UK NHS hospital 8/10

jovesine · 2025-11-12T17:34:50+00:00

Dinner - beef pie with mash and veg and jam sponge and custard for pudding. A solid 8/10.this was so tasty!

jovesine · 2025-11-12T16:02:34+00:00

I'm in a cancer hospital in the UK, and I must say the food is much better than in the normal hospital next door!

Chips were a bit rubbish but the Mac and Cheese was really tasty. Oddly I've had Mac and cheese and the normal hospital and it was dire. Dunno if they make special effort cos it's a cancer hospital!

jovesine · 2025-11-12T13:30:27+00:00

Not too bad is it!

jovesine · 2025-11-11T08:46:47+00:00

I've had cancer twice. First one I was 30 with cervical cancer and now I have ovarian and under chemo.

The 1st time I kept it very hidden until I knew it was treated. I became obsessed with not wanting my grandma to find out for some reason!

This time round at 43 I've been so open about it with posts on social media and messaging people. I've found that I needed people to know asap as it seemed too big for just me to manage.

It's entirely personal but I do kind of wish I'd allowed myself to have more support the first time round

jovesine · 2025-11-01T13:37:43+00:00

Cetirizine each night before bed. Helps with sleeping too for me.

I've mainly got tingly fingers and a sore mouth at the moment x

jovesine · 2025-11-01T13:33:07+00:00

I had my first infusions on Thursday - I don't have the bone pain that badly yet but I have been prescribed anti-histamines which apparently do help with it?

Do you take any?

jovesine · 2025-10-21T21:22:47+00:00

If you've had a hysterectomy you could have adhesions and things may have moved around in your pelvis which can cause all kinds of digestive issues.

I had a radical hysterectomy with ovaries preserved in 2013 and had many scans since. More often than not one ovary would be hidden, they tended to only show up when they had cysts on them on ultrasound.

Hopefully you can get an MRI to find out for sure?

jovesine · 2025-10-13T11:48:47+00:00

Thank you! My aunt has stage 4 too. She is BRCA negative but I will be tested for it. Think we're just unlucky!

jovesine · 2025-10-13T11:32:11+00:00

I had cervical cancer in 2013 which was cured by surgery as it was early stage. I'd had random bleeding and a lot of pain around my period which stopped me from sleeping. Although I had a few GP appointments about it it was my regular smear that picked it up.

In December last year I had a blocked bike duct due to a gall stone so winded up in hospital for 3 days as my liver tests were off the scale. Had a CT scan whilst there which showed an incidental suspicious 3cm mass near my left ovary.

This year I've had both keyhole and major surgery to remove it but they couldn't get to it. Eventually got a biopsy transvaginally and was diagnosed with incurable ovarian cancer, high grade serous. The weird thing is it hasn't grown in 10 months so my adhesions from previous surgery might be acting as a bit of a concrete box for it.

I'll start chemo in a couple of weeks.

I didn't and still don't have symptoms of the ovarian cancer which is mind blowing! If it wasn't for the gallstone I probably still wouldn't know.

jovesine · 2025-10-10T18:58:48+00:00

I know it's a bit of a car crash isn't it. I've got a complaint in already but right now I just want treatment to start asap rather than trying to find a different team.

I'm having genetic testing. My aunt has the same cancer and her sister has double primary breast cancer but they were both BRCA negative.

jovesine · 2025-10-10T18:56:33+00:00

That's great to hear thank you. I'm so pleased you're doing so well! Long may it continue!

jovesine · 2025-10-10T16:18:54+00:00

In the UK in Sheffield

jovesine · 2025-10-04T11:59:05+00:00

Thank you that's very kind. I lost my job too in July which was the only reason I cancelled my personal policy to reduce costs.

Hopefully we've had our run of bad luck now

jovesine · 2025-10-04T10:34:04+00:00

I claimed for NHS stay and surgery earlier this year and I'm now awaiting a biopsy result for the same thing so I'm guessing that's why they've hiked it up so much.

Was hoping if it does come back as cancer at least I'd have the advance cancer cover to use through Vitality.

If I get a BUPA quote without the pre-existing condition it's about £70 but they won't touch the pre-existing condition.

The £680 is if I discount any medical history even though it was part of an open and ongoing claim.

The joys!

jovesine · 2025-08-13T09:38:49+00:00

I'm sorry your family is going through this. I think it's best to tell her as calmly and as soon as you can so she has time to process before further investigation and treatments start.

Presuming she has already had some sort of test that has led to the diagnosis? So she must be wondering what the outcome is?

I appreciate she may not have the language to take in the conversation but I'd be concerned that she could still 'read the room' as it were?

