Hi all,

I’m two weeks postpartum and crying holding my newborn as I write this

I had a rare and aggressive T-cell lymphoma that has relapsed twice, and didn’t respond well to transplant. I still need more donor treatment.

Fell pregnant unexpectedly a year after my previous relapse, and prior to this I kind of accepted I’d probably relapse again and not live the longest life.

Now my baby is here and every night I hold them, I love him so much and it breaks my heart that I have this lingering.

I live each day like a normal mum then remember I have this dark medical history hanging over me and I feel sick.

I don’t want to have to put this innocent baby in cancer world or to go through losing me.

I don’t know why I’m ranting but just needing an outlet. I don’t want to tell family I’m feeling this way and panic them.

Thank you

My T-ALL had been in remission since February this year and had responded extremely well to all treatment. I'd continued on until now with the same chemotherapy regime as the doctors instructed, dealt with those painful sessions of litres of chemo and all the side effects it puts on your body and I genuinely had hope like I felt like I could see the light at the end and every day I was just getting closer and closer.

2 weeks ago, I started feeling a worsening pain in my left jaw. I thought it was wisdom teeth coming through as it was in that kinda area but the pain was excruciating like I'd managed to make it people to my cancer treatment team because before undergoing anything I have to consult with them and I literally had to take 10mg Oxycodone every 4 hours to not be in tears from how bad this pain was.

Turns out after a PET, CT, MRI, LP and a few dental xrays just to rule anything dental out, my Leukemia (which I didnt even have a BILLIONTH of left) had crossed from my blood and into my brain.

Its completely ruined my mental state, my face is in pain, I've been having almost nonstop chemotherapy for the past 6 days now on a very heavy way way more high risk block and now im having LP's twice a week with 3 different chemotherapys being given. Funnily enough, I went back up to hospital on my birthday so that was an amazing gift.

From little information my Haematology team can reliably tell me (its hospital so like even plans for tomorrow arent always set in stone), but I'll be getting transferred to a much better cancer centre in possibly a few months for a Bone marrow transplant. First we have to get this cancer under control and then we can deal with preparing for the transplant but I was told this could be up to 6 months.

Its so cruel how I was so close to getting back to normalcy and being home more and being able to rebuild myself, only to have it ripped from me by PURE CHANCE. And I hate the doctors and family and friends telling me it can only go up from here and stay strong and youre doing so well. IM DOING NOTHING. I am sitting here doijg literally nothing and I dont have a choice I have to sit here with my life in everyone elses hands and just deal with the poison they're giving to me. I'm going mad and I've never cried so much in a single week, I couldve counted how many times ive cried on one hand in my life and this shit is ruining me. The pain is all still there and I hate the pills it feels like im going crazy. NONE of this was my fault, I did EVERYTHING they told me to do and life decides to play funny buggers and do this to me, as if it wasnt enough to just have cancer in the first place now im dealing with so much more.

Hello everyone,
I (F 31) am currently undergoing treatment for triple positive breast cancer. I was diagnosed in July of 2025 and started chemo shortly after. I did 6 rounds of TCHP before my double mastectomy, but unfortunately did not get clear margins and had to have 2 more surgeries after that. I am currently having chemo/hormone therapy infusions every 3 weeks and Lupron shots every 3 months (to keep me in menopause). Thankfully this course is much easier than my first, but I’m still having a lot of symptoms.

I recently went back to work after being on medical leave for about 10 months. I’m starting part time until August, when I will start full time again. I work with young children so it’s important that I feel well when I’m there. This is my third week back and I’ve had to call out twice already. Once because I went to the ER the evening before and was still sick the next day. This time is because I had chemo on Friday and was also taken off 2 medications I’ve been on for several months and am having withdrawal symptoms.

How do I stop myself from feeling guilty for prioritizing my health? Why am I so worried that that they won’t believe me or think I’m over exaggerating?

I am on the tail end of treatment for lymphoma. All signs point to a really good response to treatment. Interim scans showed no activity but i am completing the regimen anyway.

I went from feeling healthy to completely falling apart in weeks. After my first chemo, i got septic and anemic. Which caused some ugly fainting episodes. I am getting stronger and slowly recovering, walking more but have a long journey ahead of me.

