Week 3

Hi

Nice to hear from you although I wish it were in better circumstances.

We do have some ‘old men’ on here however, this cancer has become more common in women, particularly 40+ for some reason. You are young however, cancer doesn’t discriminate sadly and can affect any gender, at any age.

I was diagnosed stage 3b last March at age 47, with 3 kids. I completed chemo-radiation in June and in September was told my tumor had gone. I am now 12 months NED! Treatment is challenging but its short and very effective. You will read lots of positive stories on here. However you are looking on the outside, imagine whats going on internally and how your tumor is being blasted.

How you are describing you skin is similar to me. My skin had broken down by week 3 and continued in that fashion. I used morphine gel and Attruman dressings throughout treatment and beyond. Do you use these dressings? they are messy but do help. I tried oramorph but it didn’t do anything for me. To be honest although my skin looked horrendous, I wasn’t in terrible pain I so didn’t bother with any oral pain killers much to the annoyance of my medical professionals.

If your medical professionals are saying no tramdol then there must be an alternative. Speak to them, insist on something. Having read lots of different peoples experiences on here, there are all sorts of medications, creams etc that can be taken. Although it can be a post code lottery I’m afraid.

The only other thing I did to relieve pain was to lie in the bath every day. It completely took the discomfort away. Some people may disagree with this however, it worked for me and my medical professionals never told me not to do it.

You are half way through already, that means you are counting the days down now.

All the best and keep using this site. Its the only place you’ll be able to talk to people who really understand.

Sarah x