Newbie Who May Or May Not Have Cancer

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Hi I'm new to the Macmillan Forum here though I have helped out at coffee mornings and cake sale events for Macmillan's. 

At 58 I have in recent months faced increasing fatigue and shortage of breath (Covid-19 has been ruled out and I have been tested for that). From casually walking ten miles without a break I find myself having to stop for a sit down multiple times on a 2,000 yard walk to the shops - worse when carrying shopping.  My bowel movements were sporadic, and in recent months stained red with blood.  Reluctantly I went to the doctors, who arranged blood and Faeces tests with the hospital. They find me dangerously anaemic, short of iron and folic acid. They told me I would be treated fully within two weeks but as the fortnight ended I'm told my Colonoscopy could be any time in the next three weeks. Though not ruling out other possibilities my GP says there is a very real danger I could have bowel cancer and right now just not knowing one way or the other feels worse than 'it is the Big C, you've got about 3 months'.  The waiting knowing the problems inside me will be intensifying is horrible. 

  • Hi  and welcome to the community though sorry to hear about what you have been going through. Even in normal times people get so afraid they might have cancer they resist going to the surgery but add covid to the mix and all bets are off.

    Your doctor is right - there is a chance you have bowel cancer and if so you are just the right path to get a diagnosis and then look at treatment options. There is also a chance that you have something else and the sooner cancer is ruled out the sooner they might find out what it is.

    My wife's cancer is very different to yours, hers in incurable but is stable and she has been like that for 6 years - definitely living with cancer rather than anything else.

    Waiting for diagnosis can be really difficult but there is really little choice. A few cancers grow really quickly but most do not so a few weeks wait is not likely to make that much difference. Treatment options are getting better all the time. There are plenty of people though over on our Bowel (colon and rectal) cancer forum that have lived much longer than 3 months.

    I know from some of my wife's treatment that anaemia on it's own is enough to cause all sorts of symptoms, hope they get that sorted soon.

    <<hugs>>

    Steve

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  • Cheers Steve, that is very reassuring - I guess I just have to bide the time and not dwell too much on the worst case scenarios at present - much appreciated 

  • Hi Forester42

    really sorry you have this awful problem re your health looming over you.

    the not knowing is indeed one of the most difficult aspects of this roller coaster journey 

    if you can identify the enemy it’s far easier to work on your strategy to win the battle whatever it may turn out to be. I really hope you have some better news soon.

    if you can try to gain some rest through meditation or doing something you enjoy that doesn’t fatigue you, perhaps loosing yourself in a good book for an hour, anything to give your racing mind a breather would be good. You have made an excellent move by posting on this site, keep posting.

    every best wish

    mrt1

    Cancer may affect my body, but I won’t let it affect my spirit

  • cheers, I'm never away from books to read fortunately. I do tend to avoid meditation having had a bad experience in a brainwashing meditation cult in the early 80's - escaped them in 85. I appreciate the suggestion though. 

  • A slightly more modern approach to meditation that hopes to avoid some of the more negative connotations of the past is sometimes referred to as mindfulness. A part of that I found quite useful is conscious breathing. There are a lot of apps for that and one I have been trialling is Chill Panda www.nhs.uk/.../

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  • Date set at last - well within the three weeks given to me - due for the colonoscopy on Wednesday morning now - dreading it - struggling to get a lift now as neighbour who would take me any other day plays golf Wednesdays - great sense of priorities there - got to collect the gut-flush meds Monday and take them on Tuesday ready  - Arthur - UPDATE - Lift now arranged thanks to my landlord who is terrific 

  • There are a great many "friends" I know who said "whatever you need" but when I needed from many I got "but not today". There is one friend who was always there no matter what - a true friend in need. I often become emotional when I talk about what they did for us and could never thank them enough.

    Janice has had a colonoscopy, it is pretty much the only time I was asked to leave the unit because it was a womens day - despite the fact at that point I had spent about 3 months in a gynae ward and pretty much heard everything under the sun and some beside.

    Good luck with the exam and hope it gets you on the right path - whatever that might be.

    <<hugs>>

    Steve

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  • Cheers Steve, many have let me down in the past in general - never expected it in relation to serious illness though before now 

  • Picked up the pre-colonoscopy med powders today, ready to take tomorrow. They said it was quite a large medical pack which made me think it would be an extra large medicine bottle – what they gave me was a shoe box full of powders to mix with 500 mls of water for each of 2 doses about four hours apart, with instructions to drink lots of water between and after with no food at all from 3pm tomorrow and not even water from 2 hours before my procedure on Wednesday. The gunge, called Plenvu claims to be mango flavour but most users reviewing it on Youtube clearly seem unconvinced but some useful tips like keep it refrigerated, drink through a straw and slowly over 30 minutes per dose. I need to scrounge a measuring jug now (in the US Plenvu provide jugs with the doses but not in the UK. I’m supposed to take a housecoat to the hospital too, - wish they told me in time for me to actually buy one. They just assume everyone has everything
    Not looking forward to it one bit. Arthur
  • Hi Arthur

    that all sounds pretty grim and I hope you find it does have a more palatable flavour than others have found. I always wonder when they make this stuff, if they just make it, taste it and sit around trying to think of something it vaguely resembles or actually start out to make a mango flavour gloop. Why not something with a more popular flavour? Anyway I wish you the best with that.
    Wednesday will be a busy day for you and I think you will find the hours before your operation will whiz by, and post operation once awake you will be presented with a wonderful cup of tea and may be some toast.

    every best wish for a successful outcome for you

    Mark

    Cancer may affect my body, but I won’t let it affect my spirit