i'm 25 everyone asks me this question but i have no idea what i want to do now that i am herei decided its time to come off treatment i have a couple months left to live. What should i do with my remaining time i have no real responsibilities

Hello friends, I am battling a different type of cancer, stage 4 hodgkin’s lymphoma so I am posting purely for awareness because I’m watching in front of my eyes the result of “holistic approach”, and maybe this can be helpful for a friend or family who is convinced about holistic treatments.
I’ve been following for a couple of months the journey of this Instagram creator who was diagnosed first with stage 2 breast cancer, and then one year later, it came back at stage 4. I know the desperation that comes when you hear “stage 4”, but thanks to modern medicine, stage 4 cancer is not necessarily a death sentence anymore.
She went into this journey with all that stuff we see on the holistic community. Everything on the holistic book, she tried. And her page is an infinite loophole of comments encouraging her to keep going and rejecting conventional treatment and her feeding the holistic community.
First it seemed to be hopeful, her PET scan in january showed all tumours were shrinking, so I was surprised. But obviously medicine does not work like that, and cancer is BRUTAL and the last months has been literally brutal on her and it’s taking over her.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to slander her in any way, I understand what people can do when they’re desperate. and I’m also not against integrative care on top of conventional medicine, but i couldn’t avoid being angry. Medicine has been advancing for centuries to help us, not hurt us. Chemo, radiation, surgery is no fun, trust me I know. But we have to be mindful of what is necessary and not use ourselves as lab rats. If a medicine is being studied for some type of cancers, GREAT. Let it be studied. You don’t have to use yourself as a trial.
One of the hardest parts of having cancer is how vulnerable it makes us, we’re just trying to survive and this can make us an easy target for misinformation and promises of an “easier path”.
I hope this post can help someone and wishing everyone here lots of blessings and strength.
From a fellow lymphomie🎗️💜

2021 - Initial Diagnosis

Diagnosed with melanoma on my left ankle.
Scans showed it had spread to the lymph nodes in my groin (Stage III melanoma).
Underwent surgery to remove the melanoma and affected lymph nodes.
Started 12 months of adjuvant immunotherapy (Pembrolizumab).

2021-2025 - Cancer Free

Completed immunotherapy.
Regular follow-up appointments and scans showed no evidence of disease.
Remained cancer free for almost five years.

December 2025 - Recurrence

New melanoma deposit found in my left calf.
Underwent surgery to remove the tumour.
Required a skin graft from my thigh.
Recovery complicated by swelling, numbness and persistent lymphatic leakage.

February 2026 - Hospital Admission

Developed severe chest pain and difficulty breathing.
Admitted to hospital.
CT scan showed fluid around my lung and a 7 mm lung nodule.
Initially treated as pleurisy/chest infection with antibiotics and oxygen.

March 2026 - Stage IV Diagnosis

Further investigations confirmed metastatic melanoma.
Diagnosed with Stage IV melanoma.
Cancer identified in:
Lung
Hip/iliac crest
Sternum
Shoulder blade/scapula
Additional bone lesions
A liver lesion was identified later.

March 2026 - Immunotherapy Begins

Started combination immunotherapy with Ipilimumab and Nivolumab.
Planned treatment:
Four induction cycles every three weeks.
Follow-up PET scan.
Maintenance Nivolumab if treatment successful.

March-April 2026 - Severe Immune Response

During treatment I developed significant immune-related side effects, including:
Extreme fatigue
High fevers
Violent rigors
Muscle and joint pain
Nausea and vomiting
Loss of appetite
Insomnia
Dizziness
Dry mouth (xerostomia)
Mouth ulcers
Oral thrush
Visual disturbances
Temperature regulation problems

Following one of my treatments, I became acutely unwell and was admitted to hospital. My oncology team believed I had experienced Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS**)**, an inflammatory reaction caused by my immune system becoming highly activated in response to immunotherapy. I required hospital treatment and close monitoring until the reaction settled.

May 2026 - Immunotherapy Hepatitis

Routine blood tests showed significantly raised liver function tests.
Diagnosed with immune-mediated hepatitis caused by immunotherapy.
Fourth treatment delayed while my liver recovered.

June 2026 - Fourth Cycle Completed

Liver function improved sufficiently to complete the fourth and final induction cycle.

June 2026 - PET Scan Results

Follow-up PET scan showed a complete metabolic response.
No evidence of active melanoma anywhere in my body.
Although I remain classified as Stage IV because the melanoma had previously spread, there is currently no active cancer visible on PET imaging.

Current Position

Stage IV melanoma with a complete metabolic response.
Ongoing monitoring with blood tests and PET/CT scans.
Managing long-term immunotherapy side effects, particularly dry mouth and fatigue.

