Newly diagnosed patients
Finding support prior to receiving a diagnosis | How cancer is diagnosed | After diagnosis | New patient Information sessions | Support for family and friends | Living with and beyond cancer
When you, a friend, partner or family member is diagnosed with cancer, it can be a worrying time. This page gives information about how a diagnosis is reached, how this will be communicated, and provides guidance on the support that is available to people during this time.
Finding support prior to receiving a diagnosis
We understand that many people facing a diagnosis of cancer want to start searching for information and it can be tempting to search the internet to seek answers. This can sometimes lead to misleading or inaccurate information. Once your diagnosis is confirmed, you will be better equipped to access appropriate information from a variety of sources that relate to your particular diagnosis and proposed treatment options. We would encourage you to talk to us first so we can help answer any questions you may have, and guide you to appropriate resources.
Tel: 01206 745347, and follow this link to our other contact information
Prior to diagnosis, these internet sites may be helpful for you,
How cancer is diagnosed
Most people are diagnosed with cancer after developing symptoms and seeing their GP, some as a result of screening in one of the national screening programmes and others by chance as a result of having an investigation such as a blood test or x-ray. If there is a suspicion of cancer, your GP will refer you to the hospital on a two week wait referral form (two week wait referral) this means any diagnostic tests needed, should be commenced at the hospital within 14 days.
Once your diagnostic tests are complete, a group of health professionals (Multi-Disciplinary Team – MDT) will meet to discuss these and decide the most appropriate treatment options for you. The members of the MDT are all experts in caring for patients with a particular type of cancer. For some cancers, treatment may be offered at a different hospital (specialist centre) i.e. Norwich, Cambridge, Chelmsford. Once you have completed your treatment there, you will return to Colchester for follow-up appointments and any further treatment. Even when you are being treated at a specialist centre, you are still able to access all the resources and support available at Colchester Hospital.
After diagnosis
Once your diagnosis is confirmed you will be invited to an appointment to discuss your results and treatment options, where you will meet your consultant and key worker. The keyworker may be a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) or Allied Healthcare Professional (AHP) such as a radiographer who can support you during your treatment and follow up. Once you know the name of your consultant or key worker and have questions please don’t hesitate to contact them.
The investigation and diagnostic process can take days or weeks, depending on how many tests are required to establish a firm diagnosis. Patients tell us this can be a worrying time and that they are sometimes unsure who to contact if they have questions, worries or concerns about what is happening. During this period, we encourage you to contact the Cancer Wellbeing Centre at Colchester Hospital whose staff will be able to support you and will aim to answer any questions or concerns that you may have.
Tel: 01206 745347, and follow this link to our other contact information
New patient information sessions
All new cancer patients are invited to the hospital’s new patient information sessions as soon after diagnosis as possible.
These sessions provide information about our cancer services and departments, opportunity to meet some of the team who will be looking after you and a tour of the department.
The sessions are normally held monthly in the Hospital.
Your Key worker/ Health Care Professional should make you aware of the sessions; we understand at the beginning it is hard to take in all the information given and some may get overlooked.
If you haven’t heard about them, please phone the Centre and you can book yourself on to the next one.
Tel: 01206745347, and follow this link to our other contact information
Support for family and friends
If you are supporting someone who may have cancer it can be a worrying time for you too. Your needs are just as important as those of the patient and there is lots of information and support available.
We have a section on this website for carers.
Here are some websites you could visit that give advice to family and friends as to how to support someone with cancer.
Living with and beyond cancer
For many people, finishing treatment will mean they are able to think about the future and find a new normality and consider how to live well after cancer treatment. For many others, treatment may continue now or in the future, and they may have to live with cancer for the rest of their life.
For some people, the end of treatment is not the celebration that might be expected. After having so much support and follow-up it can feel like a “no-man’s'” land or cliff edge, facing the future on your own, wondering who you will turn to with questions now that regular follow-up has finished.
It can take a varying amount of time to adjust and cope with your feelings and the consequences of treatment. All the information and support included in this website may be relevant for you now or in the future. Sometimes it can take months or years for people to realise or accept that their life is not where they might like it to be and they seek help following their experience of cancer. Some people find that calling in to the centre and talking about how they are feeling can be helpful. Others find accessing a support group where they can meet people with similar experiences is useful, or you may find that counselling from someone removed from your own personal situation is right for you. Whatever your situation, you are not on your own. Other patients have told us that this is how they feel. We are here to help if you need us.
Tel: 01206745347, and follow this link to our other contact information
We can provide referrals for counselling and also run self-management courses that many people find useful
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Breast Cancer Now - Life after breast cancer treatment
Prostate Cancer UK - Living with prostate cancer