Healing Nicely

So lots of people have been asking about how my scars look now, compared to the delightfully gory ones from when the operations first happened! Since its 2 years down the line (how long they say it takes scars to settle down) I thought I'd share!
Obviously most people see my arm on a regular basis, but here is a picture for those of you who haven't seen it lately:




I'm quite proud of how it's healed-I find most people don't notice it (unless they're just being polite!)
My thigh scar has pretty much gone!! (Kudos of you can actually see it!)




The scar that people don't really see is my underarm scar. I'm super pleased with how it's come along! I never thought that it would actually heal, but it did!




I didn't really do a lot to help my scars along, I am just very lucky and heal very well!! I bought a bottle of bio-oil when I had my ops, but I still have 4/5 of it left! I kept my wider excision moisturised, because they cut out the moisture-creating layer of skin, and used a bit of bio-oil occasionally, but mostly it seems that nature healed me pretty well :)
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Spring Has Sprung...Apparently!

So it's March! I really don't know where time goes...I swear it was Christmas last week! The weather is more like that of a December though, what with all the snow we've had this week! 

My operation results were good :) it was a reactionary lymph node (whatever one of those is) and there was NO cancer in sight at all, which was lovely :) 

This means...drum roll please...that I have OFFICIALLY been Cancer free for a whole year! A massive achievement, and a good mile stone to reach! 

It doesn't stop me from being obsessed with every slight twinge or ache, or being convinced that me being out of breath has nothing to do with the fact that my exercise regime is severely lacking and if my stomach hurts, it has nothing to do with the horrifically greasy fish and chips I had last night!! I guess that paranoia is something that comes as standard with a cancer diagnosis! I am all to aware of how quickly things can change though, and sometimes I think celebrating might not be the best thing, as if something bad happens, the fall will be even harder. 

I rang my nurse in a state of panic last week after receiving a letter from my (shoddy) Doctors telling me that I needed to contact them RE: a scan result. MY mind went into over drive, convinced that they'd read the wrong scan and things weren't looking good. Turns out that they had only just received the scan results from the scan I had in January, which had already been dealt with! So my slight breakdown was just because of their lax record keeping!! 

I really do need to change doctors... 

 

Cancer, Cancer, Everywhere!!

One thing that really gets to me about all cancer as a whole, is that you cannot catch a break from it!!

It is everywhere. On TV programmes, Radio programmes, TV adverts, internet adverts, news articles, bilboards, EVERYWHERE!! So when one is trying to catch a spare 5 minutes from thinking about cancer, they can't, because it is plastered everywhere!

For my birthday last year, we went on a night out to our Students Union, and I was so excited. When we got there, however, there were people 'raising awareness' for Coppafeel, the breast cancer awareness charity, and that just put a dampener on the whole night! A place I'd gone to celebrate my birthday was full of people talking about cancer, something it would have been nice not to have to think about!

I know that raising awareness about cancer, and raising money for help in research and support is important, and I don't suggest that these things are removed, it is just so annoying to have to deal with them every 5 minutes, especially when trying to have some cancer 'down time'!

My CT results were OK. There's no new spread anywhere, which is amazing, but the lump that was removed back in August was the wrong one (!) so I've got more surgery soon to get rid of that. 

I feel ok about it, it just brings up the whole 'cancer' thing again, and I've got better things to do, like write a dissertation!! 

More surgery means more photo's tho! So keep checking back for that ;) 

Happy New Year :)

Happy New Year everyone!!

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas with your nearest and dearest :)

2013 is already looking like an exciting year, with lots of interesting prospects, as long as cancer keeps it self at bay!!

I have a CT scan tomorrow (Wednesday) so hopefully that should be able to put our minds at rest for a bit, but I've got the usual case of major scanxiety!! I had three separate dreams about it last night...

I am also taking part in Cancer Research's 'Dryathlon' to raise money for CRUK :) It's been a whole week now, and it's getting easier :) if any of you fancy sponsoring me, here's the link! http://www.justgiving.com/dryathlete-phoebe-drinkwater

I hope to be able to give you some good scan-related news soon :)

Teenage Cancer Awareness Week

Hello All :)

First of all, I must apologise for my lack of posting for the last 3 (!) months! I don't really know where the time has gone if I'm honest! I had so many great ideas for posts, most of which are still just sitting in the 'draft' section!

Things are good with me. I had an operation at the end of August to remove a lump from the muscle layer over my ribs, which was another suspected Melanoma, but the GOOD NEWS is that it was just a fatty lump! I don't think I've ever been happier to have one! Apart from that, things are ticking along swimmingly, and things are definitely on the up :)

The main reason for this post, is that this week is 'Teenage Cancer Awareness Week' which is run by my charity of choice, Teenage Cancer Trust. 

