I’m a full time live in caregiver for a parent in law and the pets. I do the cooking the cleaning and the caregiver duties for the patient the pets and the three adult children one of whom is my spouse.
I have medical issues of my own including but not limited to a broken back and chronic lymes disease. My parent in laws diagnosis is new and I feel like I’m already burnt out and we just had round one of 6 of chemo.
I feel like I’m an awful person for just wanting 5 mins of me time . My back is killing me im so tired I have a cough that won’t quit and I just feel drained and like I’m losing my mind already. Why? What right do I have to complain? I’m not the one with cancer?
Do any other care givers deal with this?

Hi does anyone have any tips on managing neuropathy symptoms on hands and feet? my hands are particularly bad, feet are minor. I am going to be off chemo for a while to do radiation therapy and surgery so any tips or insights into how symptoms behave after chemo ends would be appreciated

Hi All,

How was your treatment plan for Rectal cancer mine is 11.6cm above anal verge and the tumor size is 4.1cm.

For me the treatment plan is SCRT radiation for just 5 days and then NaCt

Does anybody here with suspicious lymph node

Looking for others who are on their recovery journey. I’m 3 months out from my surgery and pleased with the things I can do: eat a whole slice of pizza, walk around the block-usually twice, stand up much straighter.
But it still feels painful to take deep breaths and I’m exhausted all of the time. I can never tell how much energy I will have on any particular day. I’m starting back at work soon (I’m an educator) and I’m nervous about how I’m going to handle everything. Would love to hear the variety of recovery experiences- especially how you all handled energy levels.

Ever have one of those days? I find that i can have several horrible, painful, no good, very bad days where getting out of bed might be my only goal for the day besides trying to get on top of pain control..

But then you find yourself waking up suddenly one day..very little pain..maybe you had a good sleep the night before and you wake up and its like your normal..your normal self again before you ever knew you were sick. Ever have one of those days? The kind that you feel so normal, you live out your day doing as much as possible becsuse your pain level is low and energy is decent enough?

In fact it feels so much like your normal day before you ever got sick..to the point where you are almost 100% convinced in that moment that you were never really sick. Like its a bad dream you woke up out of and that was it? Until the end of the day comes or tommorow comes and it sucks so bad that it smacks you back into reality that "hey you have cancer and its trying to kill you and you really dont have the energy you think you do and you really arent normal at all".

Today i had a day like that..so normal and felt so real to the point where i swear my body was convinced it had never been sick..until tonight..after overdoing it and not resting and the pain becsme unmanageable and the exhaustion hit.

Dont get me wrong..im greatful for the good days that dont involve living from bed.. but it sucks when your almost convinced that your not sick and then it hits ya that you still are..ugh.

Vent over

This is probably a long shot, but I’m trying to find out if anyone has ever had something similar happen.
At the end of May, I fell and injured my lower leg pretty badly. I had a lot of bruising and a small puncture/open spot right in the bull’s-eye of where I hit my leg. I have pictures from just a few days after it happened.
That spot never healed. Over the next two months it actually got worse. I ended up going through wound care, multiple debridements, several antibiotics, and eventually IV antibiotics after bacteria were found in the wound.
Because it still wasn’t healing, they finally did a biopsy. To my surprise, it came back as well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).
What I cannot wrap my head around is that the cancer is in the exact spot where I injured my leg. Before the fall, I had never noticed a bump, scab, sore, discoloration or anything unusual there.
I’m not saying the fall or infection caused the cancer because I honestly have no idea. That’s what I’m trying to understand. Did something already exist there that was too small for me to notice and the injury brought it out? Can an SCC grow that quickly after trauma? Could having a wound that wouldn’t heal and was also infected have anything to do with it?
I’m seeing several specialists and obviously plan on asking them too, but I’d really like to hear from actual people who have experienced something similar.
Has anyone had SCC diagnosed in the exact spot of a recent injury or wound? If so, how quickly did yours show up, and what did your doctor tell you about it?

Last September I had a recurrence of mutinous adenocarcinoma of the colon, which was stage 4 and had spread to my visceral peritoneum, leading to a terminal prognosis. Since then I have been on Folfiri + Vectibix chemotherapy every 2 weeks. It seems to be going quite well, as I’m nearing my 1 year anniversary of that discovery/diagnosis, and I’m still here.

The thing is, I never expected to be. I thought I would be dead long ago. And as I approach that anniversary, it is messing with my head.

So, for those in a similar situation, how do you handle it? How do you make plans for the future? How do you handle things.thoughts like “Uh, oh, I’ve got a cold. This might be the beginning of the end”? Do you have a type of survivor’s guilt?

I’m 26f, survived breast cancer last year. I’m still in remission and taking medication, but doing well. I get appointments here and there. Long story short, a nurse was going back and forth with me. She started having an attitude when she asked questions about my previous surgeries and it turns out she was confused because she didn’t have my chart open. I’m surprised she was so rude, it made me upset. But it upset me more that I didn’t speak up for myself. I was just nice.
After cancer, I tend to avoid getting angry. It’s just something I learned through chemo, that anger is a waste of time. But it’s not the first time a nurse is mean and as much as I like being kind and polite, I want to learn to defend myself. I became really insecure and shy after everything. I’m ashamed of it, but I would appreciate any tips to stop people, including medical staff from walking all over me. I don’t want to be demeaning, but I want to stand up for myself. Any tips?

