Hi Teacher1234, 

I just wanted to welcome you to our forum and I am  sure there will be many on here who will be joining me and saying hello and that they will be able to relate to this sense of dread that you feel is hanging over you. It's great news that this tumour was removed but as you have further planned treatment it is normal that this is making you feel like it is not all yet over and that you can't move on until treatment is completed. I am sure though that you are in the most capable hands and that this treatment is a necessary step towards full recovery. Do you mind me asking what tumour it was that you were diagnosed with? 

Sometimes friends or family don't really know what to say or how to talk about this and while this may be frustrating for you, it is something many members of our community have mentioned in the past that their loved ones are not really finding the right words or may think that you don't want to talk about it and it is clear from what you are saying that you want to be able to talk about it and have that open conversation. Simply tell them how you feel and that it is ok for them to broach the subject, that you are more than happy to talk about it and that you actually want to be able to chat to them about how you are feeling. 

There is also always this forum which is a safe space for you to offload and speak to others who understand what you are going through having themselves been in a similar place and on here you will definitely never experience that awkwardness you may have with your friends or people who are close to you but who may struggle to talk about your cancer experience. 

I hope that someone on here will be along and share their story with you. You are definitely not alone here. 

Best wishes, 

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi, 

In the words of a CRUK leaflet “It’s Cancer - of course you’re worried”! 

Lucky is a relative word. For example, I feel luckier than my friend Max who died of cancer, but not as lucky as my brother who has never had cancer despite him being a heavy smoker for many years. 

If further treatment is planned, you’d be unusual (possibly in denial) if you weren’t worried that you’re not out of the woods yet. So far, so good but you’re in the stage of watchful waiting between treatments. 

There’s still a taboo amongst many people about talking about cancer. Your friends might be afraid to ask in case they appear to be insensitive, or might trigger your worries. 

How you approach this depends on your preferred approach to life. I got so fed up of ***-footing around other people’s feelings that I started posting updates of Facebook to save them asking. Obviously I told my wife and family in person but a post along the lines of “that’s my last chemo session over - I’ll find out in early February whether it’s worked or not!” helped with curious work colleagues and friends. Not everyone is comfortable about sharing personal information so publicly. 

If the anxiety gets too much, don’t hesitate to discuss this with your GP or your MacMillan nurse (if you have one). Help is there, but you often need to ask before it is offered. 

Good luck!
Dave

The automated censorship on here is hilarious - the censored word wasn’t rude at all pu55y-footing lol

 thank you so much for your reply and your advice. I’m not too sure about sharing publicly yet but I get how useful and therapeutic this may be. Just writing it down can help. Thank you again you’ve helped in that I know  I’m not alone.