hello everyone
My name is Caroline and I'm a 66 yr old grandmother . I retired on the 31st Dec, and on the 5th Jan I received a call from a doctor ( not my doctor - a locum) that was a bolt out of the blue. i had been feeling fluey and a bit rough on and off since the end of November ( but so had nearly everyone else around me - so didn't think much of it - grandkids - bugs etc ) Was okay around Christmas and then around the 1st Jan started to feel really unwell - coughing, hot etc. I assumed it was an infection - On the 4th went to the docs and got some anitbiotics and she asked me to go for an X-ray - which i did. She then phoned me the same day and more or less told me I had lung cancer .... that I had a 6cm density on my lung - and it was very unlikely that it was anything other than lung cancer and I needed to prepare myself. I had blood tests, all normal - but of course I know that that doesn't mean anything. I have been torturing myself ever since - convinced that I have stage 4 lung cancer .... and my anxiety is through the roof. Can't seem to stop myself from googling every 5 minutre ! I finally had a CT scan on Monday, but was told it could be another 2 weeks until I hear anything. Which means I definitely wouldn't get a diagnosis within the timeframe
Cancer is very prevalent in my family and if anything, i expected to get breast cancer ( my mother and 3 sisters all had it ) I had a breast reduction in 2019 and they found a LCIS - a lobula carcinoma in situ - which i understand is pre-cancer - completely encapsulated . I was then just put back on annual breast screening - which i've been doing for over 20 years. I am up and down, all over the place emotionally - one minute - It's okay - lets just get on with it and the next is what is going to happen... how long have I got ... how do i tell the kids.... I'm so desperate that I know how much pain this is going to cause and I have no control .... thank you for listening.
BTW - cough is much better , and physically i feel fine ... so confusing.