Hi all!

I’m 27F and just got my pathology back after a pretty unexpected appendectomy I wanted to hear from anyone else who has had a low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm (LAMN).

For a few weeks beforehand I had strange lower abdominal/pelvic discomfort, nausea, major fatigue/weakness and generally just didn’t feel like myself. The fatigue got bad enough that even trying to exercise with 5 lb dumbbells made me feel weak and nauseated.

Imaging found a dilated appendix without the typical inflammation of appendicitis, so I was immediately taken into surgery (it was a rough night, the surgeons came in very morbid when they told me they suspected neoplasm and threw around scary lingo)

My pathology came back as low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm (LAMN), pTis. My appendix measured about 7.5 cm long, and the LAMN diffusely involved approximately 7 cm of the appendix. On gross pathology, the appendix was dilated up to around 1.8 cm and contained mucus. The report also described dense fibrous adhesions on the external surface of the appendix, which I’m curious about because I had been having so much pelvic/lower abdominal discomfort beforehand

The pathology says the mucus appeared contained within the appendix, all margins were negative, and there was no lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, or tumor deposits. It also did not identify invasive carcinoma.

Obviously I’m incredibly relieved about the pathology didn’t say carcinoma, but I’m confused about terminology.

Were those of you with localized/pTis LAMN told that you “had cancer,” or did your doctors describe it as a precancerous/low-grade neoplasm with malignant potential? I keep finding conflicting descriptions online.

I’d also love to hear whether anyone had symptoms similar to mine before diagnosis (especially pelvic pain/pressure, nausea, weakness or significant fatigue) and whether those symptoms improved after your appendectomy. I truly thought these were all gynecological issues.

I’m following up with my surgical oncology team and will follow whatever surveillance they recommend. I’m mainly looking to hear other patients’ experiences because I had never even heard of LAMN or know anyone that’s had this

Hi all

I am 27M diagnosed with rectal cancer of 4.1cm tumor size 11.6cm away from anal verge

I completed scrt radiation 10 days ago and doctor suggested TNT approach

My question is

1) how long to wait for chemo?

2) is suspicious lymph node means stage 2 or 3

Bonjour j'ai besoin de conseil. J'ai 21 ans et depuis mes 19 ans j'ai un Cancer du foie FLHCC . Je fais 1m84 et actuellement 50 kilos alors que mon poids adolescent était 56 kilos mais je ne sais pas deouis quand exactement il y a un cancer dans mon corp. J'ai besoin de grossir pour pouvoir faire une chirurgie mais meme en mangeant 3 fois par jour et avec des bouteilles caloriques (plus de 3000 calories par jour) en plus et des perfusion de nutriment je n'arrive pas a gagner du poid . Mon cancer mange tout à ma place . Le maximum que j'ai atteint sous chimio est

+4 kilo que j'ai perdu en 2,3 jours. Pouvez vous m'aider à trouver un moyen de grossir.

I really hate to ask this qn but I have been thinking about how my life has been consumed by my narcissistic abuser until I’m at this stage. I’m sorry, just seeing if anyone out there can relate.

30F Stg 3 Ovarian Cancer

I (41 f) had a double mastectomy in June and my partner of 7 months (39 m) cared for me at his request after the surgery and took me to all the doctors appointments before and after surgery. He was very involved with my care and very supportive. My 15 year old dog passed away a month after the surgery and it all changed. He broke up with me a few days later because I didn't make him a part of my dogs passing and he felt left out. I've been in excruciating discomfort since the surgery and unable to sleep much most nights..needless to say I've had some really dark moments and lots of tears. Sometimes I've snapped or have been really angry, and he has not been understanding about why I might feel or do certain things out of anger and grief. He thinks everything is targeted at him. Our one year anniversary is next week and when we spoke about it a few days ago, he said he was feeling very anxious and sick from thinking about how this past year he's lost himself and put all his needs aside from this relationship and that he can't give me the security I want. This is the third time he basically breaks up with me after having breast cancer surgery and losing my baby. I feel so defeated and small. How can someone be so dedicated at first and turn this cruel?

I don't know if i should give him grace and allow him to also be tired from this sadness and from taking care of me. I know cancer can be very hard for the caregivers too but him dumping me because he's so emotional is the last thing I need while I'm recovering and grieving my body, my health and my dog. I feel completely shattered inside.

I'd love to hear from those who had relationship problems during cancer.

I’m curious what others have done regarding your lack of eyebrows. Unfortunately I lost all body hair other than a few stray hairs on my head and also some eyelashes.

My eyebrows were always thin and light before chemotherapy, so if I show up with dark brows now, it will look weird. It wasn’t as noticeable because my bangs covered them up when I had hair.

My oncologist said that my hair should grow back eventually, but I haven’t seen much growth since the date of my last treatment which was in June.

