Hello,

I've had a liver biopsy 2 weeks ago n im having to wait until the 23rd for my results..... it will have been a month. I can totally understand how u feel. I've been the same. People keep telling me it's good news as surely if I have cancer they would call before them but its not helping my worries

Thank you for posting.  If I could sleep I think I would cope better.  Like yourself people tell me such encouraging things and while that's exactly what I would be doing to a friend it's very difficult to stay calm and rational.  I hope you have your results soon and that it's good news

Hi,

It's perfectly normal to feel like this & to look ahead to worse case scenarios. What you have to do is try to break down, in your head, each step of this 'nightmare' you are walking through & teach yourself not to jump too far ahead. Look at it like rooms you are walking through & you musn't open a door until you've reached it. You have already walked through the initial appointment door, across the room to the surgical excision door & you have now walked through that and are heading across the room to the results door. You don't know how long it will take to get across the room and what you will find at the other side of the door and because you don't know what you will find (results), you can't know what will happen next. The trick is to distract yourself with work, meditation, exercise, whatever helps take your mind off crossing that room for moments at a time. It will make the time waiting for results a little more bearable. At the end of the day it's all about having no control over what is happening to you & that's what frightens is. Once you have got your results, even if it's melanoma, once you have a treatment plan and you know what's going to happen you will feel more in control of what's happening.

Meanwhile, there is a good chance your results could be clear or it was a dysplastic (pre cancerous) mole - it's not a done deal that it will definitely be malignant. If it is, it's still not the end of the world. Most melanoma's are easily treated with no further problems in the future. Treatments have moved apace over the last few years and are showing great results so don't panic.You are in good hands. Check out YouTube for mindfulness and meditation - there are lots of videos that will help you get into a better mind space to deal with it all. 

Good luck and please let us know how you get on,

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)

Hi Angie

thank you so much for your post. Such reassuring and good advice.  I have been doing some online CBT and mindfulness and your comments make so much sense in line with their advice.  I am normally quite a rational person but know I can't bear to be out of control and I think I've reacted severely to this lack of control and allowed myself to catastrophise 

I am still experiencing very bad insomnia which is the main problem just now but I'm hoping your strategies will lead to me being able to let my mind accept which room I am in at the present and allow it to relax enough to facilitate sleep

thank you again for taking the time to reply to my post

Hi there,

im sorry to hear you're having such a tough time x

i don't really have any words of wisdom I'm afraid.  I had a biopsy a week ago so am also waiting on results .. but I fear this could take several more weeks.

I'm doing my best to keep busy .. so that my mind doesn't have a chance to wander.  All though I think I spilt my stitches today .. so that was a painful reminder. 
 

hopefully the wedding will be a good distraction for you

wishing you well x