Hi, this is my first post so forgive me if I've 'gone on a bit'!
I was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer in July 2025 and had surgery the week before Christmas. I'm now well on the road to recovery and had the amazing news from the surgical team yesterday that all of the cancer had been removed and it hasn't spread. I'm waiting for confirmation as to whether I need any further precautionary treatment and if this isn't necessary then I'll be called back for CT scans on a 6 monthly basis to monitor things.
In the meantime, my bone profile and liver function blood results were both out of range and I'm having further blood tests in approximately 5 weeks to check things are improving.
However, having been someone who has always been very strong and able to cope with whatever life throws at me, I have found that my anxiety is off the scale, even having had the good news yesterday and I am really struggling. Prior to the surgery I was a 10 - 12 cigarettes a day smoker and stopped smoking at the beginning of December. However, I had a major meltdown last weekend and have been having the odd cigarette to calm me, much to my Husband's consternation and disappointment. I absolutely do not want to go back to smoking full time and am trying to find ways of dealing with this overwhelming anxiety - any suggestions / advice would be greatly appreciated. Also, is this normal??
Thank you for taking the time to read this message.
Best wishes
Vulcan
Hello Vulcan,
A very warm welcome to the Macmillan community although I'm very sorry you have had the need to join us. I'm Derek, one of the commumity champions here, and also had lung cancer surgery (to remove my right lung - non small cell lung cancer) back in 2014 and fortunately I'm still free from that so far.
I think it could help you to connect with others who have undergone lung cancer treatment themselves and suggest you join the lung cancer forum (just follow the link below). If you click on the chair top left, maybe put a brief resume about yourself by way of introduction and then repost your questions. You'll soon receive replies from others who know exactly how you feel and can talk about their experiences and how they deal with them.
Macmillan can also help with many issues we sometimes face such as anxiety and I've added other links,some of this might be useful to get you over the first hurdle on the road to full recovery. Otherwise just have a good dig around the website to see what help's there if you need it.
Derek.
Macmillan Support Line - 0808 808 00 00, 7 days a week between 8am-8pm
