General Chat

Florence if you dont mind staying on the thread we would all love you too, also there will be others that you will relate with and visa versa, and this is intended for relatives too, ive not had cancer (just waiting to see doc for crusty mole) but close family have , as long as it dosnt upset you why not just pop on for a chat now and again keep us updated with your darling daughter too xxxxxxx

Florence, you lived through it with her... my opinion is quite controversial... and please remember that I am talking about MY cancer and treatment, which was extremely aggressive, it has to be.

I had loads of drugs to counteract the effects of the chemo, and other drugs to counter the side effects of the drugs for the side effects, lol... read the labels on all of them, and you will see that most of them state *may make you feel drowsy* Drowsy? I was in my own little happy fairy land some of the time... so the effects of the treatment were very much dulled, and seem almost dreamlike looking back.

What kept me going during the very very worst couple of days... believe me, dying was much easier than staying alive for a couple of days towards the end of my treatment... but what kept me going was waking up, to my husband, just quietly sitting there, reading a book or doing the crossword... he sat throughout the visiting times, every single day that I was in... he really kept me going just by being there, and not even saying a word, just stroking my hand or helping me to drink.... but it was very very hard on him, watching me and knowing how close things were.

So, Florence, this was your little girl, your baby... you have as much right to be on this thread as anyone. You were her reason for fighting, I am sure. (((((hugs)))))

Love

Daff xxx

I dont take anything for the cancer now, but I have tomato and lettuce every day in a sandwich because I like them. The only supplement I use is Brewers yeast tablets. I take one a day and have done since I was in my twenties. I reckon it gives your energy that little extra boost. I should be thinking of upping the dose now! I do use cider vinegar, but thats for water infections!.

hi puss, just want to say so glad you did this thread and how wonderful to have others sharing their experiences. i dont want to go over old ground re my daughter as it wasnt me that actually had cancer, but to say how brave all of you are coming on here.

sometimes its easier to say whats on your mind to a complete stranger than those closest to us,we tend to bottle it all up and thats not good.

so to all who have been affected by this terrible disease, stay positive if you can, eat lots of tomatoes, dark chocolate to keep you iron up after chemo or a beetroot sandwich, full of iron. my daughter lived on them for weeks when she came home and really pushed her counts back up.

as i said before she had passed her 5 year stage and is nearly a teenager and in good health. if anyone has been affected by a childhood cancer, you can always ask anything, i may be able to help.

good luck to you all
best wishes
florencex

Hi Annie,

Know what you are going through, drugs.ughh. !!.....well we all need them to survive, so just say to yourself its all for the best and it wont be long before all treatment will stop and you will get better.

I was in bed most of my treatment sleeping off the affects of my chemo , and boy did I lap it up !! LOL

So just take one day at a time, you are bound to feel off some days more than others , but hey you are allowed, to feel down and miserable. nothing wrong with that.

Just keep talking .......and smiling .. xx

Annie I ate whatever I normally ate, nothing changed in my eating habits other than Wine, that had to Stop.....for a while ...only..LOL

I would love to hear from others what foods and herbal remedies they have used that has helped with their treatment.

Am being monitored for cervical cancer as well. Had a few abnormal smears and some cell changes but it is not pre-cancerous yet thankfully.

Have had heaps of side effects from the drugs, am coping with most of them but others get me down a bit. They also cause mood swings. OMG I have turned into the angry woman from hell LOL. I have never been so angry over nothing in my life.

annie love i can imagine i bet you feel you are treading on egg shells with your life, but look at our jean and other people i have spoke to you must keep positive always never let the fight drop you deserve to be here and live wish yo lived near i would love to give you a hug xxxx

hi jean , my ex fil partner was given months they found a grapefruit size tumor in her abdomen, the treatment left her with osteoporosis and she has just gone thru her 5th year and I'm glad you see your doctor even the slightest thing you get there young lady lol xxxx

hi Rita you too have been through the mill keep being positive too xxx

Ive heard that tomatoes and broccoli are good foods to eat to help prevent and help slow down cancers any tips like that would be useful in here , when i get 5 mins after slug patrol i will look some up, hope i don't sound bossy I'm so grateful to you all and i know this thread is helping xxxxx

