What were the first signs of YOUR cancer?

Question

Tell me what it was, how you knew and how it's going now.

I have read through everyones answers and have been utterly ripped apart. I don't have cancer myself and consider myself to be exteremely lucky and 'there but for the grace of whichever deity'...
If there were any way I could make it alright for any of you, I would.

It will be VERY difficult choosing a 'Best Answer' for this and I just don't think I can.

Best of Luck for everyone. One day we will find a cure...it can't be that far away. Too late for some of us but at least we will all know that our kids/grandkids may be spared this heartache.

Answer 1

I had no appetite, abdominal pain, and constant diarrhea (seems pretty innocent). It didn't go away and I was tired all the time, so I went to my doctor and had many, many tests done. He couldn't figure it out, so my husband suggested that I go to a specialist and had a colonoscopy. They removed the cancerous polyps and I've had three rounds of chemotherapy. Since it was caught very early, things are looking really good.

Answer 2

I had a lump in my breast that hurt and itched. I didn't go to the doctor for a few months because I believed what I'd read and heard about breast tumours not hurting. Well they can.

Even after being referred as an emergency I wasn't scared because like most people who haven't had it I was very ignorant about breast cancer and was under the impression that these days mastectomies were almost a thing of the past and that it wasn't a particularly serious cancer.

I had a Grade 3 stage 2 tumour, with 13 lymph nodes affected. I had a mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Three years later I am well as far as I know despite my poor prognosis. I say 'as far as I know' because there is NO ALL CLEAR with breast cancer.

Please everyone, see your doctor as soon as you notice ANY changes in your breasts.

It IS a serious cancer. I think all the publicity it gets and all the fundraising lead people to believe that the fight against it has been won. As my neighbour put it 'They've just about got breast cancer licked haven't they?'. Really I said, then why are they still cutting women's breasts off...

Answer 3

I was 37, no risk factors for Breast Cancer. I asked for and received a mammogram, I had dense breasts and wanted a baseline done. It showed areas of micro calcification, sort of like a snow storm all over the breast. It was classified as DCIS, the only symptom I really remember was an itchy nipple, drove me crazy that summer. I had a radical mastectomy including the chest wall, all nodes were negative. No follow up chemo or radiation. Seven years later the cancer came back in mets all over my bones, specifically all the cervical vertebrae in my neck and my pelvis. I've had all the radiation, chemo etc I can have. We are exploring alternate treatments right now, I'm looking at a possible hip replacement within the month. But I'm alive, 15 years after a Cancer diagnosis, my boys are 19 and 24 and one is getting married next June, I have a new goal. I also Facilitate a support group, I believe they work.....

Answer 4

My son was 17 years old, going to school, working weekends, and playing high school sports just weeks before diagnosis. He was asymptomatic until the cancer was advanced. He had a well physcial in order to play sports in December and by March he had multiple abdominal tumors, some the size of volley balls. His earliest 'symptom' was a month before diagnosis if he pressed on his abdomen he felt an odd lump. At the time it seemed unusual, but not alarming. Who would think that a 17 year old healthy kid had cancer in his abdomen. Another clue was that even though he was playing sports . . he was gaining weight around the belly and was feeling queasy. All this time we thought he had mono or the flu because of generally, nothing specific, but of not feeling too well. His cancer moved extremely fast . . the first of January he seemed fine . . but by February we knew something was terribly wrong, but not what it was. His blood test indicated a low thyroid condition. By the first of March he was hospitalized and diagnosed with a rare stage IV abdominal sarcoma called desmoplastic small round cell tumor. It is a disease that predominately strikes boys and young adults. Rare, aggressive, and deadly.

It took me months before I was able to do any research on the disease . . all of it devastatingly grim.
http://www.stjude.org/disease-summaries/0,2557,449_2167_7502,00.html

But, my son made the determination to fight the disease the best way possible. And that is what we have been doing for two and a half years. He responded well to high dose chemotherapy - did nine months of it and the tumors shrunk enough so that he could have surgery. He had two surgeries to remove the bulk of disease followed by a heated chemo bath. The heated chemo bath was to address the hundreds of microscopic implants in the peritoneal cavity . . which worked very well. He was on a low maintenance chemotherapy to control the remainder of disease. He has had thoracic surgery to address about 20 quarter sized tumors embedded into the right diaphragm. He has had liver surgery to remove some invasive tumor attached to the liver. And, he has a remaining tumor mass within the pelvic area that we have decided not to pursue surgically. Currently my son is asymptomatic and enjoying the summer with his friends and brother (they just all headed out to see the new Simpson movie). In a few weeks he will undergo a Clinical Trial to see if we can control or shrink the remaining disease. New research is desperately needed for this disease and my son decided that someone had to do it.

