Hi everyone apologies this is a long post. I never wrote much when first I’ll but now I can’t seem to stop myself. I was diagnosed with cancer in February this year (2020). Around six weeks ago the consultants at Macmillan in London narrowed it down to being bladder cancer after I had undertaken a biopsy and four treatments of chemotherapy and many scans. I did suffer the dark days for the first two weeks after treatment but then the following week I felt strong enough to start to grow in confidence to move around. My first two months I was completely wiped out and stayed in bed a lot, but by my third treatment I was able to push myself to be more independent after relying on my lovely family to help me through. I had a lot of shakes along with completely cold or completely hot flushes, which were not pleasant but I did get used to knowing better days would come. I am a fighter and have stayed positive throughout even on the first day of being told I had cancer I took it in my stride, it was mentioned that there is currently no cure but it can be kept stable, so I put my full trust in my consultants and look forward to a prolonged life. After four sessions of chemotherapy I was switched to a fairly new treatment called immunotherapy which is administered in the same way as chemotherapy but is much quicker and has less side effects. I have worn a catheter but recently had it removed so I’m starting to feel like the real me by going to the toilet instead of using a bag, I’ve been able to go out for walks and meet up with friends and other family members who before were just contactable via social media, which I must say helped me enormously and kept me buoyed throughout, contact is very important. I am now undergoing immunotherapy which although is every two weeks, is a lot lighter and quicker compared to chemotherapy which was up to or over 6 hours, this takes about 90 minutes and I have less dark days but do get them occasionally but at least I know I will be okay within a day or two. I am so grateful to the team who look after me, especially all the nurses on treatment days who work so hard and always have a smile to lift spirits even though they are under immense pressure and covering for others who are off sick. I could never thank them enough, but always do say thank you to everyone on every visit. Last week I met someone who came in for the first time and was very nervous. I and another patient talked them through what to expect and encouraged him to keep positive as he is in the right place to be looked after. I hope everyone on this site can look forward to better days ahead, leaving the dark days behind, my wishes to you all.
