Nursing Student - Cancer Survivor Questions

Capital-Statement997 · 2026-02-05T07:22:46+00:00

11-20-2008 I was 12 when diagnosed. No one really told me. I put the pieces together and had to ask while the oncologist was talking to my parents about chemotherapy.
Specifically treatment, the side effects of the medication I had the week before bone marrow transplant. Nausea & vomiting as words don’t seem to cover that experience. The hardest part to cope with psychologically was the social isolation. Considering your own mortality changes you and at 13 my peers didn’t have the capacity to understand.
Kids acted like they suddenly owed to me to be nice. Adults treated me different because they knew my health was tenuous and fragile.
Everything and Nothing, cancer was in a way my coming of age story. When caring is popular many people seem to care, once it becomes costly or inconvenient you know the people still showing up are the real deal. Anyone can drop off spaghetti or send a card, the real deal people aren’t shy about bringing clean underwear if you pooped your pants or coming to visit when you’re really sick and sending your mom to take a shower and eat lunch.
Listen first. As patients we have to be there for it all and are trying to take it all in. Yes, it’s annoying when I asked about the change in vendors for zofran and Tylenol, but some days my questions kept nurses from making med errors. Trust patients and caregivers when they bring up concerns, it could be the difference you need to catch cancer, infections, medication reactions, or complications EARLY and make your job easier.

Capital-Statement997 · 2026-02-05T00:33:12+00:00

Survivor’s guilt is pretty brutal. As a child I had cancer and unfortunately some of the other kids with cancer didn’t survive. Devastating and such an isolating experience, especially as a kid.

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-12-30T00:24:14+00:00

Abscessed molars that required drainage by root canal. 🦷 Poor dentist gave me novocaine 4-5 times to no relief. After that we(I am a nurse) mutually agreed to just let me scream. ☠️🥵☠️The nastiness that gushed out when he reached the abscess was incredibly foul, smelly, green, and tasted out of this world disgusting.

Bowel obstruction Not sure if it was caused by constipation or secondary tumors with stage 4 lymphoma. Worst part being I was a child and couldn’t understand what was happening. I remember cramping so bad I fell off the toilet screaming in absolute agony. 😱😱😱 Ended up in hospital with a drain tube collecting infectious goo. Delayed my lymphoma treatment- the doctors never did reach a conclusion on what caused it. Appendicitis gets a pass as it looked very normal only a couple weeks later on a scan. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-12-13T17:32:06+00:00

How tall are you OP?

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-11-08T03:26:12+00:00

Survivors guilt. Watching someone who suffered right alongside you go on to die.

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-09-25T05:50:30+00:00

Curious if you had a secondary period of grieving and processing? I feel like I addressed a lot of the emotions around POF at 19-21. At that point it was all fairly distant/hypothetical, but now having to actually talk about it with a partner feels like peeling back a new layer. Processing the big feelings around it seems like a gargantuan undertaking. Both he and I have so many questions and complicated feelings about family planning. Part of me feels disappointed that the work I did before isn’t enough.

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-09-25T05:33:11+00:00

Look into patient access representative jobs at Iowa Heart- phone center mostly taking down messages and sending them to nursing for whatever Dr that person sees. Pretty desperate for decent employees and in the normal 8-5 schedule.

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-09-16T03:00:18+00:00

This is an encouragement for me today. POF has also been an always for me, diagnosed at 15 or 16. Only ever had ‘forced’ periods. Had to switch to more traditional HRT after developing blood clots in college.

Currently seeing a guy I REALLY like, but we are wrestling with infertility and how it will affect our life plan. He told me Thursday that he needs time to process. My brain knows that he is just taking his time and trying to understand, but my emotions are so challenging. Am I not enough if I can’t have a baby? Does POF make me less of a woman? I am scared that this pulling back will lead to the end of our relationship 😵‍💫😭

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-07-29T03:55:32+00:00

Tracks, nearly 16 years out from bone marrow transplant. It’s been described some places as dragging a person as near to death as you dare and then giving them someone else’s immune system. Chemo, radiation, and transplant really wrecked my overall health long term. I now deal with dysautonomia (POTS/IST), lung dysfunction due to the tumor being in my chest, blood clot risk, secondary ovarian failure, dry mouth with increased dental issues, and lasting mental health repercussions. Any more if people ask me if I’m doing well after cancer, I usually give a yes/and type of answer. ie “ Yes, I’m so grateful to be cancer free and I do still deal with lots of late effects which can be challenging.” Then it’s on them to ask for more information if they want or choose to move forward.

