Hello, thank you for letting me Join the group :).
I’m new to the group, feeling really overwhelmed and lost at the moment. I was diagnosed with cervical cancer on Tuesday, I’m Waiting on a Mri and pet scan date, is this all normal as I’m really scared at the moment and everything seems to be happening so fast.
thank you :)
Hello Slips and welcome to the group.
It’s a very scary time being diagnosed, which we will all identify with, but Bushbaby is right-things get better once you have dates and subsequently get a plan in place. It’s good things are happening quickly as it gets the scans done to enable the stage to be identified and the treatment plan to be decided.
It’s very normal to feel overwhelmed and scared-it’s all a bit of a whirlwind at the start but things do get easier mentally as you progress through this. Keep chatting to the ladies in the group and you’ll get plenty of support here to help you. xx
No-one should go through this alone. I learned my lesson first time round with this disease when I chose not to share with very many people in my life and didn’t join any groups for support. It was a very lonely and frightening time, not knowing if things which happened were normal, whether what I was feeling was normal. Now, I’m here to try to help and support anyone going through this with the benefit of experience of my multiple treatments and surgeries. And to hopefully pass on the positive knowledge that no matter how hard things get along the way, it can be done. We are all here to help each other. xx
One thing I would say is that it’s impossible to be positive all the time, and that’s just how it is. I was very positive at my first diagnosis because my consultant told me he was treating to cure, and I held onto that. But it’s inevitable that negative thoughts intrude at times, when treatment effects are tough or things don’t quite go to plan. But in general I tried not to let negativity dominate because I’m a great believer in positive thinking really helping you through.
I remember being especially anxious waiting for my scan results and thinking all sorts, which didn’t come to pass! But it’s natural to worry when you are in the dark about everything. Nowadays I’m doing ok thank you, but it’s been a bit of a long haul over the last 3 years! xx
I would honestly recommend that you don’t do any googling-it can scare the pants off you and be so inaccurate, with out of date and false information. It’s ok not to know about stages where you are in the process at the moment. Just take one thing at a time, and rely on your team to give you the information you need as they are doing their very best for you.
I didn’t know anything about staging or treatment at the start-I didn’t even know there were different types of cervical cancer. I was completely and utterly clueless, but I didn’t even once google anything. I just trusted my consultant and team.
Now of course, 3 years down the line and having had my cancer recur, I have amassed a huge amount of knowledge on all aspects of this cancer and treatments. It took me some time to be feel able to cope with all of that, but I felt more able as time went on.
Ask questions of your team, and ask them to clarify anything you’re not sure of-they sometimes forget that they are the experts and we are the patients who don’t understand anything at the start when we are overwhelmed. We just can’t take it all in I don’t think.
And there will always be friendly support here too. xx