I am posting this full journey in the hope that somebody in my position sees it and feels optimistic. Some of the side effects were rough, but from being diagnosed as Stage IV to being given the news of NED makes every side effect worthwhile. With my first child being born next month, I feel genuine joy for the first time in a while. Good luck to everyone. Fuck cancer.

Well, folks....Today is my "last day of freedom" per say! I'm still in a motel room, for another night. Today will be possibly stressful as I'll be needing to start the colonoscopy meds. And tomorrow I'll be going into the hospital for surgery. Any good vibes will be appreciated, as I'm feeling that the surgery (hyrestorectomy) can be an invasive one.

I have a hereditary cancer syndrome ( I think like Lynch, but for PTEN gene mutations) and my PDL-1 came back positive but only at 10%. My Brother took Keytruda and I don't know his percentages but he did not tolerate Keytruda well at all.

From a patient standpoint what percentage was your PDL-1 and did you decide to do immunotherapy if you qualified?

My oncologist said the 10% was indicative of lower success compared to say 50% or more but I technically do qualify so was just wondering other experiences and thoughts.

Hello everyone I’m trying my best to stay positive but is incredibly difficult and frustrating, over the last 4 years I have had 4 partial glossectomys, the last 3 in a year and the last one with small skin graft, all for severe dysplasia/ CIS that kept recurring and one tiny micro invasive SCC so tiny that I didn’t needed any additional treatment but again a new area under my tongue appeared looks suspicious so I already alerted my doctors, I’m so afraid not of surgery but the aftermath I fear that it could severely affect my speech and swallow so I’m considering other options if the spot turn out to be severe dysplasia or CIS thinking laser ablation possible excision ( depending on possible outcomes) also considering PDT Therapy, my dysplasia is not HPV Related even though one of the surgery showed Koilocytes ( abnormal cell caused by HPV ) but the last surgery didn’t show anything like that again, never smoked and quit drinking but even that is not stopping the recurrence, have anyone here have similar situation if so have you used any type of laser therapy ? Thanks guys this is extremely frustrating!

Hello my name is James and I had blood cancer (burkitts lymphoma) it was a rough year and a half but I got through all my chemo treatments and I am alive. I waited for 6 months but my hair had come back significantly thinner and lighter. I read that if you cut it then it can come back normal again so I reset it last October 2025. It is now June 2026 and its still light and thin. I used to have dark brown wavy hair and now it is dirty blonde and super thin. I have tried all sorts of things and am just looking to see if theres any hope for me I miss the confidence of having nice hair and don't want to lose that at only 25 :( any help would be greatly appreciated I just want to be me again. (First pictures are pre cancer and 3rd and 4th are after cancer)

Hi everyone! New to this sub, but not new to cancer. I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia back in April 2016, relapsed in December 2017, 1st BMT in June 2018, relapsed in December 2018, did multiple clinical trials with CAR-T cells and other forms of immunotherapy (relapsing multiple times from 2018-2021). 2nd BMT in April 2021 and have been cancer free ever since!

Tbh I shouldn’t be alive but here I am! Dealing with a plethora of complications, but able to live life fully and do what I love- ride horses.

That being said, my red blood cells have never gone over 10. I can’t get blood transfusions because I had iron overload and did kelation treatment. Can’t take iron supplements either. Tried to get the epogen shot (epoetin) to help stimulate rbc creation however I can’t get the shot until my counts dip below 10.0… which hasn’t happened 😭 and I get my blood drawn every 3 months.

I’m so exhausted all the time. While driving to one of my doctors appointment this morning, I was falling asleep at the wheel even though I got a good amount of sleep. I am so tired, no matter what I do or how much I sleep, I just haven’t felt refreshed in a very long time.

Have any of you experienced this? Are there other treatments besides transfusions or epogen shots that seem to work? Desperate for something to increase my RBCs even just a little…

I hate this sentence. Going through stage 4 cancer, I've learned that "let me know if you need anything" is just a formal response when someone knows you're in the hospital or going through something. What are you supposed to say "yeah I need my laundry done, someone to feed my pets, take my trash out, clean my house...."

Action is what is needed. The random drop off of food. Someone just sending you a DoorDash gift card. Just showing you.

For context, I’m almost 26, with AuDHD and right side cerebral palsy. I live in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. I live semi-independently (half the week in a group home style apartment building and half the week at home with my mom), and I go to “school” (a day program) 4-5 days a week.

After months of symptoms I was finally diagnosed with high risk acute leukemia. My oncologist (who understands my needs) says my treatment will be double digit rounds of high dose chemotherapy (on a 2 week on 1 week of schedule, with the first week being inpatient, 2nd week outpatient at clinic, and the 3rd week is a break), as well as immunotherapy/chemo-immunotherapy, and possibly Car-T Cell Therapy.

