Second Meeting

Best of luck for today. It's a whirlwind isn't it?

I got my diagnosis from Maxfac then got whisked off by my oncologist to go through my consent form then off to have my teeth checked all in the space of an hour then phoned as soon as I got home to book a chest CT and my planning scan...phew!

Come back and tell us how you got on.

hi steve

I agree I am a problem solver so for me understanding the process was important. 

I had an op first before 6 weeks of radiotherapy. I was told that there was a real risk i could die during the operation.

So i asked if i could go on holiday and promptly booked two weeks in Rome.  I am so glad i did it was a lovely two weeks of avoiding thinking about cancer and treatment and gave me quality time with the person i love. 

But more importantly i went into the op feeling relaxed.

I know not everyone wants to know or understand the risks and the ins and outs of what is to happen but for me it helped me cope. 

Goodness me. What a statement to deal with. Thankfully there is no surgery on my throat, but I am prepared for bad news about my teeth. I too, I think will try and fit in a break before treatment proper.

haha well i like to deal with things head on so for me the knowledge helped i know not everyone is the same. 

But i also have quite a dark sense of humour which my husband did not appreciate when I told i did not want to start any series on Netlix that only had season 1 available . 

I would highly recommend a break anywhere with lovely food and lots of things to do. 

I am totally like you.  Hit the issues head on.  Understand the issues, risks and benefits.  Plan for the worst possible outcome so there are no surprises but aim for the best outcome.  I got diagnosed 3 years ago and was told 2 days before I was due to fly to the USA for 3 1/2 weeks.  I still went and organised all my diagnostics whilst I was out there and was in the MRI scanner less than 24 hours after landing back at LHR!  For my wife and I having a holiday was the best thing as it allowed us time to reconcile and prepare for the surgery and subsequent treatment.  That is not to say there have not been a few wobbles since!

Hi Steve once I had my plan and met my wonderful oncologist everything fell into place. I work on a need to know basis. I started my blog for family  and friends it’s since gone worldwide I don’t mind helping fellow sufferers. I’ve made friends from all over even met up with an Australian. I found it was the only thing I could  control on what was an uncontrollable situation. Let us know how today goes. 
Hazel 

Beelzebub said:

I know not everyone wants to know or understand the risks and the ins and outs of what is to happen but for me it helped me cope. 

Same here. I like to know everything about my cancer. I dredged up all my biochemistry and genetics from vet school and hit Google. 

Haha ok now i do not feel so guilty about the extensive reading i did in respect of research papers on nasal cancer … to be fair it is not common and I ended up on the American websites.  It did actually help as once I identified the particular nasal cancer i had the research suggested that if the op and radiotherapy worked my chances were very good at it not coming back.

Beelzebub said:

.  It did actually help as once I identified the particular nasal cancer i had the research suggested that if the op and radiotherapy worked my chances were very good at it not coming back.

Google is great but only if you know how to sift the dross. 
This place is brilliant too.

Hi Steve.  I hate the word battle.  I totally agree.  Lizzie