Childhood Cancer late effects.

Hello everyone! Just looking for a bit of advice or maybe just not to feel so alone. I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at the age of 9 and as a result had a round of chemotherapy, after which I had a reoccurrence and then a further round of more intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy to my chest/ neck. It has now been almost 15 years since I finished treatment. I had never been a worrier until about a year ago. I have been experiencing quite severe nerve pain, as well as loss of sensation and pins and needles in my limbs. The nerve pain began in my head and has over time spread all over my body. I have been to my GP but the wait time to see a neurologist is a minimum of 14 months (which I totally understand it’s just one of those things!) and I am not in a position to go private. I have tried to sign up to a talking therapy too to help with the anxiety side of things but again the earliest I will be seen is the end of February. As it has been getting progressively worse so has my anxiety and being in this much pain so often is really having an effect on my mood and day to day life. Has anyone else experienced anything similar? Did anything help alleviate the pain? 

Thanks in advance 

E x

  • Hi Ewb44,

    Welcome to Cancer Chat. I'm sorry to hear that you've been experiencing pain recently - it's good to hear that you've spoken to your GP about this.

    Of course if you have additional concerns or you feel things are getting worse, try to speak to the GP again to see if anything can be done to speed things up. You can always ask to see a different GP if you feel more comfortable doing this.

    You mention the anxiety - this does tend to make things worse and I know that this can be difficult to deal with. Hopefully you'll be able to get to speak to someone soon.

    The NHS offers some practical tips regarding managing anxiety, on their Every Mind Matters website, in case this is useful to look through.

    You are also welcome to give our nurses a call if ever you'd like to talk things through with someone. You can reach them on freephone 0808 800 4040 - Monday-Friday, 9-5.

    In the meantime, I hope that this forum can be of some support to you, and hopefully you'll get some more replies to your post soon.

    Wishing you all the best,

    Ben
    Cancer Chat Moderator