a cancer diagnosis, but I do hope that you will find the support in the Community very helpful.
Is it normal to wait this amount of time?...... most likely not but we are in challenging times so I would just phone the clinic and give them a nudge. I am sure there is a contact number on your letter.
You don't say what type of cancer you have but the Online Community is organised into various support groups. This is the list for our Cancer specific Groups. You will find talking with people who are on the same type of journey helped a lot.
Have a look at the link above and pick the best group that fits your type of cancer.
Posting in this group will give you the opportunity to talk with people who know exactly what you are dealing with at the moment.
Follow the link I've created, join the group, then hit ‘start a discussion’ and you are ready to go......... you can also join in with existing ‘Discussions’ by clicking on 'reply'.
Can I also highlight our various Macmillan Support Line Services on 0808 808 00 00. This service covers Emotional Support, Practical Information. Clinical Information, Financial Support and Work Guidance mostly open 8.00 to 8.00 but check the link but you may find the service very busy at the moment.
Our Online Information and Support Section is a good place to find information covering cancer diagnosis, treatments and pages covering most types of cancers.
All the very best.
Click to see how to add some details to your profile
Hi and a warm welcome to the online community
I'm sorry to read that a suspicious lump was discovered when you had an endoscopy a month ago and that you've had to have a biopsy.
To answer your question. No it isn't normal to get your diagnosis by letter and your first appointment over the telephone. However, with the Covid 19 risk, hospitals are trying to cut down visits to hospitals to a minimum to protect both you and their staff.
Normally, after biopsies and tests, you would have a face-to-face appointment with a consultant who would give you the results of the tests and discuss the course of treatment they think is necessary.
Did your letter say that you had cancer? If so, if you could tell me what type it is then I could direct you to a group where you can ask questions, share experiences and get support from others with the same type.
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"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi
I think that squamous cell carcinoma is the most common form of anal cancer but if you join the anal cancer group the people over there will be only too happy to help you. I'm going to tag Nikki65 and into my reply as they are the Community Champions who look after that group.
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 and post questions after selecting 'start a discussion' and join in with existing conversations by clicking on 'reply'.
When you have a minute, it would be really useful if you could pop something about your journey so far into your profile as it really 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"
Glad you've joined the group .
You don't need to post straight away if you don't want to. I loitered for a while, reading other people's posts, before I joined in, in my group.
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"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
