Hi Jules I was in the same boat as you with very little support when I was diagnosed just over 2 and a half years ago. Mine was oral cancer, spread to lymph nodes in neck. I had a friend who was recently diagnosed with terminal primary liver cancer not long before me. My prognosis was not that great either, and my friends attitude helped me a lot coming to terms with it. In spite of his diagnosis, he was basically the same happy go lucky guy, and he lived life to the fullest. Two things he kept stressing to me. 1. You were never going to live forever and you always knew the day would come. He also said, dying of old age is no picnic either, withering away, with more more things in your body failing, its the cancer that everybody who avoids death for long enough suffers. Think about that. 2. Seek out things to occupy yourself regardless of what your limitation or physical condition is. Constantly distract yourself with preferably enjoyable things that make you concentrate on other things apart from your illness. I used to play video games that had problems to solve that required strategy and planning, and forced me to focus. The other thing I done when my mind was bothered, was get on my motorbike and ride. Riding forces me to concentrate on the road, the surroundings. It's not like driving a car where you can just daydream as you coast along. When I'm on my bike, my head is like on a swivel, and I view every car and truck on the road as if it was a lion, and I'm a dear. In all likelyhood, you will be fine Jules. Stage 1 is the early stage of the cancer. The hysterectomy will probably remove it totally, and maybe they will do a course of chemo to clean up any stray cells that may have migrated to other locations if they think that is warranted. Still a tough road to go down, with surgery and maybe chemo, but it ends. It's a big shit sandwich that you have to eat, but after that, it's over, and you get back to normal. Focus on the after part. What your going to do when your all well again. One thing about having cancer is that it's a massive wake up call, and complete realization that life is temporary. That can have a positive effect on what you do with the rest of it.
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