Hi, I'm new here and I'm new to cancer. Up until recently I thought that the only way to treat cancer was chemo, so I know very little about it.
I've had quite a bit of experience, in short, my GP "diagnosed" me with "probably IBS" and never pursued more advanced tests than blood and stool tests, despite myself going back to them on a few occasions during that time & being worried about my symptoms. He even told me that in order to ease my sudden hunger & nausea I should just "eat away". It's a bit upsetting, because NHS main page about cancer symptoms matches my symptoms exactly (though I did experience more).
I got diagnosed by using private care on Tuesday night. It feels like I've been just waiting forever and now, due to covid, everything is delayed too.i just want to scream, "haven't I been delayed more than your other patients already?" But of course I've got no right to request to be seen at someone else's cost.
I've got a NET tumor in my rectum, but we don't know yet whether it's spread. Best case scenario, it will be removed surgically while I sleep, which the Dr told me was a likely scenario, but can't be sure without the tests. Worst... I don't know. I wish I knew what the worst case scenario was already.
I've been feeling very nauseous all that time (with some short breaks) and recently feeling more pain and more ill than ever. I'm very anxious generally, so I'm guessing it could be stress. I really hope it's the stress.
I'm dealing with it generally well, especially considering my pre existing mental illness. I'm quite positive so far, but the last 2 days I've been suddenly breaking into tears and all that. I'm just finding it too much at times, especially when my doctor's office sends me bills that were supposed to have been covered by my insurer or when their office doesn't pick up the phone or call me back.
I've signed up for the buddy scheme, but heard from them that it's very busy, like everything at the moment. I'm looking to talk to someone who has had a similar situation to mine, if there are any people here who have.
I'm having my first scan tomorrow, but the hospital didn't let me know yet whether I need to starve or not and I'm getting worried not knowing what's going on.
Sorry about the essay, I just don't even know when to start...
Hi and welcome to the Online Community, although I am always sorry to see folks finding us and so sorry to hear about your diagnosis and the journey that got you to this point. Your story is unfortunately rather familiar.
A cancer diagnosis brings a lot of confusion, stress and many questions but talking with other people who are on the same type of journey helps a lot.
The Community has various cancer specific support groups and I see you have joined our Bowel (colon and rectum) cancer group, this is the place where you will connect with others walking the treatment journey both as patient or family.
Follow the link I've created above then you can introduce yourself and post questions selecting '+New' or '+' (depending on your device) you can also join in with existing discussions by clicking on 'reply'. You could copy and paste this first post.
The Macmillan Support Services provides lots of information. The service is open every day 8am to 8pm and it's free to call on 0808 808 00 00 have a look by Clicking here for more information.
You can also email them, use the online chat and we also have our Ask an Expert section, but do allow two working days for replies from our expert team.
Our Online Information and Support Section is a good place to find information covering diagnosis, treatments and pages covering most types of cancers.
All the very best.