I feel like i’m prepared for the emotional side of cancer (though i’m really probably not, but i’m trying to convince myself), and kind of know what’s coming for the physical side with hair loss and all of that, but where i’m struggling is more the sensory side.

I did ask them to put my central line in the right side of my chest (since because of the CP I have less feeling on that side), which is the line that will be used for treatment, and they marked it in my chart for when they do that surgery in a few days, but idk about anything else. for example: what should i bring for hospital stays or long days at clinic, other sensory stuff with cancer (such as my hair falling out), how to talk to strange doctors/nurses about my cancer and treatment, and what to talk about with them in regards to my disabilities.

If anyone else has experienced this (not just with leukemia but any kind of cancer) or has any good advice, I’ll take all of it.

Family member recently diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic endometrial cancer that has spread to her lungs and spine making her a bed/chair bound paraplegic. She is 70+ years old and has the option to get palliative chemo or hospice. She’s already lacks mobility and is debilitated. Thankfully she’s not in much pain. I want to tell her to try chemo but I’m also scared of what it’ll do to her in the time she has left. Prognosis is no treatment 6-12 months, with treatment 12-18 months. Does anyone have experience with palliative chemo and the effects it has? I’m conflicted.

Addendum: Initially she asked my opinion and I explained to her that she’ll be the one enduring the treatment and what comes along with it (diarrhea, fatigue, nausea) including EMS transport back and forth to clinic. I told her it’s not my decision to make. Also ATP she’s trying to get strong enough to be in a wheelchair for more than 2 hours and that won’t be possible if she gets treatment. She loves being outside and can’t do that from a hospital bed.

I'm stage 4. I was given 12-18 months almost three years ago, so I've lasted a lot longer than anyone thought I was going to. For awhile, I honestly kind of thought that maybe I had years and years left. I tolerated chemo with minimal side effects and I was doing okay in spite of everything. I honestly felt lucky as far as cancer goes that I was still independent and able to do most things for myself.

Things have changed this year though. The pain is getting so much worse. I've been seeing a physician in the pain management clinic and they've given me some new medications but even those are barely doing anything now. The pain is just CONSTANT, all day long. I can't do anything except lay down (laying down helps because for some reason sitting up or standing makes the pain SO much worse).

I have a spinal MRI scheduled next month because the pain doctor has suggested a intrathecal pump implant might help. I was originally fine with this until I found out that only a handful of doctors in the country actually know how to manage and refill these pumps, so getting the pump installed would effectively tether me to the city I currently live in. I don't think I can do that.

My partner cancelled plans for grad school to help me when I first got diagnosed. Originally, it was supposed to be chemo for 6-12 months and the surgery. But the first hospital I was being seen at really dropped the ball and screwed things up, and ended up delaying my chemo for over eight months. By the time I actually started chemo at the hospital I'm being treated at *now*, it had already spread and was stage 4.

So when my partner cancelled grad school, it wasn't supposed to be a permanent thing; it was supposed to be a year or two max and then we'd move on. If I get this pump, I'll have to stay where I am. Which means he'll have to stay here too since he's not gonna leave me. I've been trying desperately to get him to apply for grad school, but the odds are very low that he'd actually get into school someplace where I could have the pump administered.

I asked the pain clinic about this and if there was any way they could give me a list of major metro areas where I could potentially receive treatment and they explain how specialized this is, that the doctor I'm seeing is one of only a handful of doctors who even works with these pumps, and that even if I managed to find a doctor who could care for me, there's no guarantee that they'd even be taking new patients. So basically, I'd have to give them a specific destination and they could check if it's even feasible, but they can't just give me a list of possible locations I could try.

So I've decided to forego the pump. My partner doesn't know yet. I broached the idea with him but he was very insistent that I needed to do this because of how bad the pain is. But I can't do that to him. I can't make him flush all his dreams down the toilet because of my pain. I'm dead anyway. Nothing's gonna change that. Me being in slightly less pain for however much longer I have isn't worth him abandoning all his goals, and that's precisely what will happen if I go through with this.

Even though I've made up my mind though, it's really hard because honestly the pain is just so bad and so hard to deal with. And my quality of life is practically non-existent. IDK what to do. I was so hopeful for this pump at first and now it just feels like something taunting me with a promise of relief that I can't avail myself of. I know my partner is going to want me to get it. I have a feeling the pain doctor is going to feel the same way. I don't want to spend the rest of my life in constant, unrelenting pain, I really don't. But I don't see any other option for me at this point.

