Found this site

[salgal]

Hi. I just wanted to introduce myself. I've had several kinds of cancer with the most invasive one being ovarian cancer. I'm 9 years clear of that. I've also had breast cancer (early stage) salivary gland cancer (something I didn't even know existed!) and a few different kids of skin cancer. I'm BRCA1 positive, which explains a lot. And my husband has had anal cancer. We live in rural South Australia after many years in the US. For a number of years I was part of a precious ovca forum, but it disappeared a couple of years ago. As others have said, it's good to be among people who get it. And maybe give a little support to others who are on the roller-coaster.

[Brian]

Hi my story starts with an email from my sister in England at the beginning of April this year. Something is wrong with Mum she is not eating drinking gallons of water losing weight and has lost control of her bowel movements they are not talking to me about this can you see if they will tell you what is going on. I called and spoke to Dad who confirmed all of the above and also told me that a blood test had revealed a cancer marker but no cancer had been found and the family Doctor was at a loss to understand what was going on!! I ran this information past my sister in law who is a Doctor here in Queensland she said it could be a number of things but could not pinpoint a specific disorder. A few days later I called again and Dad told Me that Mum Had turned bright yellow my sister in law was overseas so I called my brother in law in NSW who is also a Doctor he straight away mentioned the pancreas and told me to book a flight to the UK. I called Dad and told him to take Mum to the hospital emergency section which he did a cat scan revealed advanced pancreatic cancer this was on the 9th of May My Mum died on the 15th of May My Daughter and I arrived in England on 17th of May one day before my birthday. This has all happened so Quick I am now only beginning to feel the loss. This truly is a s##t of a cancer it sneaks up and takes you so fast. My poor Dad is lost

[Pam]

HI! Sorry for your loss, Brian! Hope you are able to get through this very hard phase. Pam

[Sap]

ive just found this site as today has is a very emotional day. my boyfriend of nearly 3 years has Hodgkin lymphoma stage 2.he was diagnosed 30 may and had his first treatment the day after his 21st. cancer sucks! my dad has had cancer twice once when iw as born and again when i was in year 12 my cousin has also just finished chemo and radiation for breast cancer. i never expected that the one i love the one i want to spend the rest of my life with would suffer from cancer! i dont know why im so emotional today. maybe because i have a cold and im not allowed to see him.. idk it all sucks my birthday was 2 weeks after his. we already had a party planned but really i didnt want it i just wanted to stay home i didnt feel like i should be celebrating my 21st. i didnt want presents or anything all i want is for my boyfriend to be better!

[Maureen]

Hello, I'm new to this site. We've just moved (June 2013)to Melbourne after living in Perth for 4 years. My husband was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in 2009 and had brachytherapy followed by radiotherapy. In 2010 he had his right kidney removed, and stupidly I breathed a sigh of relief thinking OK the nightmare is over. 6 weeks ago we were told he has Metastatic Renal Cell Cancer. He's just had operations on both upper arms to plate, pin and cement as the bones were crumbling and he'll start radiotherapy next week, they also found lesions on his rib, femur and tibia. We just got the results back from his brain scan and they've found another tumour, it's quite deep, before they make any decisions he's having to go for an MRI to make sure there aren't any more tumours in the brain they have missed. He's only 58 - we've been together for 42 years and I feel so useless and helpless.

[Catherine251]

Oh what a terrible load you've got on your young shoulders! It is totally natural to feel emotional, particularly at a time in your life that should be filled with celebration. It isn't fair to deal with such heavy issues, when you should be having fun and looking forward to the future. I hope you've got lots of supportive friends and family to help you both through this tough time. Perhaps talking to a counsellor or psychologist would help too, as they're not emotionally invested in the situation (and sometimes people close to us don't say the right things). Otherwise there's the Cancer Council helpline, Leukaemia foundation or Canteen. I'm a bit older than you (34), but still feel young compared to most of the other Chemo patients, and remember what it's like to be 21 and in love. Cancer is often an old-person's disease and battling it at a younger age is isolating. It's hard to juggle work and a social life with sickness. I hope that your boyfriend's treatment is going well, and that you can celebrate finishing treatment in lieu of missing out on a fun 21st! My thoughts are with you. Catherine