This week is all about raising awareness in young people about what cancer is, what it feels like, what is does and most importantly, how to tell the symptoms of cancer, so you know whether to get yourself checked out or not. 

Teenage Cancer Trust have released a lot of really interesting stuff about this, including a leaflet from which this is taken (http://www.teenagecancertrust.org/workspace/documents/TeenageCancerTrustAwarenessWeek_Leaflet.pdf). These things are worth bearing in mind, no matter how old you are!!

I, for one, am pleased that this year they have included 'changes in a mole' as as an unofficial Melanoma spokesperson, I always feel it gets brushed under the rug a bit, even though it's the highest rising cancer in young people!!

Teenage Cancer Trust do a wonderful job both in hospital and out. If any of you fancy having a look at the website, the link is: http://www.teenagecancertrust.org/

Their sister site is JimmyTeens, with whom I made this video I made about diagnosis (also about symptoms!) http://jimmyteens.tv/2012/07/10/talking-diagnosis/

So, yeah! I don't like to be preachy, but it's always worth keeping an eye on your body and knowing what is normal and what is not, because the best cure for cancer is early diagnosis! 

I promise, more blog posts soon!

Phoebe x

Scanxiety

Scanxiety
n. the tension which builds particulary amongst those who have or have had cancer as they move towards their regular check up scan, hyperscanxiety being the period as they await results

I couldn't have put it better myself!

After a blissful, eventful and very happy few months, I was reminded with a bump, two days after arriving home from America, that cancer is never really very far away.

A mixture of jet lag and 'scanxiety' kept me up til 4am the night before my scan, which went perfectly to plan, but now I'm just waiting, waiting and waiting for results.

A week post-scan and all I can do is think about it. I'm constantly waiting for my phone to ring, and every time it does, I hope it's the hospital. Waiting is the worst. Especially when you're as impatient as me, and when the results are a matter of life or death-literally!!!

Well, as there's not a lot I can do about it, I will continue being 'scanxious' and update when I have some news!

For now...







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Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

Sooooooo....I well and truly failed at writing every day this month, infant, writing any more at all! There are several reasons for this...

1) I've been insanely busy. Busier than I have been all year! The month started with me getting two (yes two!) jobs, on the union bars and as a student ambassador, especially for working with young people trying to inspire them to go to university. Then I was in the university's production of 'Poppea' which was, to all intents and purposes, rather successful :) I went to France for a week to visit Richard for the last time before he comes home, I went home home to see KLOS' Sound of Music, and plenty of other things-phew!!

2) I've also had a crazy amount of uni work. Apparently it was all waiting for May to come about, and that it did. I've written the equivalent of a dissertation this month, as well as a 20-minute performance!

3) Probably the most important factor is that I've been having a bit of time 'off' cancer. I haven't had any problems, haven't felt ill haven't found any weird lumps or bumps or marks, and havent been waiting on any results! I've been using the time to really just get away from the whole thing,NAND to be honest, I feel so much better for it. Even though it is a life fact, and something that is going to be there forever, it's sometimes very nice to be able to just not have it at the front of your mind.

But despite my poor excuses, Melanoma, and cancer in general, has obviously been around! Hearing the stories of some of the people I know, and what they're going through, reminds me on a daily basis of what a cruel disease this really is.

One thing that I am pretty shocked at though, is how little has been made of promoting sun safety, especially in the recent weather, and also the fact that so many people think that skin cancer is not serious. With. Few stories in the media recently, I have read so many comments recently saying that 'it's nothing serious' and 'it's not like real cancer' and this is the sort of opinion that I'm faced with a lot. A type of cancer snobbery really, people saying that it's it 'real' cancer, because of the fact that i haven't had chemo. This is the sort of thing that needs to be wiped out, and something that people need to realise is not the case.

It's these sorts of opinions that need to be changed, and the opinions that cause people to be irresponsible in the sun. Now, I'm not saying that sun is the only thing that causes melanoma, but it has a significant contribution. It's like saying if you smoke 40 cigarettes a day, you might get lung cancer, but you might not, I'm inclined to believe that more people would not take the risk. The same applies with skin cancer. If you burn in the sun, you might get skin cancer, but you might not. I really think it is an unnecessary risk to take, and I was getting incredibly frustrated by all the posts on facebook over the last few days, saying how hilarious it is that people are burnt raw, and how people are going to go outside and fry...what the hell?! These are mostly educated people, and they still go and do this...hmm. I'm a bit lost for words to be honest,I just really hope that people get the facts into their heads soon and start to take more care in the sun, like they all told me they would...

I feel bad dictating, and whenever I was to say this, it was going to sound like a lecture, but I felt here was the best place!

I think we've got a long way to go until skin cancer is considered as seriously as other cancers, but I really hope we get there, very soon, and save as many lives as possible!


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