I Just Found Out I Have Cancer And I Am Scared!

On Thursday, June 23rd, I found out I have cancer after a surgery to remove what drs. thought was only a cyst! Now they say I may lose my leg but won't know anything till friday, July 1st. I am so scared! I am a newly vegetarian, drink only water but man is this a lot to handle! It is a sarcoma and that is all I know! Someone please help my worries and nervousness! Thank-you

Dear Geri,

First, take a deep breath through your nose...hold it...now slowly exhale through your mouth. Second, know that being scared is a perfectly normal reaction. Third, know that there are a lot of us out here to help you in any way we can.
I was diagnosed with Stage II-B cervical cancer in 2003. Did the treatments (chemo, radiation and internal implants) and it came back in a lymph node in 2004. Here I went again with the treatments...I just had my first year check-up last Friday and the doctors say everything looks okay. But of course we have to wait for all the test results. When it came back all I could think of was "this crap is going to kill me". But thus far I'm still kicking.
When you meet with your doctor on July 1st take a list of questions with you. The only silly question is the one you don't ask!! Be involved in your treatment plan and always ask WHY if you don't understand. But one of the most important things is attitude...try to keep a positive one as much as possible. It's okay to be scared, angry, unhappy and all those emotions but deep down this is a fight and you're in charge of this army.
My thoughts, prayers and hugs are with you and your family. Please keep me posted as you progress through this trying time.

Best always,
Terry

Dearest Terry, I was so happy to read your message and to know someone cared out there! I will do my best to think positively and I will also pray for you and your family too! Thank-you for caring and for all the good advice! Much aloha, Geri

Great advice! Did we remember to tell Geri to get copies of ALL her records wherever she goes? Every CT scan, MRI, biopsy slide, etc. This will speed up the process if she goes to a specialist. I had 6 months of records and films to get and now I'm ready, Freddie. My life will be brief but what matters to me is quality so I have decisions to make. Chemo would have to buy me quite a bit of time for me to go through it again when the odds for ME are really bad. I'm terminal and not a candidate for any more thigh surgery or effective radiation and lungs are inoperable -- too many nodules. So I'm sunk and I'm mad as hell. My particular "trap" is that I have no quality of life if I say yes or no to treatment. Chemo might buy me a little time but I'll be miserable to the end. Without it, I'll be miserable not being able to breathe. I'd sorta planned to have a better choice. Like quitting chemo if it wasn't helping since I'm terminal anyway, to live much more comfortably, I thought. Wrong! I've decided if chemo can work and give me a year, I'll do it. For 6 months I won't. Don't want to be alive and wishing I was dead. I'd rather be comfortable and have a shorter life. What a choice. I have a t-shirt that says, "Cancer Sucks" and that's how I feel. I'm not the type to go to any length to live a few months longer. If I hadn't been the captain of my health care ship, I would've been dead by now. Local Docs knew nothing about sarcoma or didn't care. Had to beg for every test and they delayed at every turn. May surgery didn't left dirty margins in thigh. I went to Barnes in St. Louis, a horrible sarcoma surgeon. I'll be going to the University of Michigan sarcoma center in July to be given the name of a chemo drug and get straight answers. Geri, a specialist is someone who sees 100+ sarcoma patients a year, okay? Good luck to you, sweetie. Listen to Terry.

Judi

Hello Judi...God Bless You and where in the world did you find your T-shirt? I really really want one to wear because I agree totally Cancer does suck big time!! I'm glad you decided to go some place else for assistance. You know what they say...help is just around the corner. Let me know how U of M works out for you and keep the troops mustered for all battles to come. Lots of prayers and hugs coming your way from Texas. Hang tough and please stay in touch.

Best always,
Terry

Geri,
I just checked message board 7/5 to see your note. I am 10 year survivor of sarcoma which was thought to be a cyst in my ankle. After surgeries for a tissue graft and 6 weeks radiation, I was back at work. 3 years ago, I had another battle.Your feelings are quite normal.Good nutrition plan is helpful, faith and prayer for me was and is vital in the war as Terry so aptly names it.
Think of yourself as a cancer warrior, not a victim. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Elizabeth

Terry, Hang in there. I was diagnosed with liposarcoma of the right arm in 1999. I thought it was over! I was sent to the University of Iowa for surgery. He removed the tumors (I had 3) and margins. The margins came back clear. Several options were open for me--radiation, or chemo or nothing. After almost 2 months of living in terror that I would not see my children graduate, I decided on nothing. There is not enough out there about liposarcoma. It is not a common cancer. I was advised by my surgeon to go without any furter treatment. I am almost to the 6 year mark, cancer free. Hang in there!There is HOPE!

I was reading you message an was concerned to see how you made out after being diagnosed. Did they amputate you leg after removing what they thought was a cyst?

My Best Friend is going through kind of the same thing. She was diagnosed about 4 monthss ago with sarcoma in her leg also. She has started her Chemo and I was wondering if I should share some of the information that I read on line with her. I don't want her to give up hope though. What I have read on a weekly basis may make her change her mind.

Hello, I have since had another surgery to remove any remaining cancerous cells. My sarcoma was a low grade (thank the good Lord) so I don't have to have chemo! I am going for my 13th radiation treatment today (30 all together)! My knee is feeling stiff and it is sore. I walk with my walker and still need physical therapy but I am determined to walk again! I can't walk far with the walker so I also have a wheelchair. My cancer wasn't in my lymph nodes and the pathology showed no more cancerous cells. I spoke with a dr. at the University of Colorado Medical Center who told me that all of the above was the good news, the bad news, I will need to be monitored longer than the usual 5 years because sarcoma (at least the type I have) is a slow growing cancer. So, MRI's and CT scans every 3 months for the first 2 years. Usually it is just the first year. I have gotten so much strength from all of my friends who are praying for me and trust in the Lord for my healing! I am thinking positive and feel like I am more in control now! I will pray for you and for your friend who is probably very scared right now! Don't ever give up! Geri

DEAR JUDI,

My name is Teresa. My husband has just been diagnosed with Sarcoma ( upper right tricept) in the beginning of July. weve been going to doctors and specialists and nothing has happened yet. His Oncologist forgot to send the info. to the other doctors that we are supposed to see. It is fo frustating going to the plastic surgen and asking why we are hear today because she has no clue. I am also thinking about getting ahold of someone at U of M. My husband told me to wait on consulting any one else. I am the only one that has been reasurching. I can not find anything that is promising. I am scared for him, he seems like its not bothering him. I am just tired of waiting. Tis thing is 18inches long and 23 inches around.

Sincerely,
Teresa H.