Just joined this group

hi Steve contact them Monday they will have a meeting once a week to discuss everythjng this  is a m d t meeting multi disciplinary team   Where they discuss your circumstances and results there bern a bank holiday last Monday could have had an impact. Did you get assigned a Macmillian nurse? If yes contact her as well as consultant secretary. My timeline from being told I was on cancer pathway to treatment starting was 63 days if that help s. your brain. Yes we all want to know straight away but they do have a system in place that needs a push. Re relaxing maybe stick to walking n leave the bike until later ? Sorry I didn’t reply earlier bern busy in greenhouse and allotment. 
hugs Hazel 

re headspace do whatever helps you. I did yoga breathing. 

Thanks Hazel

So I sent e mail - then realised secretary did't work Fridays.  As luck would have it   though - she was in work.  She sent e mail to go to ENT on Monday afternoon - so result - though not 100% sure if its for meeting or just to see consultant - but still a result.  63 days seems like a very long time to start treatment - I have been in touch with Macmillan at JC but she is not there Monday - so lets see how Monday goes.

Cheers

Steve

I saw my GP on the 7th of August and wasn't on the treatment table till December 12th. Hazel's was fast.

It depends on capacity at every step from scans to biopsy to space in the queue for radiotherapy.

On some machines at The Singleton the staff had you prepped, tops and shoes off while you were waiting so that they could slot an extra two patients in a day....such was the demand.

I'm still here

Hi Steve I was at Leeds cancer centre which has 12 dedicated I m rt radiotherapy machines. As Dani says there’s never a moment wasted. Once you get diagnosis it’s not that simple there a lot of behind the scenes planning that goes on. The radiotherapy is so targeted it’s a miracle how they do it. Plus your slots have to be slotted in with everyone else . I was lucky didn’t need any teeth extracting as they were in giid condition to cope with radiotherapy. If you need extraction s sometimes it’s worth getting a second opinion .Good luck with Monday are you at James  cook or Northallerton on Monday ? 
Keep in touch do t stress it’s the start of you  getting better. 
Hazel xx

Steve. Hazel has described what goes on. The radiologists have pretty slick modern algorithms that need shorter set up times. These come with the machines. So that shortens planning. The greatest problem is capacity. Radiotherapy is used in 40% if cancer treatment and there is a shortage of both radiologists and  radiographers in some trusts and the machines work seven days a week. 
Don’t panic. If your oncologist is of the opinion that your treatment is more urgent than somebody else’s you would indeed be slotted in earlier. 

Hi Hazzel & Dani

You are both reasssuring in your replies- and injecting some reality - which is a good thing -I  just wish any treatment could start today - bit like sitting with a time bomb inside me - I am still hung up on time wasted from phonecall diagnosis - I know i need to get over this and just get on with dealing with things as they are not as I wish they would be.  Keeping busy helps and I have 4 x 1 ton bags of logs to further split and stack for next winter - that will help reduce stress and burn off a bit of steam. 

Its James Cook I have to go to -

Cheers

Steve

Hi Steve get those logs chopped and stacked. If it’s James Cook I would think that should be results the m d t should’ve met. We await your reply. Just remember it’s a tried b trusted process once things start they move along.
hugs Hazel x 

Log splitting and walking - great ways to keep yourself sane while waiting for news.  This wait for results is pretty standard I'm afraid, even before Covid. 

Take care.

Linda x

So tomorrow will be 2 weeks since biopsy?

For some reason most MDTs meet on a Wednesday so it all depends when the panel have sight of them.

That might explain even more delay but it's worth phoning to see what's happening 

Hi - so meeting today confirmed  cancer - not the main meeting - Consultant and a dedicated Macmillan Nurse - so cancer base of tongue and 2 noddules on lymph nodules?? so they will discuss first and then the meeting will be either this or next Thursday - with any agreed treatment starting no sooner than 3 - 4 weeks after - which seems like eternity to me.

Seems that all the other scans/tests came back clear - so throat seems to be the affected place - no consolation but not a lifestyle choice caused it - something like a hp virus?  they said  - so seems most people who get this virus just get rid of it - but a cell decided to hang around in me.    The Macmillan nurse was extremely  good with us - gave us a lot of info which I will leave in the drawer just  for now.. Have to get fit and fat - well not quite - but they want me to put on a little more weight and try and stabilise it.   

Half way through my log stack!  and so now we will start on practical planning stuff  just to keep us both busy.

Thanks to all for listening to my problems - it does help knowing others have come through it - and I really can't say enough about how good the Macmillan organistion has been - we would have been a much worse place without it.

Steve