Hi Doug, Welcome to the community. I'm sorry to hear about your cancers. It's good that you're still positive. Sometimes with these illnesses, well, it's just the way that it is. Some people win the genetic lottery and others don't. I have lynch syndrome, which genetically predisposes me to developing a number of cancers and I manage that risk with both testing and surgery. Best of luck fighting your current cancer.   Keep us updated! -s       ... View more

Hi @JoJo_star , I'm very sorry to hear about your mother. How is she feeling about what is going on? How are you?   Here on the online community you will find many examples of people living long and productive lives, whether they make full recoveries or not. Treatment from a medical team and help provide a full recovery, help extend life, provide pain relief, provide advise and many others things.   If she is in the early stages of cancer, then she should have a good diagnosis. Regardless of your mother's diagnosis, I hope that you both find a new found energy.   Here are some links that might be helpful. https://www.cancer.org.au/cancer-information/types-of-cancer/breast-cancer/after-a-diagnosis-of-breast-cancer https://www.bcna.org.au/understanding-breast-cancer/new-diagnosis/ https://nbcf.org.au/about-breast-cancer/treatment/   All the best, S           ... View more

Hi @Ned  I'm sorry to hear about your diagnoses. I hope you're doing ok. How are you feeling?   Before starting an exercise program I would suggest that you discuss this first with your GP and cancer treatment team. They should be able to able to let you the all clear. I wouldn't advise starting an exercise without getting the all clear first. Having said that, exercise during cancer treatment (pancare.org.au) has some guidelines and some tips. What you can do and where you start will depend on current level of fitness.   Best of luck Sean ... View more

Hi @Shae77  I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis, I really am. Three months isn't very long post treatment.   I was diagnosed with lynch syndrome in 2006 after I had genetic counselling followed by genetic testing. , and started monitoring (colonoscopy every 12 months and endoscopy every 2 years). I ended up being diagnosed with stage 2a bowel cancer in 2017 when I was 40. After discussion with my surgeon I had a total colectomy (it significantly reduced the risk of bowel cancer coming back). A few years later during a regular review my surgeon referred me to another doctor who does endoscopic ultrasounds of another internal organs.   Scan anxiety is just the worst. It really is. Maybe you could discuss with a GP or a surgeon or another specialist about what other surgeries to reduce risk, or even better, other scans they can incorporate in your regular survallence as I mentioned above.   All the best, s   ... View more

Hi @DD23  I'm very sorry to hear that it has come back. I can only imagine how difficult that is that the cancer has come back?   Has your doctor been able to tell you what stage the cancer is? As long as you have treatment options, you have hope. No matter how tough this might feel, no matter how tough the odds feel, I believe you can do this.   Please keep us posted on how you go!!   -s ... View more

Hi @Evo , Sorry noone has responded to you yet. I guess the right people have seen this yet. Did you end up taking Anastrozole? (I'm assuming it was for yourself)   Just for reference; https://breastcancernow.org/information-support/facing-breast-cancer/going-through-breast-cancer-treatment/side-effects-anastrozole-arimidex ... View more

Hi @AdamjEdgar , Unfortunately I don't have any medical training. You can google or use bing or any other search engine to look up the meaning of words, but just be aware that you might be not be fully understanding due to context.   I'd recommend going to see your GP or another medical expert for an explanation of the results. ... View more

Hi @Rob56 , Well it sounds like you're relatively in good spirits. Sometimes we get set backs. What did biopsies come back with? What is your "new diagnosis"?   I had bowel cancer a number of years ago now. surgery and chemo, but I guess for myself, there is a pretty high risk of it coming back. That's just the way it is I guess. I've done what I can to lower the risk, but it always just sits there in the back of your mind.   Anyway, hope to hear back from you soon. -s ... View more

Hi Rowan, I am so sorry to hear about your diagnosis. It's a bitter pill to swallow when they deliver these diagnosis to you. My father had pancreatic cancer that had spread to other organs also. He lived another 10 years before the cancer took him, despite being told to expect 12 months. But just because the doctors tells you 12 months, well, you can try hard to prove them wrong.   I've had 2 major life changing illnesses in my life by the age of 40. I was told after the first illness (age 28 yo) that I would likely never be able to work again and that I might have to go in to a nursing home.   I was mortified. I was shattered. Was this it? Was this the end of my life as I knew it? In the hospital ward there was another patient (let's call him M). He was sitting in the sun and just soaking up the sunshine and he looked so happy and satisfied in that moment, even though he was in a wheel chair and was heading off to a nursing home at the age of 40. As I learnt to walk again (not being able to walk was the least of my problems), I started to jog on a treadmill, and weeks later I started to run. Even though I'd never been a runner, I really enjoyed it. One foot in front of the other, that was all I had to be able to do, which is lucky, because that was all I could manage at the time.  In time I built my running km's up. 22km's a day, 7 days a week. Running became my center. It became where I could escape to that belonged to me when everything else was over whelming. When I turned 40 I was diagnosed with bowel cancer. 6 months of chemotherapy and a total colectomy. I was shattered.  I just couldn't believe the diagosis after what I'd been through already.   When things are hard, I think back to M sitting in the sunshine. In the face of so much hardship and uncertainty, he was still able to enjoy himself. And it all started with just sitting in the sunshine and appreciating the small things.   I'm not suggesting that you need to run 20 kms or sit in the sunshine, but I think few of the things that I learnt are. 1) Find the small things in life that you enjoy that you can still do and hold meaning.  Enjoy what you are able to, not what you can't. 2) Find hope. It's such an under rated thing, but it is so so powerful. With hope and medical achievements, you can sometimes achieve truly amazing things. Enjoy what you have but have lofty goals. 3) Do everything in your power to follow up with medical experts on treatments and possible treatments. 4) Try to maintain your fitness as much as you can. This helps in multiple ways, both medically and psychologically.   -s   ... View more

Hi @Rob56  Must have been one a hell of a game of golf! How are you going now? How was your surgery? ... View more