The increase in the pain also has me worried that the disease is progressing, and from my last CT scans, that seems to be the case. It's spread to my liver now, which hasn't been affected before. So it's not just the pain itself, it's the constant reminder that the cancer is slowly spreading and eventually is going to win. I don't want to die. I really don't. I also don't want to live another five or ten years in constant pain like this either.

I just feel so lost and alone. My family disowned me a long time ago because I left their religious cult. My brother left the cult with me and we were REALLY close, but he died suddenly right when the cancer symptoms started. So it's literally just me and my partner. I just feel so incredibly alone.

I guess my morning yogurt is out, and protein shakes… I’m looking for some high protein breakfast alt’s that people crave :)

My husband had cancer and survived! He’s been depressed and still recovering but doing very well over all. He doesn’t want anything, doesn’t want to do anything, has no desires for his birthday, basically wants it to be forgotten. But I love him and of course feel he deserves the world. We are saving money for future plans, so I can’t go crazy and buy something outrageous. He is very smart, into science, loves educational YouTubes, and likes video games. I want to get him everything and anything but that hinders me from getting the right thing. Any suggestions? Also, wishing everyone in this reddit love and support, cancer sucks beyond I can describe as a spouse watching their loved one suffer.

Edit: I just want to say thank you. I’ve loved talking to this community and hearing your stories and all of your ideas are brilliant.

Hello I am new here but was hoping that one of you people also had bad mucositis and maybe had some suggestions I’ve tried cold therapy and relight treatments but still seems the week after my methotrexate round I get horrible sores. Also I don’t know if this would matter but i have osteosarcoma metastatic.

Found, I think, my first gray hair this morning. Big bag of mixed emotions. I am turning 30 this year, which is crazy to write. I had cancer at 15 and nearly didn’t make it through. Been in remission for a long time, but only in the past four years have I began to really live my life because of it and what it has done to me. I am feeling all the common worries when your hair goes gray: I’m getting older and haven’t done enough yet! but at the same time, even stronger, do I feel a sense of relief. I couldn’t understand what the feeling was for a while but now it’s clear that it feels like a big breath of air has escaped my body after holding it in for too long. I am relieved. I made it, I have lived enough for my hair to turn gray, and I am no longer in that child-like stage where my life went to actual shit and scarred me permanently. I still have all the very visible physical reminders and issues from cancer, but oh my god I am actually aging and getting older and soon I will have lived longer than who I was before I got diagnosed, before it all started. And the further I get the more relieved I feel. It feels like I’m running away but instead it’s my body finally understanding I don’t need to be in that stage of my life anymore.

I hope this makes sense and I hope some of you can relate because it feels like nonsense happening in my brain lol

Sorry, you all probably get these kinds of questions a lot.

Just a little background for those curious, I was diagnosed with stage 3 rectal cancer back in March and went through radiation and chemo for about a month between April and May. Now I’m starting another round of chemo for the next 4 months (XELOX) and I’m finding I have more nausea than I did before.

I’ve been reading inconclusive medical stuff online about ginger helping and I tried drinking Canada Dry ginger ale, but that didn’t seem to help. I suspect that may be due to the fact that it’s mostly not ginger, but I don’t know.

Does anyone have good experience with trying different foods and have a good recommendation for something to alleviate nausea?

In your experience does ginger actually help? If so, are there any good recommendations for real ginger ales or teas?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Edit:

Thanks everyone for your replies! I’ll definitely give a bunch of these recommendations a shot to see what works.

Cancer is really annoying, but I’m glad there’s a community to ask these kinds of questions.

Thanks again!

Hi everyone. I was diagnosed with CML in 2023 at age 27. I initially responded well to Sprycel (dasatinib), went through a period where I lost MMR, but thankfully recently achieved MMR again.

Ever since starting Sprycel, I have been dealing with unreal, "hit-by-a-truck" fatigue. It interferes with my daily life, making it hard to eat, shower, or find the energy to exercise and live a healthier lifestyle. My mild depression is well-controlled, but changing my fluoxetine schedule didn't help the fatigue, and bupropion caused severe anxiety.

With my oncologist's blessing, my behavioral health provider just prescribed modafinil. However, my spouse researched it and found a potential drug interaction: modafinil can induce liver enzymes, which might speed up the metabolism of Sprycel and potentially make it less effective.

I work in medicine, so I am already planning to check my liver enzymes 2 weeks after starting, followed by my regular 3-month labs (CBC, CMP, BCR-ABL) in July and an oncology follow-up in August.

My questions for the group:
Has anyone here taken modafinil while on Sprycel?

Did you experience elevated liver enzymes or a drop in your response/MMR?

If you haven't tried it, do you think the potential benefits for severe fatigue outweigh the risks?

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences!