I think I'm about to be diagnosed with cancer, and I'm fairly scared.

Petesgaff,

will be thinking of you tomorrow. As per Tails said, stay away from the internet!! My missus went into Hospital just over 2 weeks ago with suspected appendicitis. Next morning got a call from the hospital saying Docs and wife needed to see me asap. Got there to find Sue had the appendix removed, along with half her large bowel ( right hemicolectomy op) after docs had found a 2x 3 inch 'mass' and we would have to wait 2 weeks for the lab reports.

I then went googled everything I could about bowel cancer/right hemicolectomy and have been freaking myself out with all the horror stories/ worst case senarios. Sue's attitude on the other hand, was I'll wait for the results before I start to flap/ worry..

Yesterday morning , got the all clear from the docs, the relief was huge. ( understatement of the year there).

Fingers crossed for tomorrow for you and hoping for a good result.

Hope things go as well as you can expect tomorrow Pete, best wishes and keep us all informed – we want to know!

Pete aka Woodsman

Fingers crossed here too.

My Mum was given the all clear last week after having a tumour removed from her bowel. That was a relief.

Congratulations Mark and Meg. That;s fantastic news. If you can do better than Mr and "Mrs" North and actually get married, all the better.

Your honesty and truthfulness continues to astound. In your darkest moments, think on this and be proud. However hard it may feel, revel in the glory of having each other and the love you hold. Honesty, truth and love count above all other things. Hold your heads up high.

We're proud of you and wish you the very, very best.

Just found this thread can't say anything that hasn't already been said but you're an inspiration for the way that you're dealing with this and I'm sure with the determination and courage already shown whatever you have to face will be overcome.
I'll finish now by saying that all the Gibby household wish you the very best and congrats on your engagement.

Congrats on the engagement and best wishes for today.

Higs.

Another one for not looking at the internet for informaiton. When I was first diagnosed with a heart condition and was prescribed meds for iut I made a point of looking both the condition and the meds up on the net. I then started bricking it and thinking I would get _all_ of the side effects.

I didn't.

Also, the bulk of the info you tend to find is American and they have a different way of doing things, so it's not strictly relevent. Mind you, I did get the constipation…

Anyway, I'm all fixed now and you damn well will be too! So chin up, stop doing the Shakin' Stevens impression and get out there. We're 100% behind you and you can take strength in that.

Good luck.

Dammit! Forgot to wish you congratulations on your engagement!

I hope today goes well, fingers crossed.

And fantastic news on the engagement, congrats to both of you.

Deeply moving thread this.

Best wishes to you Mark, and congratulations on the Engagement.

Best wishes fella and good luck. We are all rooting for you.!

Surfer

MAssive con grats on the engaugement dude!!!! 😀 That brill news!!!

Best of luck today mate fingers crossed for you and I mean the fact I'll buy you both a pint when this is all a distant memory after a ride!!

Congratulations on the engagement! That's great. 😀

All the best.

good luck man, several sets of fingers crossed here.

tim

Yay engagement!
Congratulations guys, here is a pic of 2 rabbits I made the other day (my little girl tells me they are getting married too), hope it makes you smile!

🙂

blah blah hope it all goes well blah blah….more importantly when's the stag doo? I purpose a beer, bikes'n'curry themed event resulting in Mark tied to a tree in the buff in the middle of Macc Forest.

We could have a massive singletrack stag do!!!!!
All the best, will be thinking of you.

thats a couple of scary assed rabbits man!

well done on the engagement, mr and mrs gaff eh?
got a nice ring to it!

blah blah hope it all goes well blah blah….more importantly when's the stag doo? I purpose a beer, bikes'n'curry themed event resulting in Mark tied to a tree in the buff in the middle of Macc Forest.

Out of interest… what's the Macc Forest connection.

Higs
Of Macc.

edit…
if you want a beer, bikes and Macc Forest thing I can recommend our Christmas route:
Pint in the Cat&Fiddle
Down Stakeside up the hateful road slog back to C&F.
Pint.
Across road and down to Cumberland Clough
Pint in the Stanley
Through Macc Forest
Pair in the Smithy
Phone curry order through.
Ride down to the Dunstan to meet curry, wash down with beer.

