Thymus cancer

Hi everyone,

i’m new to the forum so thought I would just write a little bit about my five year thymus battle.

I was first diagnosed in 2015 with a tumour the size of a satsuma. I started gruelling chemo in the September which successfully shrunk it enough to operate in the January, this was an open chest procedure where they removed the thymus, the wall of my heart and the phrenic nerve, it was a long complex procedure where I was later told they nearly lost me!

My recovery was slow and I had radiotherapy in the May. I received check ups every three months and these changed to every six. 

All was going OK until Jan 2018 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, completely  unrelated to the thymus cancer, so more surgery and once again check ups for the next five years.

Then early in 2019 after a regular scan they found that some cells from my original thymus has moved to my lung, something they hadn’t seen before. This was removed by keyhole, unfortunately they nicked my lung during the procedure so I had to have another operation stem the bleeding, I think my recovery time would have been a lot quicker had I not had the second procedure. So back to scans every three months.

In March of this year yet more cells were found to have moved, this time a tumour deep in my right lung and by the wall of my heart, initially they thought they could remove the one by my heart with keyhole but my new consultant spoke to my previous consultant and they decided that it would be catastrophic for me,  not something you really want to hear. I was once again back in the hands of my brilliant Oncologist, I have just finished my chemo and have a scan booked for next week, I then switch to Immunotherapy every six weeks.

After that is anyone’s guess. I try to take everyday as it comes. Sometimes I feel as though I can do things around the house and garden and it makes me feel great. Fatigue is what I struggle with but it’s your body’s way of telling you to slow down so you should listen to it, it’s taken me a long time to realise that. I’m a true believer in positive thinking and that has really helped me stay focused on getting through this, yes I have days when I have a good cry and dark thoughts creep into your mind, this passes once I give myself a talking to.

So if anyone wants to take anything from my story it’s ‘stay positive’. The people who look after us are brilliant and new cures are becoming available all the time.