Greetings to all members of this group

Hi Etford, like you, many of us were scared about starting treatment and I would say we all are individuals on how we cope. You will get lots of tips and encouragement on here to help you along the way.  My personal experience is when the treatment starts you know that it’s the start of treating the cancer and on the way to being cured. From now to when you start you can start collating information about the effects of the radiotherapy and what you can do. I was given loads of booklets from Macmillan at my hospital with useful tips and phone numbers. You may also like to see who can support you during and after treatment at home. The weeks actually seem to fly by once you start as so much is going on with the travelling to and from the hospital every day and you look forward to the day when you can stay at home and start healing. As each thing comes up with regards to the possible side effects is when you can speak to your team for advice and on here to share experiences and tips on how us members coped. We don’t get all of the side effects you are told about by your oncologist. My first visit was so frightening to be told of all what could happen with the side effects and now I know that some do and a lot don’t or learn how to manage better to help you get back to your new normal. 

Hi Etford,

Firstly I’d like to extend a warm welcome to the online community although I’m really sorry that you’ve had the need to find us. 

Where you are right now is the scariest of places & I remember wondering if I was strong enough to get through what was ahead of me. I’m now 3+ years post treatment & disease free to date. When we’re faced with a battle for our lives it’s amazing how much inner strength we find though. The good thing is that you have a start date for your treatment & hopefully that will be the beginning of the end of this disease for you. 

Please don’t hesitate to post any questions you might have here, we’re a friendly bunch & will do our very best to help. We’ve all been where you are right now & totally understand how stressful it all is. You’re not going through this alone, we’re here for support anytime you need us. 

Nicola

Hi Etford. You’ve had some great replies from Jaycee12 and Nikki65. I was diagnosed back in May and finished my treatment in July. What you’re going through now is the toughest time. Just sat in limbo, and you’ll feel much better once treatment starts. It’s tough, but you can do tough things. Be honest with your doctors / nurses about when you are struggling, they are there that help you. I still ring my radiotherapy coordinator now for reassurance! 

I found that it helped to call it the first day of ‘recovery’ rather than the first day of treatment. Every day that you have treatment means your cancer is weaker than it was the day before. I used to say to myself ‘I am getting better every day’. We are all here to help with any questions you have about treatment etc. Keep us posted and much love to you xx 

Thank you Jaycee - I will definitely keep your advice in mind. I'm happy to read that we don't get all side effects. It's so scary to hear them all at once.

Thank you for your warm welcome. Actually, that's what I needed to read right now.

I'll keep this in mind... every treatment the cancer is getting weaker... Thanks you your advice!