21 year old with Lung Cancer

Stage 4/5 Lung cancer to be exact. I really am looking for people my age to talk to. Being at the end of my ropes makes it a challenge to stay strong each day. I do a damn good job though I think. I really want to share my experience and seek support. I want to fight this to the bitter end, it’s who I am as a person and I want to reflect that. Plus I can’t give up, I have a 2 year old daughter, so it’s not an option. Talk to me please and meet me.

Need some help

Hi guys I belive very strongly in talking to people with cancer and understanding their stories and supporting them through it. I9 myself am 13 and have mad many of my family members suffer with cancer. What I’m looking for is someone to talk to, and e-pal or pen-pal, please get back to me and I’ll send you my e-mail.

Keep fighting… Supporting you all the way!

Celine x

Knowing and yet not knowing

Hey,
It’s Ali again. I was trying to figure out how to get it so I won’t be a TLC guest anymore and all the posts will show up under my name but I couldn’t figure it out, alas my horrible computer skills.
Life is so confusing for me right now, and I need to write somewhere. I feel like no one has ever been where I am, no one has ever gone through this.
So, question… Has anybody ever known what their diagnosis is going to be, even before the testing?
I’ve been undiagnosed for 4 years, and 6 days ago everything finally clicked, and I knew. I knew without a doubt what my diagnosis was going to be, what area of the body my mysterious monster was located in.
Has anybody ever experienced that before? I’m finding it’s really tough – to know and yet not know. I know what it is, yet i don’t have a diagnosis. it’s like I’m stuck in between two places, between the actual diagnosis and the whirlwind that comes along with treatment and whatever, and the not knowing. It’s crazy.
Maybe this doesn’t make any sense, my thoughts don’t really make sense anymore. I just feel so alone today, and I want to know if anybody is out there who knows what I’m talking about (and doesn’t think I’m crazy!)

ALL Patient with some concerns!

Hello all,
I’m a 19 year old ALL (leukemia) patient in in the chicagoland and i happened across this site through google. I figured i might as well ask for some advice from other teens with the same illness rather than hearing “you’ll get through this” over and over from friends and family. I was diagnosed in mid April and like many it came across as a big shock. I’m not to concerned about it as i know i will be having excellent medical ccare and will move on but i was a rather active person as a full time student, almost working full time hours, a hobby in weightlifting, and hanging out with friends of course. Would anyone mind sharing their story with me,specificaly how long it took to get back to “normal” life as i hate being restricted in any means and my port does not allow me the pleasure of lifting.
Thanks all
-Javier

Bone marrow transplant (AML)

Hi my name is joelle im 18 and was diagnosed with AML January 11 2012. Its unbelievable how even now 7 months later i still feel asthough i may wake up from this nightmare. I remember feeling tired and losing a lot of weight months before taking a blood test.I have to say the hardest part is realising how this isnt a dream and watching everyone around you break into tears asking questions you dont even have the answers to..yet. Ive done 3 chimos 1 of which didnt work. When the doctors came in my room telling me the secound chimo had worked a great sense of relief came upon me. I have trouble accepting why certain people get more unlucky then others, i feel like i cannot let go of the one question that im sure troubles every cancer patient for quiet some time…why? Having lived my whole life a healthy child and now being dependent on drugs and medicine i feel as though i am no longer in control of my body or my future. Iam so thankful to have such amazing doctors to look after me and treat my sickness. Although i couldnt be happier that i am now in remission my fear of a bone marrow transplant subsides all else. I somehow found some luck in my misfortune they say finding someone compatable with you is like winning the lottery, My brother is compatible with me therefore the doctors have decided it would be best to proceed.I am so thankful, i remember asking my doctor if any of my siblings were compatable and the secound she mentioned my brother i fell apart, it must have been a mix of happiness and wonder. I wish someone could tell me its going to be fine its a very safe procedure and youre going to get out of it a ok but no one does, and even if somebody did would i believe them. I have faith that i will be ok but i also have fear. All i want is to have my normal life back the one i chose to dispise and not appreciate. I know my battle isnt over but im sick of fighting its exhausting. I know what i have to do and im going to do it because i want to be here.

Help

Hello, my name is AShley Bedard and I was diagnosed with AML at 19. I had a bone marrow transplant along with many other compications and side effects, some that a year later I am still living with. But what I am struggling with most is all my friends are in college and I now have none at home to do things with. I was treated at St. Judes in Memphis TN but all my friends from there are in various parts of the country. I am now 20 and wondered if joining this support group would help. Even when my friends are home I am not invited to do many things because they think I cannot or are afraid. Can you help?

Thyroid Cancer

Hey guys, I just now found this site, it looked cool so I decided to post. My name is Justin Anderson I am in college right now. Five years ago, the beginning of 8th grade I was diagnosed with Medullary Thyroid Cancer. I went through 2 surgeries in the first month in order to try to remove the whole thing. Then two years later I had to have surgery again because it moved to my lymph nodes, which I have to say was probably one of the more exhausting ones. I have to have my blood tested every 6 months because they know I still have it and its steadily rising, so I believe it might be spreading. I live with, but I try not telling people about except for close friends. I have been doing research a bit on my form of thyroid cancer and my thyroid doctor also told me that mine is apparently very rare at my age and so I was wondering if anyone else is diagnosed with the samething. Also I would be welling to help out anyone with questions to the best of my ability.

Justin

Missing you.

I am a two time cancer survivor. This summer has been a bad summer. I wanted the summer before my senior year of high school to be amazing, but it was so upsetting. I have lost 5 friends from the end of May to the beginning of September. They were all cancer patients. I spent my summer at funerals.

