Hello.

Welcome to the group. Good to hear that you are clear after your BCG therapy. I think option 1 is the usual, provided no recurrences pop up. Perhaps your consultant thinks 2 more appropriate, or it may end up somewhere between the two! 

It's very natural to be worrying about recurrences. Hopefully, as time goes on, the thoughts will crop up less often. Others may have better ideas, but really you just need to try and distract yourself with other things to keep your mind occupied. Some suggest techniques like accept the thought, maybe write it down and then stow it somewhere. Have you accessed any cancer support services locally? They may be able to help too. Best wishes.

Thank you for the reply. I think I need someone to give me a slap from time to time.

I have had 4 sessions with MIND but I felt it was not helping as it was all via teams plus expensive every week.

Hi,Welcome to the group.I think everyone here understands how you feel.It is hard to switch your mind off worryng about recurrences.Hopefully it will get easier with time.Distractions do help and you can post here anytime as this is a supportive group.Best wishes Jane 

Hi Jane thank you for the reply.

I definitely think I need to distract myself more, work is a good distraction then I have come home that's where it happens. But your are correct it's good to have the support of the group and from people that have been through them same and understand.

Hi Mango26 and a welcome from me. Just to add to the above. This is a very understanding group. Many of us have gone through the some of the same emotions. The beauty of this place is you can come here and offload any dark thoughts, join in with any other discussions, or just come for a general chat. Best wishes.

Hi Mango and welcome from me. lots of good thoughts and advise on this forum, they have steadied me through good and bad times. I wondered if you were near a Maggies centre, they are excellent for anyone who has had a cancer diagnosis. I am near manchester and they have a centre near the Christie. Have a look online , it may be helpful to you . Best of luck x

Hi Mango26,

As others have said we know how it feels, but I'm the sort that tells myself not to worry until there is something to worry about.

From the start I decided to take things as they come so as not to upset my family. I use humour too, much of it black but that works for me. And the family tells me that my approach has helped them too. 

One technique I do use, if telling myself not to overdramatise doesn't work, is the 'what's the worst that can happen' one.

You may think that's the one that isn't helping you but I start right at the beginning:

1. I'll need some more treatment,

2. I've had that before and coped

3. That worked ok...

4. If it happens again, I'll just repeat

5. That will work ok

etc, etc

10. I know the oncologist has new treatments coming along all the time

I've had that before and coped...

20. There's many more interesting things to do than all this and anyway worry doesn't cure anything, especially cancer (my mantra).

21.Better get on with something more interesting then and stop wasting time.

And if I die, I die, but I need to have some fun before it gets to that...

Hope this helps, I've been using this for 4 years and am doing well and no recurrence yet.

All the best

Latestart

Thank you  

Awh thank you, I will take a look

It is quite common for mood and outlook to change, sometimes suddenly, at any stage during or after treatment. Stability can be restored by various means - you'll need to try different methods. I needed CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) early in proceedings, not long after diagnosis in 2017. It helped. I've not tried a good spanking. Symptoms which recur always seem ten times worse/more significant once you've had all systems put on high alert. I've had reoccurring bleeding to varying degrees (pale rosé to red wine) since being put on a palliative, symptom driven treatment regime in 2019. This forum gradually helped me to settle more quickly after each red event (36 this year so far). Not fun, but manageable. Many of us have written profiles, accessible if you click on a member's name. You may pick up useful clues on how to counter the mental storms by reading some of them. Best wishes, Ray