MALT Lymphoma

Hi again willa and well done joining the group and getting your post up.

Over my 24 years journey with my type of NHL I have had lots of tests...... but I do also have other health conditions not only my CTCL.

I have had sedation and both local and general anesthetic and always found they worked well. I have had a Gastroscopy but i chose not to have any sedation....... and it was perfectly fine.

Anxiety in general can get out of control and affect daily life, but there are things we can do to manage this feeling.

• Focus on your breathing. Concentrating on how your body feels as you breathe in and out can help you to control the thought that is worrying you. We have information about breathing techniques you might find helpful.
• Do some physical exercise. Moving your body is a good way to deal with difficult emotions like anxiety. It can be gentle movements like a walk and getting out in the fresh air.
• Talk to people around you. Anxiety can feel lonely and connecting with friends, family or colleagues can help a lot. Saying what’s worrying you out loud can take away the power your thoughts have over you.

You need to talk this through with your clinical team so they can help you through the process.

In the early days I often used the 5432 and 1 of controlling stress and anxiety....... especially during long tests like MRIs..... but this can apply in general during the normal week..... I find I now do this every morning.

Sit comfortably in a quiet place then breath in through your nose for 5 then out for 5 through your mouth……. repeat 5 times……. then continue the breathing rhythm while thinking of……

5 things you can see

4 things you can touch

3 things you can hear

2 things you can smell

and

1 positive emotion

Stress and Anxiety can unfortunately go hand in hand with living the cancer journey..... I call it the battle between the ears....we have to do our best to control it.

To be totally honest and this will sound very simplistic, some would even say naive..... The one thing I learned very early on in my 24+ years living and being treated for my cancer was that I could throw ALL the worry and stress I could collect in the world at each situation and all this effort would actually make no difference what’s so ever to what I am told and what may happen in the future....... but will have a big effect on how I will mentally deal with stuff that comes along. park the stress, worry when you actually have something concrete to worry about and look to do things that you enjoy.

My amazing Specialist Cancer Nurse of many years was blunt and honest and I did appreciate this and went is came to the anxiety of waiting for results and scans she told me…… The ‘cancer anxiety train’ is always sitting in the station....... but we can only get on it if we go to the ticket office and get a ticket....... don’t go in the queue and get a ticket…… go into another queue for something that you enjoy and that will distract you…… you can throw all the stress and anxiety you can must up at this but the only thing it will do is make your stress and anxiety worse and then you get sick”

Always around to chat ((hugs))

Well I had one many years ago and there were two options at the time full sedation which meant a whole day in hospital or an anesthetic spray in the throat and straight home after.

I opted for the spray on the back of the throat.

Now I think that may be the only option .

It was not the most pleasant experience , but I have had worse since.

It is over fairly quickly, it's just the gagging reflex at the start which is a pain.

There was nothing found.