Hi All,
My first post to anything other than tripadvisor and that was only once.
48 hours ago everything changed when I sat on a examining table and was told I have cancer of the throat, starting with tongue they think but possibly lower jaw and definitely lymph in my neck, it’s swollen.
Sonce then, every ache small pain in my body is related. I’ve had a sore shoulder for months and in my head that’s infected now and can stop Making it worse in my head. I know it’s illogical.
As my sleep pattern is disrupted, due to my inability to switch off and can’t stop worrying about the people I care for, and I guess selfishly the prospect of dying.
I’ve got another month or so before the doctors can tell me the spread of cancer extent and treatments that may or may not be available to me.
I wanted to know if anyone sped up getting to diagnosis and how?
I’m not sure my head can take another month of this with going totally mad?
Are there any tips for sleeping, tried wine, just woke up after a few hours worrying with a hangover?
How do you stop being scared?
Happy 05:30am and I’m not sure if writing this made me feel better or not but then again not pressed post yet!
Hi and a very warm welcome to the online community
I'm very sorry to read that you've just been diagnosed with throat cancer. Although I didn't have the same type of cancer as you I can remember very clearly how numb and scared I felt when first told.
As the community is divided up into cancer specific groups I'm going to recommend that you join the head and neck cancer group where you can ask questions, share experiences and get support from others who will understand what you're going through.
To join just click on the link I've created and then choose 'click to join' on the page that opens. You can then introduce yourself and post questions after selecting '+New' or '+' (depending on the device you're using) and join in with existing conversations by clicking on 'reply'.
It's perfectly natural to assume an ache or pain you wouldn't have thought twice about before your diagnosis means that your cancer has spread. We've all been there and it takes a while before you start to trust your body again.
As it can be several weeks before treatment begins you need to find something that helps stop the worry. Take a look at this information on how to ease the worry when waiting for medical test results. Some people throw themselves into their work, I spent lots of time researching my family tree, others find mindfulness helpful. If the latter interests you then this page from the NHS gives you links to mindfulness apps, some of which are free.
As for "how do you stop being scared", I think most people will agree that with time you come to accept your diagnosis and when you have a treatment plan in place you'll find it much easier to cope.
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 '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.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