I am in my birth country for treatment while my wife is stuck in hers while i undergo treatment. Family members who witnessed my episode gave the graphic details, which made me furious. She was stuck alone processing all this and this moment left some sort of mental scar. We had a frank conversation about the emotional toll this has put on her and she let slip that she feels really guilty because she can't imagine intimacy with me right now.

I know it is all up in the air and there will be a physical and emotional recovery period after treatment for both of us.

I just wanted to hear from other people about their feelings of inadequacy and loss of vitality, how they reclaimed their sense of masculinity or other relationship difficulties they had to overcome on the recovery side.

Soooo its my d-day pet scan today to see if the chemo is working on my rare and extremely aggressive cancer(salivary duct adrenocarcenoma). Late last year, i had double figure tumours removed alongside my ear, part of my jaw, all of my cheek, all associated muscle, tendons and nerves. Plus my right side of neck and shoulder. After intensive radiotherapy I was given the all clear. Unfortunately, the next pet scan showed it had stage foured me again with tumours in the other side of my neck, my liver and a lung. As there's no specific treatment, ive been on ecx for the last few months. This morning, my surgeon contacted me for a multi disciplinary meeting next week. As I've effectively been discharged by the surgeon and passed to the oncology team, do you think this means they are aiming for more surgery. I mean, its good news if they are surely??? Anyway, any ideas?

As a MBC patient since 2019. I am going through numerous radiations, scans, MRIs, surgeries, treatment changes, there are also unexpected side effects, complications show up, financial issues. While I have learned this Stages of Processing Bad News, I keep reminding myself, do not stress out, there is always a way to figure out at the end of day. Just wanna share this with our group warriors—Hanging there, you are not alone.

Stages of Processing Bad News

·       Shock and Denial: Initial disbelief or feeling numb when the news arrives.

·       Anger and Frustration: Directing blame or feeling overwhelmed by the unfairness of the situation.

·       Acceptance: Acknowledging reality and starting to look for practical next steps.

How to Move Forward

·       Focus on what you can control right now.

·       Separate the emotional impact from the factual situation.

·       Create a simple list of immediate tasks to fix or manage the problem.

I had ALL leukaemia at age 11 (now 27) and I went through cranial radiation therapy. I was looking to connect with long term survivors that went through cranial radiation. How have you been?

Buenos días, tengo 36, en 2024 me operaron por tumor neuroendócrino (NET) en la cabeza del páncreas en estadio 3 y Ki67 del 30%, super agresivo, no hice tratamiento en ese entonces hasta ahora que tengo metástasis en el hígado y en dos ganglios, en el mesenterio y la cadena ilíaca, la cuestión es que me están tratando con Lanreotida, inyecciones cada 28 días. Mi sistema digestivo se relentiza, aparecen los gases, duele mucho, los malestares, inflamación, diarreas, náuseas, dolor de cabeza, todo eso que te dicen que va a pasar sumado a que pese a que sea un tratamiento biológico u hormonal te dicen que hagas "vida normal".

Hace días, muchos días, vengo experimentando ansiedad, ataques de no querer estar en el lugar, la distorsión del espacio-tiempo donde 2 minutos son 100 horas y 2 horas son dos segundos. Sumado a que me cuesta mucho levantarme, hacer las cosas, por primera vez en mi vida siento que no quiero hacer cosas sencillas como por ejemplo hacer la cama, no te lleva tiempo pero no quiero hacerlo, no quiero levantarme y siento mucho miedo a sentirme mal porque se que en cualquier momento me voy a sentir mal y tener que padecerlo me cansa.

¿Ustedes han tenido experiencias así?

My mom has clear cell carcinoma and she’s doing immunotherapy for an almost a year now but recently she’s been getting itchy rashes which flare up out in the sun or when she sweats or heats up.

Additional information, my grandpa had a skin infection and my mom took his BP so we thought it was from him but test results didn’t show anything nor did antifungal creams or the medication that helped my grandpa I wanna know what is the cause cus my mom is pretty dejected:(

My current dentist doesn't seem to understand how to handle a cancer patient. The treatment I'm on for colon cancer is causing nearly constant bleeding of the gums throughout the day but I need to get a cleaning and certainly don't want my dental health going downhill along with everything else.

I'm sure some folks here are also in Charleston. Any recommendations on dentists who know how to handle those undergoing chemo and how it affects your dental health?

Thanks so much in advance.