When I lost my friend Val in May, it didn’t hit hard until my friend Kenzie died in June. Once she passed, I was so upset. My friend Shane, who didn’t live in town, finally came into town the second week of June to seek a second opinion on his treatment. When the doctors here didn’t say what he wanted to hear, he moved back home. I was just blessed that I got to see him. I hadn’t seen him in almost two years. I never would have thought that was the last time I would ever talk to him or give him a hug or tell him I love him. He passed two weeks later. When I got that phone call, I denied it. I knew it couldn’t be true. I didn’t want to accept the fact that my best friend was gone. We talked all the time. But the two weeks leading up to his passing, he wasn’t answering the phone. I figured it was because he was going through chemo again. I never expected the worst.

Then about two weeks after I got that phone call, I got another phone call saying my close friend Matt passed from a brain tumor. I knew he was sick, but they were giving him so much hope. I went to Matt’s funeral the day before I went to camp. It hit me pretty hard that Matt was gone while we were up at camp. Matt loved camp and so being up there without him was very hard. It didn’t hit me that Shane was really gone until I came back from camp that weekend. I went to call him just to check up and vent to him like I always did. and the service of his phone was off. I became so depressed.

I am not sure why God has put all these people in my life, but they have definitely left an imprint on my heart.

Sorry for venting. I have had it bottled up way to long and I know this is a place where I can vent.

Its that time of year again..

I used to be here under the name squishyish, now i’m linked through facebook, so to save myself typing out my story again, here’s the link to my first post: http://www.teenslivingwithcancer.org/2010/09/01/i-have-colon-cancer/

As it is now almost October, im nearing my yearly colonoscopy. I dread it everytime. The horrible picosalax the night before, the hunger, it all sucks, to put it bluntly. Last year they moved me to the adult hospital, i got a new doctor, and i now am put under local anesthetic. It messed with my memory quite a bit. I don’t remember waking up, leaving the hospital, or any of the rest of the day. I was told i spent it at home with my (at the time) boyfriend, and i felt terrible that i didnt remember him being there. It also cost me my job. I made an error with my cab receipts because i couldnt remember things. I was furious, that this stupid cancer ruined so much. I’ve now found a steady job, and theyre aware that i will be a little confused the day back from my absence.

I go for my colonoscopy on October 18th, and even though ive had minimal growth the past two years, im still just as scared. Scared that my brother’s will have gotten much worse over the year, scared that mine will have taken a turn for the worse.. Ive been so sick this past year and a half, with 3 kidney infections, ovarian cysts, strep throat more times than i can count, infections, and most recently tonsillitis. I’ve had it for 3 months, just havent been able to afford the time off to get them removed. I know it all has nothing to do with the cancer, but it worries me. I just wish i wasnt known as the girl who’s always sick. I just want to be healthy. I’m tired of it affecting my life so much.

So now im playing the waiting game. Waiting to find out if theres more wrong with me this time..
i really hope not.. its been a rough year emotionally, and things are finally calming down. I don’t need another crisis..

Sorry for rambling, i just wish i had someone to talk to about it, that knew what it feels like. I have my brother, but its different when you’ve both grown up together with it, and he’s not as much of a worrywart as me. And now that im living on my own, i don’t see him much anymore..

My Pride Out the Window

Okay…. so I’m new at this… all of this.  This is kind of long, I realize, so sorry to whoever takes the time to read it. This is my first time using any kind of thing like this, and it’s also my first time admitting these weaknesses, so bear with me.

I’m Adrian, I’m 17, and I was diagnosed with AML about 2 months ago. My parents are divorced, and my dad is really rich. He supports me and my mom financially, but he’s not really in either of our lives anymore. This seems irrelevant but it helps the rest make sense.

So here’s the story. When I was 16 (before I got cancer) I moved out of my mom’s house, and into my own apartment, paid in full by my dad. I homeschooled myself, I did everything for myself. I used my free time to do whatever I wanted… and I admit that I did some bad things… but I was living the good life.

I live in a town where everyone knows me. Even when I didn’t go to public high school, everyone knew me and hung out with me.  I was popular. I was the one with all the money, the one who showed up to and threw the best parties. And the girls weren’t exactly shy around me either.

And then cancer hit me.

It started with getting really tired, then nose bleeds and a fever. My mom took me to a doctor, and after various tests, blood counts, and a bone marrow aspiration… etc. I was told I had AML.

The news pretty much destroyed my mom. It didn’t bother me as much as it should have. I figured I’d just adapt.

And the strange thing is… the one thing that did bother me, was that I had to move back in with my mom basically because I wasn’t able to take care of myself anymore.

About three weeks after my diagnosis was my 17th birthday. It passed without event, since I was too tired and too sick from my first few chemo treatments to really do anything.

I went from being the most popular person my age, to being helpless, sick, and not to mention, bald. I went from being independent to needing my mom to take care of me when I’m sick. Throw all my pride out the window. No one saw me as popular or cool anymore. They saw me as the guy with cancer.

My whole life I’ve been the kind of guy who isn’t bothered by anything. I’ve always been tough, and I never showed any weakness. I’m always impassive.  I feel like now that I have cancer, I am weak. And I hate it.

I admit that there are people who have been great at making me feel better. I have a caring mother and my amazing girlfriend, Sara, and they’re so supportive.  But niether of them quite… get it. They tell me all the time how I shouldn’t feel bad for needing help, but I can’t shake the feeling still. At the moment, I just feel like I’m about five years old. I hate it.

Anyway… sorry for practically writing a novel. I’m not necessarily looking for advice or anything. But I feel like I need to know that I’m not crazy for feeling this way. Do I have any right to even have any pride anymore, now that I’m sick?

« Previous Page — Next Page »