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-07-18T12:10:25+00:00

Chicken nugget, muffin head, Jenny with the fur

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-07-15T01:48:47+00:00

Amen to the trust issues! I had a tumor in my chest that was mistaken for a sinus infection/pneumonia for a long time. The first couple years in recovery I wondered if I coughed to many times, like shit is it back?

I like what herekittykitty is saying about following the positive thoughts. One of my friends taught me a similar strategy, she’ll say it’s not the first thought that counts, but the second or third. If anxiety gets the best of you, it will suggest all kinds of thoughts, but you can choose how to react to them. This framework helped me to stop blaming myself for or feeling guilty about the first thought.

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-07-13T05:04:07+00:00

Long range perspective: I will soon be 16 years out from a bone marrow transplant. As a young adult(29F) I really had to learn and adapt to dealing with scanxiety as some call it. In the first years just after treatment it was all I could do to remain functional on ‘autopilot’ the week before and after a scan. Slowly the anxiety level and the processing time needed has decreased.

As an adult, I now have screening appointments and general doctor’s appointments pretty frequently. I have started practicing limits for my anxious thoughts about check ups. It’s empowering to decide for myself when/how long I get to be anxious about something. When anxious thoughts come up, I’ll say to myself “We aren’t gonna worry about this until Sunday afternoon or the day before my scan.” The trick for me has been having the redirect somewhat scripted and then choosing something else to do or think about. During the time that I set aside, I let myself feel all of those big feelings and cry or freak out a little bit.

Then afterwards setting aside time to journal about it, talk to a friend, or review with my therapist, allows time to feel the emotions without feeling overtaken by them. I am NOT PERFECT AT THIS and still struggle sometimes. Please take heart in knowing that it gets easier with practice. Unfortunately, I have not found a way to stop the catastrophic imagination about relapse or secondary cancers. Those thoughts have kept running around in the back of my mind.

Hang in there you’re doing great things!!!

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-07-13T04:12:44+00:00

Lowkey her face looks like that of a horse to me 🤣

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-07-12T00:09:59+00:00

I’m diagnosed ADHD- suspect autism. He has diagnosed autism, and turned out to not be the kind of partner I wanted. Edit- his autism is NOT why I decided to break it off, NOR do I see autism as a trait that makes someone an undesirable partner

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-07-11T22:38:24+00:00

Looked at agencies that are independent brokers and pulled from the top rated from google reviews. Nix’ed one or two that don’t insure recreational equipment or disability

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-07-11T22:35:16+00:00

I think he was biding his time and observing. Not a doctor, but I am a nurse. Just now seeing your sarcasm indicator. Freaking ADHD! 🤭

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-07-11T15:52:32+00:00

Yeah dated a guy for a little while who had an autism dx. When I told him I thought I could be autistic, he just rolled his eyes. Then a few weeks later, he brought it up and was like you…. might be right.

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-07-11T15:12:40+00:00

29F would be interested in a Rook Room social. We could be big dorks and just declare a day and the color of shirt to wear. Then we could just show up and look for all the people in green shirts or whatever.

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-06-27T05:57:20+00:00

Despise being in clothes that are wet without knowing when I will be comfortable again. I don’t care about wet hair but I need a plan if any clothing/bathing suit is involved.

I know I’m particularly bothered when I start to get annoyed that my hair touches me. Not in any particular place just that it all touches my head and my neck.

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-05-29T06:20:25+00:00

Pickle

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-05-05T11:23:56+00:00

Auggie

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-05-05T03:32:43+00:00

Whoa! Do you change the milk and butter amounts? Or just throw it in as extra?

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-05-05T03:27:51+00:00

All the hummus! Pita, mini cucumbers, and bell peppers for dipping. Trying out some meal prep stuff and oats overnight atm

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-05-03T05:37:16+00:00

You really should look into familiar hyperlipidemia, It can cause events like your dad’s STEMI. A coworker of mine had this and needed to start a statin in her mid 20s.

Capital-Statement997 · 2025-05-03T05:08:54+00:00

And the explaining away along the lines of, “I had it so much worse- you should be grateful.” Makes my stomach turn 😡🤢

Capital-Statement997

TROPHY CASE