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The journey ahead

spagetts2000
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Hi,

My cancer journey started in January this year. I’m 43 with two amazing boys,13 and 16 my amazingly supportive husband and Buster the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel  I had a kidney tumour (20cm) and some has gone into my lungs. Had my r kidney removed and the lump- open surgery. Recovered well and am now having tablet treatment for the lung lumps that have increased in size. I’m two weeks in and the side effects are just kicking in. The tiredness and nausea are the worse for me. I’m such an active person and get annoyed I cannot do what I did before but have realised that my body is fighting this thing and the tablets are doing their job to reduce these blighters down. I’ve been told the lumps will never go away but the treatment will hopefully stop the speed of growth or halt it. I think for me this is worse that recovering from the surgery as with surgery you know the bad stuff has been removed for good. I’ve been through all the emotions possible and having read the posts on here I take some comfort in knowing I’m not alone in this fight ️

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    Hi Spagetts,

    I am so sorry to hear about your diagnosis and the struggle you've had to come to terms with it. It is not at all unusual to go through a whole plethora of emotions. I am glad to hear that you have good support from your husband and boys. This makes all the difference to how you cope with everything.

    I have had 2 bouts of breast cancer in the past 8 years. I took Tamoxifen after my lumpectomy and Letrozole for 6 years after my double mastectomy. I stopped taking these in July 2017. I have found the tiredness one of the hardest symptoms to overcome. Like you, I have always been very active, but I have had to accept my limitations

    What tablets have you been given? Here's hoping that they do manage to reduce the speed of growth or better still, halt it.

    You are definitely not alone. There are many here who are travelling the road you're on and we're all here to comfort and support one another.

    Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

    Kind regards,

    Jolamine xx

  • Offline in reply to Jolamine

    Hi jolamine,

    lovely to hear from you and about your journey.

    Im on Sunitinib and a number of other tablets to help with the side effects.

    Ive learned not to expect too much of myself each day and to go with the flow as they say but it can equally frustrating too. I just need to work out how I can manage my day to day life around the medication. I am lucky to be able to work from home when I feel unwell or unable to drive(my office is 89 miles away). I can’t fault the help and support from family friends and Macmillan. 

     

    I will I’ll let you know how things go and I hope you continue to do well also.

    lots of love

    jeanette xxx

  • Offline in reply to spagetts2000

     

    Hi Jeanette,

    If the tablets that you are taking for the nausea are not doing the trick, please let your care team know, as there are several different tablets. Some are more effective than others. I sincerely hope that you will be giving yourself time to recover rather than travelling the 89 miles to work. You are fortunate that you can work from home, but please be careful not to overdo it.

    I know that it's fruustrating, but you really do have to listen to your body, if you don't want to set yourself further back.

    I look forward to hearing how you get on.

    Kind regards,

    Jolamine xx

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    Hi I have just been reading your post, this sounds very similar to my moms diagnosis although surgery is not an option for her. Just curious if you struggled with a cough after it had spread to the lungs and if this cough eased up once you started on Sunitinib? 

    My mom is coughing which is making her sick and some days struggles to talk without having a coughing fit. It is getting her down and I’m at a loss of what to suggest to her. Just hoping once she starts the Sunitinib treatments this will help.

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