Thank you! :)

Hello Daisy and thank you for posting.

I am so sorry that you are struggling with health anxiety.

I think that talking to your GP about how you are feeling is a good idea. It may be you need some medication and other talking therapies to help you through this phase of your life while you are struggling.

I hope you have others you can talk to Daisy about how you are feeling. It may be your school or college has pastoral support or student support, so do try and talk to a teacher you trust so they can make sure you are linked to the right services.

As Hope has said the Samaritans on: 116123, are a very good support if you are feeling suicidal. MIND, the mental health charity is also a good resource for help.

The NHS has some mental health well-being tips if useful for you.

Take care Daisy, and hopefully, you get the help you need to work through this time.

Sarah.

No, you shouldn't let this fear hold you back. It sounds like you may be experiencing illness anxiety disorder and might benefit from talking to your GP or a counsellor about it.

But if it's any consolation, not all cancer is how it's portrayed/how you imagine it. I had thyroid cancer and I didn't have many side effects or ongoing treatment or have to put my life on hold. I had an operation which removed my thyroid and was back at work a month later. That form of cancer has something like a 99% survival rate in those under about 50, so while it was still scary because there's always the possibility of being one of the rare more serious cases and nobody wants any operation, I half-joke that the greatest threat it made to my life was the possibility of my walking under a car straight after my diagnosis because it was such a shock.

Otherwise, it wasn't really any worse than say having your appendix removed or your gallbladder or something. A little worse because there's the fear of recurrence but not much. I don't think I had to find myself after cancer at all. It was just a blip in the road. The treatment meant a couple of unpleasant days after the operation as I recovered from the anaesthetic but that was all really. A bit of tension/numbness in my neck now and again which is annoying but just like your mouth after a filling. Nothing major. It didn't mean a new normal, beyond having to remember to take tablets each morning.

A colleague had skin cancer and again, missed maybe a week or two of work and then carried on with her life as normal.

You don't hear much about these situations because they aren't big news.

But it's highly unlikely you will get cancer young anyway. I'm not saying it couldn't happen as anything is possible but most people don't. It's generally a disease of older age. And the younger cases are often things like thyroid cancer or skin cancer and not necessarily that serious. You may well never get cancer in your life at any age.

Thank you. That’s something I’ve been trying to tell myself. 

When I’m walking to school, I walk by the same advertisements everyday. Essentially, they are for breast cancer awareness, and they are trying to fight the stigmatisation of it (things like ‘cancer no no age, get checked’ ‘men can get breast cancer to’ etc-) 

And, don’t me wrong, I think it’s a good thing! It’s good that there is awareness for things like this. But, sometimes I think have a hard time remembering that just because people can get it young, so it’s important to watch for the signs, most people will not! 

I think I just need to stay off the internet/news as well, because they make it seem like cases in young people are much more common than they actually are. 

Still, I struggle with the ‘what if’ of it all. But, I know I shouldn’t waste my life way worrying about it, but for whatever reason it has taken control of my actions. :(

Hi Daisy,

Cancer is predominantly a disease of old age - the older we get, the more of our cells are likely to mutate and become cancerous.

I’m sure you know that scientific information but that won’t stop you feeling anxious if your brain is wired that way. 

You definitely should talk to your GP and your parents or guardian if that’s a possibility.

Health anxiety is as real a problem as cancer, please don’t ignore your symptoms and ask for help.

Good luck.
Dave

I will add that when people talk about cancer at a young age, they generally mean getting cancer in one's 30s or 40s, not at your age. There are some exceptions, like forms of leukamia, that affect children or teenagers, but when it comes to things like breast cancer, the "no age" thing and "people can get it young," generally refers to people of my age or your parents' age getting it when it's far more common in over 60s.

I was 39 when I had thyroid cancer and the nurses commented a number of times on how young I was. Like "you might have to spend some time in ICU after the operation, but since you're so young, it's unlikely.