The Mental Health Thread - (Help Contacts in First Post).

[Clacton-ammer]

All the best to you and yours Hugh That goes to everyone, f*** it, let's have a big cyber hug...

DL, everything crossed for you dude

[Hammer1972]

All the best DL, sure it will all turn out fine

[Mega Ron]

Well, they've found a tumour in my bladder, and I will be going in for surgery and a biopsy in around 10-14 days.

Good luck dude.

[-DL-]

Thanks for the kind words all of you, it's much appreciated - though quite where you got reasoned and intelligent poster from, I've no idea. I always thought I was a bit of **** tbf...

Today is the first day since the news, and I'm not going to lie - I'm struggling a bit. See, blood in my urine has been going on for quite some time. I went to the GP back in February because I noticed my pee had a slight pinky tinge to it - but it had started a good few months before then, but me being a bloke, I did nothing about it.

Anyway, following that visit, I did a urine sample and it came up clear, so it was left at that. It wasn't long after that that I noticed the pinkyness again, but as I'd not long been to the doctors, I thought that maybe it was just me seeing something that wasn't there.

During the summer, it started to get worse, but again, like an idiot I did nothing about it - despite it now being much darker than before - but my self diagnosis was it was due to the heat and that I'd not been drinking enough. So, I made sure I was drinking more, but in reality all I was doing was diluting my wee with blood in it, and led myself in to a false sense of security and thought everything was fine. That was until a week ago last Friday, when I had a wee at work and mid-stream I suddenly stopped - then POP a huge clot and loads of blood come shooting out of my old boy. At that point, I went sick on duty and got myself straight to the GP, who then referred me to the hospital, and there I was yesterday, 10 days later, being told they've found a tumour in my bladder.

Today was the first time I actually looked at my paperwork that I was sent home with - and the tumour is 26.4 x 26.6 MM - so its a bit of a lump. It's grown and probably taken root. Now I'm not stupid, and I'm under no illusions as to what it's likely to be.

Now of course, it could be benign, but I'm sensible enough to know that it more than likely isn't. (The vast majority of bladder tumours are malignant) I'm not wishing cancer upon myself, but I'm also more than acutely aware that that's probably what it is, and that's what my mindset is going to be. If it is benign, then great, it's better than expected, but if it's malignant, which I think it is, at least I'm (kind of) prepared.

I'm going to have to go in and have it removed, as I said yesterday, which will involve a night in hospital and having some instruments shoved down my old boy (I knew having a huge piercing that's made my japs eye that look like a trout's mouth would one day come in handy) and it's going to be burnt out of my bladder wall and samples sent for biopsy.

My main worry isn't the having cancer, as I am aware the recovery rates are pretty good (that's if it's not too far gone, but right now I don't want to contemplate that just yet), it's the levels of treatment for it. If it's just partial thickness of the bladder wall - then great - burnt out, a bit of chemo and regular checks and all should be tickity boo, and life goes on. BUT, if it's full muscle thickness and hasn't gone in to surrounding tissue, that's when the scary stuff starts - complete bladder removal, a stoma, and complete loss of function and sensation sexually. If it's full thickness and in to surrounding tissue, then the outlook isn't particularly good - pretty bleak in fact.

So, hopefully it's not as serious as it appears - but considering that as I finished the last paragraph my phone went and it was the hospital's Macmillan nurses checking up on me to see if everything is ok - I think I know where this is going to end up.

In the meantime, all I can do is try and get my head around it (See, this post does fit in the mental heath category of this thread!) and fight this bugger so I have many more years left in me yet - and hopefully many more years of being able to have jiggy-jiggy with the Mrs - because I'm only 44, I don't really want to contemplate my shagging days being over just yet.

[Samba]

In the meantime, all I can do is try and get my head around it (See, this post does fit in the mental heath category of this thread!) and fight this bugger so I have many more years left in me yet - and hopefully many more years of being able to have jiggy-jiggy with the Mrs - because I'm only 44, I don't really want to contemplate my shagging days being over just yet.

Great post, DL.We all ignore things & hope they'll go away. You have given all of us a wake up call.
As for no more sex, well loads of people have had to give it up for a variety of reasons, so you wouldn't be on your own, in that respect.

[S-H]

You'll kick f*** out of it DL, I know you will.