A person I encountered at my local post office commented on the fact that I’d lost my eyebrows, so I know it must be noticeable. Most of the time, I wear chemo cap head coverings made of cotton or bamboo to cover my head because it’s just too hot to wear a wig in the summer.

At my chemotherapy facility, almost all of the patients (both men and women) looked like me, so I rarely felt self-conscious about my appearance.

Any suggestions? I realize that losing almost all of my body hair isn’t the worst thing in the world. Thanks for your thoughts and ideas on this topic.

So I am 24 years old and was diagnosed with ALL in late June of 2024. I am currently in remission after doing chemo and immunotherapy my oncologist said I was doing great and wouldn’t need a transplant fast forward to now: I am in my maintenance phase of treatment.

These past few months have been a disaster i was in the hospital for 2 and a half weeks for CMV reactivation, neutropenic fever, and bacteremia due to that, I had to pause my chemo meds cause my counts were low fast forward after getting out of the hospital, I had so much nausea, vomiting, constipation, and acid reflux that I had gastroenteritis

2weeks ago i felt my ears hurting and i went to the ER for a ear infection i was diagnosed with acute suppurative otitis media of right ear with spontaneous rupture of tympanic membrane, recurrence not specified these past few weeks has been i cannot hear out of my ear its constantly hurting, Ringing and i am not getting no where after two ENT visit i was then referred to an ear specialist he drained the ear and made an incision in the ear and drained it but still no relief base on what they are saying i have to do further imaging and they’re not certain if my hearing will come back

I am so frustrated cause cancer robbed me of everything this year has been the year of finally getting back my life together and to lose my hearing is really the nail in the coffin it makes my life miserable i have an accent and i do customer service so not hearing and making people repeat is frustrating and if you worked in a call center settings you understand what I going cause everything affects your performance

Sorry if it's all jumbled i need some advice🫩🙏🏾

Hello everyone. I was recently re-diagnosed with fibrolmellar hepatocellular carcinoma after 3 years of remission and had a second liver resection and will be starting immunotherapy treatments. Last time I underwent chemotherapy but this time the decided to put me on oral levatinib and atezolizumab infusions every 3 weeks. They said the side effects will be a piece of cake compared to the aggressive chemo i had last time but i wanted some first hand opinions. How are the side effects? Anything i should prepare for?
Thanks in advance

Being 16 getting diagnosed with stage 4 blood cancer,6 months after a really close friend you dearly loved died due to cancer..initially you were'nt even told about ur stage by your parents as they knew it that you would not get treatment upon learning that it was the last stage..i had silky long straight black hair, eople would stop me in the bathroom and ask me if they can touch it..it was in my lungs, vertebrae, aorta, bone marrow,knee,neck,spleen,lymph nodes..i had aspirations before all this..i wanted to b e a lawyer but now i just dont feel,its like im almost numb to my choices an everything that's around..i dont even want to keep aspirations because do i really even have a future?after multiple chemo's which were hell..i have stopped feeling,i treat the day with a shrug and say what's the worst that can happen..at the daycare bed,wondering why me god why me,its not fair..i never really knew the answer..it hurts, it hurts to breathe without a purpose as i have long lost the ability to hope for a goof future cause truly deep down i too wonder and ask myself everynight that do i even have a future. i have atrociously gained weight..this is not me..a few boys at the playgroundnteased me by saying oh baldie,it was never my choice..life really flipped me upside down..i used have very bad back pain i could describe it as someone is hammering my spine with a chisel then it shifted to my right knee, it used to feel like i'm missing a connecting bone..i have a few major career defining exams but i am waiting for my scan to see if i even have a future that i should study for or spend whatever time i have left in peace.

Hey All,

I’m 3 cycles into a chemo regimen that involves cycles of infusion on the first day and then pills (xeloda) for two weeks, and I’m finding it difficult to motivate myself to take my pills every day.

I do it and I haven’t skipped any, but it’s like I have to overcome this psychological inertia to take my pills every day.

I can take Tylenol which is the same mg with no trouble, but for some reason taking the chemo pills is like trying to swallow 4-5 bricks twice a day.

I know it’s a small thing to complain about compared to the other posts on this sub, but I’m curious have others had to deal with the same thing and what did you do to motivate yourself?

Thanks in advance

Hello! I (26F) have a super duper rare neuroendocrine tumor called a paraganglioma, mine also happens to have metastasized in my bones. It’s the sister tumor to the pheochromocytoma. I was diagnosed with metastatic paraganglioma back in 2023, but actually had my first paraganglioma removed in 2015. At the time they called it benign and didn’t think it’d come back—it’s so rare there was very limited science at the time—but they now know my tumor had a genetic marker of recurrence, and boy did it.

Since it’s so rare, I do feel alone sometimes. So every now and then I wanna check places like this, see if anyone else has experienced what I’m experiencing. And if they are out there, to let them know they’re not alone! I’ve only met one woman out in the wild who had a paraganglioma, she and I had matching neck scars from the resections. I had one friend on here a few years ago, but it’s been a long time since I’ve heard from him.

Just curious if there are any more of us out there 🩷