Higs – no connection, it's just a ride I haven't done in a while. I was thinking of the jar or two in the Smithy while we ponder whether the groom has been eaten by wolves or not 🙂

Nice route btw.

There is news. And its not so good.

I have two areas of concern confirmed by the PET-CT scan. The first is located near the front of my windpipe, and appears to be a type of gland. They are operating on it first thing on Sunday morning, with a view to confirming it's malignancy.

The second one is the shocker apparently. Its located on the outside wall of the right atrium in the heart, and is quite rare by all accounts. The Dr is very good and a real breath of fresh air; honest and matter-of-fact, which is what we need at the moment. She reckons that a biopsy isn't possible, so it'll probably be cut out during open heart surgery and patched using the pericardial tissue or bovine tissue.

Apparently its highly risky, but not risky enough for me. I've requested that she drinks a cup of 'man-the-f*ck-up' doing it on a unicycle with a blindfold on…

All joking aside, the time for tarting about is over. I'm wired and ready, because now it has a face and I can get my game-head on. I'm shitting blue lights, but with my other half furiously trying to find cheap wedding venues and the idea of having a bulls heart shoe-horned in to my chest, how can I fail?

I'm now off to puke with fear…

M

Hope everything all goes successfully! Just keep thinking of that new bike you will get when your all better! You would deserve it!

All the best, and kick it in the backside!

I've requested that she drinks a cup of 'man-the-f*ck-up' doing it on a unicycle with a blindfold on…

LOL! Look on the bright side, you're going to have a really cool scar…

Take one day at a time Mark. And what is, is – you can't change that. They are giving you an op not as a means of relieving symptoms, but to achieve a cure. Focus on that, not the unknown – it is the unknown which causes most fear. They are operating to cure you, remember that. Stay strong. And consider speaking to patient organisations which can help you during this difficult time. My very best wishes. Gus

good luck mate.

I'm wired and ready, because now it has a face and I can get my game-head on.

Bingo.

As Ernie says Mark this is the cure, keep your chin up fella you are an inspiration and we will all be thinking of you.

Good luck for Sunday.

Positive thoughts from me!
Best wishes

Mate, best of British for the hours/days/weeks ahead. One-day-at-a-time.

Congratulations on the engagement!! 'Good' news on getting told what's happening and how they can go about getting you sorted and on the mend. All the best for sunday.

JT

Mate, they're putting you under because they know they can cut this thing out of you and cure you.
As soon as you're up and running we will be organising the stag doo to end ALL stag doos for you! 😉

Not too used to posting on here without taking the piss, but for once Mark, I'm lost for words, and believe me, thats saying something for a Yorkshireman. Good luck flower, and keep up the positivity – you'll get through this. Love to your lass as well, thinking of you both.

I'm not sure a post about a bloke finding out he has extra bits should make you laugh … but it did.
Keep the attitude, best of luck for Sunday dude and congratulations on the engagement. Look forward to the Stag.

Now you know you can get on and kick some ass. Like the others said, the doc is removing the offending article so it's a case of getting better then. Remember, you are in an advantagious position, being a fit young man – you're in the best place to recover quickly. (not TOO quickly – make the most of the rest time because you'll be back in the thick of it all too soon.) You know where we are if there is anything at all we can do to help. Either of you.

Chin up.
Otherwise they won't be able to get to your windpipe.

And I'll buy you a pint when you've recovered from the Op. Make it soon.
Moses

All the best 🙂 Never forget the odds are on your side and thinking you'll beat it is half the battle. Looking forward to a wedding pic followed in years to come by a 10th anniversary thread about who remembers this one……

All the best for Sunday. Hope that all goes well and you can recover quickly and fullys.
Many congratulations on the engagement too.
Will be thinking of you.

Congratulations to you both, and all the very best of luck.

From someone who doesn't know you (apart from via this), but admires the hell out of you for the way you're going at it.

Mark and Meg – big congratulations both and stay strong! Mark – heal real soon!!! With the might of the STW massive behind you, you're gonna beat this.

Just add Mark, your comment "I'm now off to puke with fear…" I hope you have discussed your understandable anxiety with medical staff. Because anxiety can be treated with a whole variety of things – and very effectively too. Keeping it bottled in is just pointless and unnecessary. And as I said, consider phoning/speaking to patient support groups if you aren't already doing so.