To use a Navy term, I'm down to a wake up! After six months of just chemo in three week cycles then 59 days of radiation therapy with chemo, I'm down to one more treatment tomorrow morning. All of my scans and blood tests have come back clean.

I started in January with stage 1a hCCC liver cancer. They took out 1/3 of my liver plus most of the tumor

After a couple months of complications, we got down to treatment with the chemo. It's been rough but I'm so glad I'm done!

In 2008, I was diagnosed with stage IV Hodgkin lymphoma. After initially reaching remission, my cancer relapsed in 2010. I underwent an autologous stem cell transplant, but unfortunately, it failed, and my disease proved refractory.

During that difficult period, I couldn’t do the glasswork that had been such a big part of my life. So I started folding origami cranes. I eventually folded 1,615 of them. At the time, it was simply something constructive to focus on—a cathartic and creative way to keep my hands busy and my mind occupied in the hospital, while navigating an uncertain future.

In 2012, I began treatment with a newly FDA approved immunotherapy called brentuximab vedotin. My original treatment plan called for 16 cycles, but after five treatments and clear scans, I stopped. I never went on to have the planned allogeneic stem cell transplant.

Today, I’m approaching 15 years cancer-free.

I didn’t assemble those 1000 of those cranes into a Senbazuru until September 2025. In the years between folding them and bringing them together, I learned about Sadako Sasaki, the Japanese girl whose story became associated with the thousand origami cranes. Learning about her and her connection to cancer inspired me to finally bring my cranes together into one piece.

Looking back, there’s something deeply meaningful to me about having folded all those cranes during one of the darkest periods of my life, long before I knew how my story would turn out.

I’m sharing this here because I know so many people are navigating their own difficult journeys with cancer. I don’t presume to know what anyone else’s experience is like, and I know that surviving doesn’t look the same for everyone.

For me, these cranes began as a way to cope. Years later, they became a reminder of a chapter I never thought I’d be able to look back on from where I am today.

I hope everyone here finds moments of peace, something meaningful to hold onto, and reasons to keep moving forward, whatever that looks like for you.

Hi all, my little sister is struggling with nausea and vomiting and yes she does get the medication for it and takes it but the nausea and vomiting stops her from getting nutrients into the body unfortunately :( she finished her first chemo cycle and 2 proton beam treatments.

What helped you with nausea and vomiting except the medication? Any tips or useful products you recommend ? & what makes you hungry again ?

I’ll try and keep this concise, and any advice is appreciated

Live in the UK 31, stuck at home and just had a baby, baby and gf live in the house too.

10K in debt from being an idiot when I was younger, thinking it would be easy to pay off once I had a proper job.

I have about £800 in the bank to get by, I have office/sales experience, but since I had cancer treatment I just simply do not care or have the patience for those kind of roles anymore.

I have been doing agency temp work since my treatment finished earlier this year, I am currently labouring but the post chemo fatigue is making it almost impossible to drag my feet around for 40 hours a week grafting on a building site.

I don’t know what else to do but soon I will have nursery fees to pay and everything else, I am very restless knowing that I’m not where I need to be but I just don’t know what to do.

All the jobs online indeed etc. are either sales, care work or just general garbage, I don’t have time/money for an apprenticeship and can’t keep doing low paid work forever.

What would you do?

Cheers

Hi everyone,

My father recently underwent a major surgery for liposarcoma, a type of cancer that develops in fat cells. The surgery lasted around 7–8 hours, and the doctors removed one of his kidneys, his spleen, and part of his intestine.

He spent 5 days in the ICU and another 2 days in a hospital room before being discharged home.

He now has a colostomy bag, and a drainage bag is still attached. His doctors told us that his albumin levels are low and that he needs to improve his protein intake to help his body heal. They will assess when the drainage bag can be removed.

The problem is that ever since he came home, he has been extremely weak, and we’re really worried about him.

Before discharge, the hospital staff gave him a shower. It was the first time he had seen his body after surgery, and he has a huge incision with stitches. That experience seemed to drain whatever energy he had left.

On the way home, he urinated on himself, and ever since then, he hasn’t seemed like himself. He appears lost and has almost no energy to do anything. We suspect he might be experiencing ICU psychosis or delirium, but we don’t know for sure.

We have started using adult diapers because he is currently too weak to manage going to the bathroom. His colostomy bag also keeps leaking, which is adding to our stress, especially because he has such a large surgical incision.

For context, my father is generally a very active, cheerful person. He doesn’t go to the gym, and he weighs around 90 kg, but he was otherwise healthy and independent before all of this.

We understand that this was a very major operation, and recovery will take time. However, seeing him so weak and unlike his usual self is heartbreaking.

