'limbo land' - sharing personal experiences of living with cancer

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

Patient Partner Sara Turle

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'.

Capturing and sharing

Together with our Working Together Group patient partners we have produced a series of ‘limbo land’ videos that capture and share:

personal experiences of cancer patients, how they have felt during this time of uncertainty and what has helped
the stories of professionals and the support they offer.

Watch our 'limbo land' video series

'limbo land' in full: 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 rollercoaster ..."

Join the conversation

If you’ve been affected by cancer and would like to get involved, visit our patient and public engagement page.

Screening and early diagnosis

Our screening and early diagnosis work focuses on breaking down barriers to increase the number of people who take up screening and raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer to reduce health and health care inequalities across Kent and Medway.

Faster diagnosis

The NHS Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS) requires patients to be diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within 28 days of being referred urgently by their GP for suspected cancer. For patients who are diagnosed with cancer, it means their treatment can begin as soon as possible. For those who are not, they can have their minds put at rest more…

Personalised care and support

Personalised care means giving patients more choice and control over their care, based on what matters most to them as individuals. It is a partnership between people with cancer and their professional team.

Innovation

Kent and Medway Cancer Alliance (KMCA) is one of eight cancer alliances to participate in the Galleri-GRAIL clinical trial. The trial aims to prove whether the Galleri-GRAIL test is effective in diagnosing up to 50 types of cancer by looking for DNA markers in the blood.