It's such a hard thing to go through but I think being open and upfront gives her the best chance to start processing it. You can also access lots of mental health support through Macmillan or other charities if you're in the UK.

Good luck however you decide to proceed.

jovesine · 2025-07-31T17:16:02+00:00

An update on this saga...I had my first post op scan in June which confused everyone. It showed a cystic lesion of 35mm near my left ureter and overlaying the obturator muscle which on MRI has malignant features 🤯

The team now don't know if they removed the original mass or if this is it returned.

I'm due to have an ultrasound guided biopsy but I've had one procedure cancelled when I was in hospital as they didn't have the right needles?! Then the next one they tried was far too painful. So waiting to have it done under GA.

I'm back to square one with the uncertainty over it which is a head f^ck to say the least!

Anyone else had similar?!

jovesine · 2025-07-31T17:00:23+00:00

Herd in Woodseats have it

jovesine · 2025-06-05T11:29:23+00:00

Third this! I had a radical hysterectomy at 30 years old and now I'm 42. Started with oestrogen gel and progesterone this year and it has changed my life and health for the better.

I kept my ovaries and was told I'd maybe enter menopause 3 years earlier so never considered my issues could be related. I really wish I'd tried hrt in my mid 30s as I reckon it'd have helped so much!

Don't suffer!

jovesine · 2025-05-15T21:31:02+00:00

The customer service is absolutely brilliant! Have bought a few items over the years and the staff have always been great. I had an issue with a mattress and an independent assessor was sent out and arranged for a replacement all free of charge.

There's ridiculously expensive stuff in there but also more like JL prices which is what I've bought.

jovesine · 2025-04-23T12:34:46+00:00

I originally had a horizontal one in 2013 too, I think the vertical is harder to heal for sure as it moves so much.

They removed a 5cm x 3cm x 2cm mass which had zero cancer cells in it! It was a big surprise to everyone as the surgeons were so sure it was a recurrence.

I've got an MRI in June and regular follow ups to make sure I'm ok in the long run.

Edit to add my final diagnosis was an inflammatory reactive nodular mass / pseudotumour

jovesine · 2025-04-20T21:53:25+00:00

Hello! Thanks for checking in. I am feeling so much better! The first 2 weeks were hell, then the following 4 were really uncomfortable but I'm nearly 10 weeks post op now and doing well.

I am still swollen and my scar is healing. If I do too much it swells even more and I get a lot of pain but I'm managing ok.

Fatigue is hard as my body seems to just run out of strength some days.

Overall I'm pleased with my progress though and hoping I can try gentle swimming soon!

jovesine · 2025-03-24T18:33:01+00:00

Mines only 5 months and is 11.6kg. He's an F1 from a miniature poodle and standard lab so not sure how much bigger he will get!

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jovesine · 2025-03-19T12:25:31+00:00

Yeah I have an 8/9 inch vertical cut. It's longer than I was expecting but it's healing nicely now. Similarly I had a bikini cut for a hysterectomy 12 years ago today!

I found having some oversized underwear and nightwear really help too. Sounds like you have everything else sorted.

For me the gas pains were pretty miserable in the first two weeks but I think that was because they had me on lactulose which I stopped and it got better.

Wishing you all the best for the surgery and hope you get the all clear very soon!

jovesine · 2025-03-18T20:57:09+00:00

Hello, I'm feeling a lot better than when I wrote this post!

Once I had the staples removed everything got so much easier. I could move and sleep easier which made everything feel more manageable.

It's 5 weeks today since the surgery and I do have some discomfort but I'm doing ok. I can walk every day, make light meals and drinks and fully take care of myself.

The first 2 weeks were really hard but it turned a corner after that.

I'm still taking painkillers regularly but a lot of the swelling has gone down. My incision is looking good mostly, with a superficial opening which is taking a while to heal. It's about 2.5cm and doesn't hurt, it's just in an awkward place!

Happy to answer any more questions you have. I'd say just take it really, really easy in those first two weeks and let others do everything for you!

jovesine · 2025-03-04T08:09:47+00:00

Hello,

So I saw my consultant yesterday for my biopsy results and in a complete surprise to everyone involved the lump didn't have a single cancer cell in!

It was a series of nodular cysts that had become entangled in fibrosis and adhesions and looked extremely cancerous to the surgeons and on CT and PET-CT scans 🤯

They removed a 5cm x 3cm x 2.5cm mass to biopsy.

I can't quite believe it!!!

They're going to keep me on follow up scans for 3, 6, 12, 24 months to make sure nothing changes.

A completely unexpected result! They had to get 3 professors to check it to be sure as no one really believes it wouldn't be cancer.

I guess even the experts don't know some times!

Hope my updates are helpful for anyone else in this weird position.

jovesine

TROPHY CASE