I have a few questions for those who have been through something similar:

1- How long did it take your loved one to regain their strength after a major abdominal surgery like this? When did they start walking and doing basic things independently again?

2- Did anyone experience extreme weakness, confusion, or changes in personality after spending several days in the ICU? How long did it take to improve?

3- Can a leaking colostomy bag cause an infection, particularly when someone has a large surgical incision? What helped you manage the leakage?

4- If we continue using adult diapers because he is too weak to get up, could that affect his recovery or make it harder for him to regain his independence? We don’t want him to lose strength, but we also don’t want to exhaust him.

5- For those who cared for someone after a similar surgery, what helped the most during the first few weeks at home?

We are extremely worried and would really appreciate hearing about your personal experiences, recovery timelines, or anything you wish you had known during this stage.

Thank you for reading. ❤️

Well just another reason to say f$@k cancer. I’m 8 months post immunotherapy, chemo, and radiation. My eyes were burning and I thought my fall allergies were acting up at first. I went to optometrist because I knew something wasn’t right. She told me that the treatment messed up the oil producing glands in my eyes. She said it is common. There is a treatment for it using an OptiLight machine. It should be easy to fix and the treatment seems tolerable. Anyone else had this happen?

Insurance continues to deny coverage for Keytruda. The hospital sent me the application to apply for assistance directly from the manufacturer. But we make too much to qualify. But we still don't make enough to shell out $13k every 3 weeks for a 20% chance of it maybe having any effect.

So, I guess that's it? It's a weird head space to be in, feeling mostly fine day to day but knowing there's nothing to be done.

Palliative has set me up already with stuff for pain management (some days are bad, some days are fine.) I feel weird about the fact I'm probably going to become reliant on opioids.

If you ever want to feel judged go pick up a big Rx for oxy and a box of Narcan from the pharmacy.

Sorry for ranting so much lately. I guess this is the anger stage of grief?

EDIT: Hey everyone, I appreciate the sentiment, but flying to Mexico every 3 weeks isn't really in the cards.

For anyone who is curious as to why Keytruda is SO expensive this is an interesting (if long) read...https://www.icij.org/investigations/cancer-calculus/merck-keytruda-cancer-drug-price/

I was diagnosed in November 2025 with osteosarcoma in my distal tibia. Since then I've had 6 cycles of MAP Chemotherapy, a below-knee amputation, sepsis, incredibly painful mouth ulcers and an infected tooth.

Last week I entered into remission, however being given the all clear was a relief but overall I just feel numb and pessimistic.

The more that time passes and my experiences grow and evolve, the more I feel isolated and alone. The vast majority of people just don't understand or 'get it' when it comes to cancer.

Hi my name is Jacob (26m) and I got diagnosed with a diffuse midline glioma H3KM27m back at the end of may, it’s pretty big and my prognosis on paper is 1-2 years.

I’m on ONC 201 prior to progression, did radiation and chemo, I have solace in that I’ve pulled all the levers I had available to me and that there isn’t any more for me to do.

I’ve found a lot of solace in the fact my fate remains to be seen really, furthermore in simply living my life as it was. I have a wonderful girlfriend and two cute cats.

We all ponder mortality I think, in some ways it’s nice to know this is what does me in vs the ambiguity of death and time prior. I come back to an analogy of being a wildflower, we are as unique as we are common. I find myself more connected to humanity and its struggles, anyone can get hit any time, in ways I like to think I’ve spared another person in a way lol.

We all die, our numbers are all called, I’m at peace that this is my fate. All the while having the hope knowing it’s not like reduction/surviving even is a total non factor, fate has whatever in store and I find my hands and mind free of expectations, we die anyway right.

I’m nearly 20 years in remission from leukemia.

Sometimes it's still a bit tough to think about. Other times it cracks me up. If you have had cancer, you might feel the same way.

Maybe you want to tell someone how scary it was. Or how cool your doctor was. Or how much worse or maybe better it made your life in the long run. Or other things I haven't listed here.

Whatever it is, it's not always easy to tell people who haven't had cancer what it's like to have cancer.

But I'd like to know what it was like for you.

So, Friday, 30th October, between 5:30pm and 7:30pm, I’m gonna find a park in the Penrith area, pop down a lawnchair, and put out an esky with beer and soft drink.

If you've had cancer, you're invited.

FYI, it doesn't matter if you were diagnosed last week or last century.

There's zero pressure. You can talk about what your cancer was like, or you can say absolutely nothing about it and just have a drink. Doesn't worry me. You don't have to stay the whole time, and you don't even have to talk to me.

I just think if I'd had an opportunity to chat about things, it would have been nice. If you feel the same way, rock up, sit down, and take it however you want.

DM me for the field.

Here's to many more days of health and happiness for us both x

Has anyone travelled abroad for work while on brentuximab vedotin (BV)? I have 4 sessions before my autologous stem cell transplant, but I have a 2-week work opportunity abroad that I’m hoping to take after my infusion and before my transplant. Has anyone done something similar? Did your doctor allow it? Would love to hear your experiences!

Before I was diagnosed, I used to think about what I would do if I got cancer, and I was absolutely terrified. I thought I wouldn't be able to handle it.

It's officially my third month since diagnosis. Thankfully, I've been able to continue most of my daily routine. I believe I will survive and make a full recovery, but I'm still ready for any outcome or news from my doctor.

I have accepted my situation. People tell me that I'm too calm and some even say that I should be more angry and reactive. But I don't know what else I can do... I'm undergoing treatment and just accepting the facts. Honestly, I feel more peaceful than before.

Does anyone else have the same peace of mind? I would love to hear your thoughts and feelings.

Hi all,

Has anyone else experienced new-onset panic attacks and anxiety during or after treatment?

I (32f) was diagnosed with Primary Mediastinal B-Cell Lymphoma (PMBCL) in May. It was a sudden, unexpected diagnosis that was also accompanied by a traumatic job loss. I finished all 6 rounds of DA-EPOCH-R about a month ago.

During treatment, I started having fairly intense panic attacks. (They were significantly worsened by high-dose prednisone.) Overall, I had a lot of new anxiety--not necessarily about the cancer, oddly, but about everything else. I'd hoped the panic attacks would subside after I ended chemo, but they're still going strong, even getting worse. I get a profound sense of dread/doom, intense fear, sweating, and chest tightness. I try to talk myself down using logic, but I seem to end up overwhelmed again soon.

I have a great therapist and I just spoke with my psychiatrist about trying new meds, but I was wondering if anyone else experienced this? Has anything helped you cope? Does it get better with time?

My company's open enrollment information session was today and I am feeling alternatingly beat down and enraged.

Beginning Jan 1, specialty medications (Mvasi, Zejula, and Prolia in my case) will no longer follow the same payment structure as non-specialty drugs. Instead, we'll be enrolled in PrudentRX, which will bring my out of pocket expenses to $0. Effectively, PrudentRX enrolls in manufacturer rebate and coupon programs, get's the reimbursement for the insurance company, and I don't have to make that payment. Sounds great on paper.

HOWEVER, what this means in practice is I will no longer hit my max out of pocket within the first quarter of the year, and will instead continue paying for other drugs and services well into the Fall. I wouldn't mind so much, because I would eventually pay that money anyway, except the copay for another prescription I'm on will now go up to $200/month (basically the same price I would get using mfg coupons and rebates). That's not something I can have billed to me and pay over time as my HSA is funded. I have to pay it up front when I get to the pharmacy, which I absolutely cannot afford. I thought I'd just have to swing it a couple months until I hit my max out of pocket, but now I'm going to have to figure out how to cover it for most of the year.

I'm so angry and frustrated, and I recognize I might be too emotional at the moment to recognize ways this might be a good thing. It feels like my insurer has figured out a way to get paid twice for my coverage, and I'm left holding the bag.

Does anyone else have experience with PrudentRX? How has it affected your ability pay for all of your care? Have you had issues with prescription approvals? Delays in treatment? Am I freaking out over a big nothing burger?

I was diagnosed with prostate cancer at 47. I'm 56 now, and since then I've talked to a lot of men about it. Two beliefs come up again and again, and both stop people getting checked.

1. "I'm up at night peeing, so it must be cancer."
   Not necessarily. Getting up at night, a weaker stream and going more often are very often down to an enlarged prostate. That's common as men get older and it isn't cancer. It's still worth getting looked at, but it doesn't have to mean the worst. Some men avoid the GP because they're scared of what they'll hear, when the answer is often something manageable.

2. "I've got no symptoms, so I'm fine."
   This is the one that worries me more. Early prostate cancer often doesn't cause any prostate symptoms at all. My warning sign wasn't even urinary. I had blood in my stool twice in one week, went to my GP, and a PSA test and further investigation led to the diagnosis. Without that GP visit I wouldn't have known.

Prostate cancer also runs in my family, which is something I'd tell anyone with a dad or brother who's had it to take seriously.

The point I'd make is: don't panic, and don't wait. If something feels off, or you're over 50, or it runs in your family, have the conversation with your GP. In the UK you can ask about a PSA test, and your GP can talk you through what the result would and wouldn't mean.

Happy to answer questions about what the process was actually like if it helps anyone.

What stopped you, or someone you know, from getting checked sooner?