[Cuenca 'ammer]

DL

fair play to you for looking into the prognosis a bit..however sometimes we talk ourselves into the nth degree and the end game.

there isn't anything you can do except take one step at a time.

if as you say is the good kind, then you're okay. if it isn't then you're prepared for treatment.

don't go looking for stuff that might not be there. like I said, one step at a time. you can worry yourself sick about what if's.................it is always good prepare yourself but......you seem to have talked yourself into the worst case scenario and you haven't had the biopsy yet.

we're keeping our collective fingers crossed for you.


and as for the well reasoned contributor bit...don't worry mate...you certainly ain't..

[-DL-]

Ozzie,

The vast majority of tumours in bladder are malignant. They will be giving me a dose of chemo in to the bladder when it's taken out.

I'm not silly, and to think it's anything else would be naive. If it's not then what a touch. But in keeping it real.

[Cuenca 'ammer]

I wasn't meaning to understate it mate, and if it seemed that way, I apologise.

I googled it to make sure I understood what you were talking about, and the one step I meant was, don't assume it's the worst kind.

again, if it came across as me telling you to blow it off, then that wasn't what was intended.

[-DL-]

Fair enough mate - maybe I misinterpreted what you put - either way, I wouldn't worry about it.

[The Old Man of Storr]

You must be worried sick but at least things will be moving on quickly now to deal with this , you just want things to be over and done with so you'll be able to look back on this rather than worrying about it in the present , we're all willing you better , Nick , all that matters now is for you to get better , don't worry about anything else .

[WestHamByTheSea]

DL- you know this already (I hope), but it's worth a reminder; there are a load of us on here for you.


I don't have any easy answers or immediate consolations, what I do have is an eternally open ear and an always accessible point if you simply want to vent spleen or whatever you want to do.


Please feel free to DM if you want. I know when one feels overwhelmed that reaching out to erstwhile strangers can seem difficult, but sometimes it can be a useful outlet. I won't be here between 22nd and 28th December, so if you need/fancy a text or e-mail in that interim, let me know.


You've done a lot for plenty of folk on here mate, so please accept any reciprocation when need be!

[ageing hammer]

You've done a lot for plenty of folk on here mate, so please accept any reciprocation when need be!

Hear hear, we don't have to have physically met you to know you are a top bloke DL you have always come across as a great guy, hell you even laughed at one of my jokes.......ONCE


Cue David's Cross to chip in saying " Well nobody's perfect "

[S-H]

hell you even laughed at one of my jokes.......ONCE

Steady, ageing..

[davids cross]

hell you even laughed at one of my jokes.......ONCE

Well.....nobody's perfect ageing.

[S-H]

Fair play to Iain Lee for this.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... nutes.html

[mushy]

Fair play to Iain Lee for this.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... nutes.html

Yes I read this earlier, and as you say, fair play to Iain Lee.

The first thing that struck me about this was, did the guy on the phone actually ask to be saved?
Which opens up another can of worms of course.
What do the good people of this forum think about this in a moral sense? Should we ring the emergency services for someone that is serious about suicide and prevent them their right to carry it through, or do we respect their wishes and leave them alone?

Interested on both sides of the argument.

[Eggchaser]

DL - I cannot imagine what you are going through at the moment and consoling words are definitely not my forte, but I hope everything works out in the best possible way for you.

All the best.

[mushy]

DL- you know this already (I hope), but it's worth a reminder; there are a load of us on here for you.

This in bucket loads.
I am not a medical person so cannot really offer much in the way of advice on that side of things.
However the fact that you started your research the next morning (many people will not do this), the fact that you are looking this disease in the eye, the fact that you are a stoic, stubborn bas***d, can only stand you in excellent stead for what lies ahead.
Good luck mate, and remember if you need anything, need a chat, need a cry, need to punch someone, then there will be someone on here willing to help.

[SpongeBob's Pants]

Good luck mate, and remember if you need anything, need a chat, need a cry, need to punch someone, then there will be someone on here willing to help.

Errr.... not me!!

DL, that is shocking news. No point trying to pretend otherwise...Its going to be a tough recovery with the surgery and chemo, but i'm so pleased to see you're doing research and are well aware of whats ahead of you. Mental positivity is key here. You know you're going to beat this, however tough it gets. F**k cancer.

Most of all, i sincerely hope its not the more serious form that you described. Hopefully its a quick removal, some chemo, and you're good to go. Survival rates for all caners now are incredibly high. You're in the best hands now.

Stay positive. Keep optimistic - this is one of lifes unexpected speed bumps. I'm confident you'll be right back on your game come Feb/March - you're a tough son of a gun!