I'm sure this achy ear lobe is cancer...

One thing to be prepared for is assuming that every little ache and pain is the big 'C' on it's way back to steamroller your life. I was determined not to be like this, but I have to admit, I have been. Since Christmas I have had a horrible flu bug that has kept me awake at night with violent coughing and vomiting and made me feel utterly dreadful. Pre-C I was very rarely ill, despite being a chronic migraine sufferer, and this bout of illness sent all sorts of unwelcome thoughts into my mind. I worried that my immune system was so compromised that I would always be ill from now on, and had a nagging fear that this was lung cancer and my time was up. Logically I know that this was nonsense. And, if lung cancer was this easy to treat with cough medicine, millions of sufferers the world over would be partying. But you can't quite eradicate all of these kinds of thoughts from your mind with logic alone. My solution was to talk to other cancer friends. One reckoned her arm pain was bone cancer, another that her headache was brain cancer. Both, fortunately turned out to be false alarms. For some though, similar symptoms were an indication that the cancer has returned and they are in treatment. Again, the majority of people will have lots of moments like this that turn out to be just normal minor illnesses, but when viewed through Cancer Glasses seem to be completely ominous. It's important though to be vigilant about any changes to your body, and anything that lasts over three weeks, get checked out. You can then celebrate when it's 'only' flu!

Amanda