• A woman wearing a pink headscarf talking to two other women

    Living in 'limbo land'

    Are you, or a family member, friend, or professional supporting someone, waiting for results, or the 'what next'?

    Are you worried about the unknown, experiencing uncertainty and anxiety? Cancer patients relate to this place, and it has been described as 'limbo land'.

"There's an awful lot of people with me in 'limbo land', but we are all there by ourselves."

Patient partner Sarah Turle

Watch our 'limbo land' video series 

Hear from both patients and healthcare professionals.

Patient stories 

Our 'limbo land' patient stories give more insight into each person's experience.

Sara's story: "It's a place that I live in..."

Chris' story: "Lots of uncertainty along the way..."

Julie's story: "The one thing I wish I'd known..."

Kat's story: "Everybody hates not knowing..."

Hannah's story: "... a lot of the time I just felt really, really angry that life was really unfair."

Professional perspectives

Our 'limbo land'  professional videos talk about individual roles and support.

Lesley, cancer clinical nurse specialist (CNS): "Until you go to that appointment, you really don't know what's going to happen next."

Jonathan, GP: "It can be exhausting... people have very little power over what is going on."

 

Janet, Macmillan counsellor and, Claire, Macmillan consultant clinical psychologist: "...it can be a complete emotional roller-coaster ..."

Listen to a mum's perspective

A parent talks about their experience caring for their daughter and navigating limbo land as a carer and parent.