Hi everyone,
I am very new to forums, in fact this is my first ever post, so please be gentle with me.
I was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer last August, after the most dreadful of weeks, where I was pushed around our local hospital for days before anyone took me and my pain seriously. The diagnosis came as a shock, but they don't call OC the silent killer for nothing. But I am one of the lucky ones (apparently). I had debaulking surgery in August to remove the orignal tumour, but as I suffered complications and the doctor couldn't have a good look around, a second surgery was done in April this year to remove (hopefully) the last of it. Chemo was done in between the surgeries, so my prognosis is the best it can be. So I should be over the moon, right?
I have gone back to work this week. Before this, I was the primary breadwinner for the family (I am married with two young boys, aged 4 and 9). It's not that I had to go back to work, I had all the relevant insurance, so it's funny, after everything we have been through in the last 10 months, we are now in the best financial position of our lives! I wanted to get back to work for some normality, some brain activity and some social interaction. But going back to work has forced me to do something I haven't done yet, which is to acknowledge what we have been through, that I have cancer (I'm not sure I can say had), and it's broken me. The tears have just not stopped flowing today.
I met with my wonderful GP today and he suggested I try a support group - I tried this late last year, they were a lovely group of women, but I found that I didn't have much in common with them as they were quite a bit older than me (like 20+ years older). So I am still on the lookout for a local group (I am in Adelaide, so if anyone is interested....). A Google search tonight has led me to the Cancer Connections page, so here I am, hopefully not boring you all to death.
I'm hoping that, having got this off my chest, I can start the healing process now. I said to my GP today, that I don't want things to just go back to how they were, that I want this experience to mean something, to make a difference in my/our lives. But I am not sure how I can do this......
Thanks for listening.
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