We remain grateful for each day we share with this kid and hopeful that treatment will continue to be beneficial.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

I like this question, because I get to read of many people's stories on how they beat cancer. I was just told a couple of months I am in complete remission from my Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. I had a cough that wouldnt go away and then I lost about 20 lbs unexpectedly. After the NHL diagnosis, I underwent 8 round of awful chemotherapy, and then had a radical robotic thymectomy to remove my thymus gland (where my tumor was). Now I am free of all detectable cancer. I am so encouraged by the other stories. People who have never had cancer dont fully understand what we go through, but we know the emotional distress they have when someone close to them is going through it.

Answer 7

I have Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) and discovered it by finding a tiny lump beneath my right ear in the parotid gland. A biopsy confirmed the diagnosis.
In UK the NHS decided that no treatment was necessary.

A few years later I emigrated to Spain and shortly afterwards noticed more lumps growing around my collar bone area. The doctors here did a biopsy and once again confirmed NHL. They could not believe that the UK NHS had not given me any treatment! Within a week I was being given chemotherapy AND immunotherapy followed by localised radiation therapy. The cancer is now in remission. However, to be on the safe side the doctors are giving me a maintenance treatment for a further two years.

If I can be of any help please e-mail me.

I am one of the growing number of survivors.

Answer 8

I didn't know I had cancer I was just 29 and I never would have thought it could happen to me. No one in my family has it, just lung cancer runs in my family and I don't even smoke nor have I ever. One day I just got sick on a Monday at work and had to go home(alot of stomach cramps). The next day it started getting worse so I called off and made an appointment at my doctors office for the following day. Then by Wednesday it had gotten much worse and when I seen my doctor she thought I might have an Appendicitis or the stomach flu so she told me to go in to the hospital the next day if I hadn't gotten any better. Well Thursday I couldn't even eat and then I started vomiting horribly so my husband took me to the hospital. They took x-rays of my chest and stomach and when it came back there was some sort of black mark on my x-ray that concerned them. The doctors' also took my blood and my Calcium was dangerously high so I was then admitted. On Monday I did a biopsy and they took some of my bone marrow to test it and it came back that I had stage four Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. This is currently my eighth month on chemo and I have 5 more to go, but I stay positve that's the only way.

Answer 9

I found what felt like a patch of rough skin, I knew it wasn't "right" and went to the doctors with it. Within a few days I had the area cut out and the tests came back that it was early cancerous changes...thank God I didn't leave it. Good news is that I have my yearly check ups and am fine now.

Answer 10

Cancer Warning Signs
Millions of people each year are diagnosed with cancer. Follwoing are the warning signs of cancer.

Changes in bladder or bowel habits that lasts more than 2 weeks.


Thickening or lump in breast or elsewhere.


Unusual bleeding or discharge in cough, urine, vomiting, or stool.


Change in size or appearance of mole or wart.


Nagging cough or hoarseness lasting more than a few weeks.


If you experience any of these signs, you should consult your Doctor. Some of these signs necessarily do not indicate the cancer disease. They may be due reasons other than cancer. It is advisable to get screened every year to detect any cancer at an early stage. Cancers detected early can be cured.

Heavy wrinkling & cancer risk
How many wrinkles you have may be an indication of your lung cancer risk, according to study by British researchers at The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (2006).

The study have concluded that middle-aged smokers with heavily lined faces have a 5 times higher risk of lung disease than their unwrinkled peers. After age and the number of years someone had smoked were taken into account, heavy wrinkling was the next factor that seems to point to increased risk, they said.

Severe wrinkling also shows a lack of anti-ageing antioxidants, like vitamin C, which also help protect against disease. Medical experts are now recommending to look out for premature heavy wrinkling in addition to other symptoms of lung disease such as persistent smokers cough and breathlessness