I was diagnosed with testicular cancer about 18 months ago.
After having been advised by a GP that what I had was *not* cancer I lived with it for over 10 years, until a kick-about with the football caught me at an uncomfortable angle and led me to see my new GP.
I was speedily sent for ultrasounds, CT scans, blood tests and the like, and I remember the surgeon's consulting room where I was told it was most likely cancer and needed dealing with.
Surgery and chemo followed in quick succession.
Much of it is now a distant memory, vague at best (perhaps thankfully so), and almost as though it was somebody else going through it.
I know there were times I wanted to scream, or cry, or hide, or all of the above. I was scared to go out on my own, for reasons that still escape me - perhaps a sense of vulnerability. There were times I wanted to be held, and times I wanted to be completely alone.
Easy it is not, but (with a great deal of help from doctors, nurses, and family especially) I did get through it.
Looking back now it seems the cure for cancer is just living.
Medicine can help. Doctors and nurses can do a lot. "Living" is your part of the job, as the patient. Not giving up. Getting out of bed at least once a day. Talking to people, if only to say "hello, nice weather".
I did. You can.
"It seems the cure for cancer is just living"
About: Kent & Sussex Hospital / General surgery Kent & Sussex Hospital General surgery TN4 8AT Pembury Hospital / Urology Pembury Hospital Urology TN2 4QJ The Maidstone Hospital / Urology The Maidstone Hospital Urology ME16 9QQ The Royal Marsden Hospital (London) / Clinical oncology The Royal Marsden Hospital (London) Clinical oncology SW3 6JJ
Posted by Chucky (as ),