As I have already said on this thread l have cancer a sport on the kidney and on the liver.cannot be cured but they are trying to keep it under control.
five years ago I went into hospital to have a D & C done as I was bleeding a lot every so often l had already had three of these done before.
I went in had it done two days later l was allowed home two weeks after that I was siting having a meal with my sister when the phone went it was the Doctor who did my D & C he asked me to go to see him that afternoon no appointment just turn up.
l did my sister came with me I was told l needed a Hysterectomy within the next few days. the next day I had the MRI done ECG and other things they do. I went in the next day they took everything away. l was in there for 5 days l must admit i did have problems for three months afterwards I went and had the usualy check-ups they signed me off. l was fine till the november when l was rushed in with the blood clot that was when they found my other cancers
which was so unexpected. but I am lucky I got the calls when l did. and l am thank full for that.

Rita

Annie from NZ, it is 25yrs since my GP told me I might have a year to live, and every time he saw me after that until he retired I got a great big grin and an 'I was wrong, wasnt I'
Marylin, It seems as though every time I go to the doctors with an ache or pain they immediately check that it cant be cancer. I get a bit fed up sometimes, but better be sure than sooy. You should be aware that the chances of osteoporosis are more after some cancer treatments and this can cause pain in all sorts of places due to compression of abdomen from spinal collapse.

what worries me the most is time...... how long will i have. it is so scary. somedays i just dont cope and am in tears constantly.

hello ladies , still no gentlemen hopefully thats a good sign xxx
marilyn i think when you have already suffered cancer you should be seen straight away may be one day when the country gets on its feet and in a ideal world, well only 9 days now see that day went quick lol xxxxx

and good you carry on as normal best way

Hi , LPC

The Consultant never said about urgency although concerned , just that it takes about 10days for a Scan & MRI appointments that's the waiting time I guess, then two weeks after that to go back and see HIM !!

So I am aware of lots of other poor people waiting for scans & MRI 's I have just got to wait........ I am as I tell myself in the queue !

But thanks for this thread, I will be looking in often and keep you all updated,I have got some lovely friends on HERE and at home , that's very comforting to me.

In the meantime housework has to be done ,research has to be done and most of all Wining & Dining has to be done ..LOL

Thanks to you all xxxx

sorry hope i never mislead but i do think you are a wonderful inspiration, going through what you do and still here for others Daff.
Well everyone i have big ears (arms belly and bum) but thats irrelevent lol and hopefully you can all write what you want and feel, its weired to think how you feel its always going to be sone else.
Thank you again im off to bed xxxx

Puss,
well done fir starting this thread, I'm sure it will help alot of people. I lost my mum to lung cancer in 2001, and I'm sure had this been around then I would of been able to chat to friends on here as a sounding board to my fears.
Going off the cancer theme, I found a website called the Hysterectomy Association and it has lots of forum pages that have been a great help to me just before and since my operation. There is a thread for each month and we compare with each other how we are coping with our aches and pains, what problems we are having and lots of other helpful hints and tips. I hope that your thread helps others to cope with the dreaded big C.

Thank you Sylvia... we are a large family... we have formed an exclusive club of just the three of us... the TCC (T**** Cancer Club) and we are not going to allow any of our other siblings to join, lol.... my four sisters are nurses, and my mother was a nurse in a cancer hospital in South Wales... I suppose it has rubbed off on me, like measles and chicken pox, lol.... I did manage a residential home for young adults, plus worked with young children with terminal illnesses and syndromes, all of which meant they had severe learning and physical disability as well... so needed to be aware of lots of syndromes and suchlike. I just got into the habit of researching everything about everything, lol.... pure nosiness on my part. ;¬))

I am off to bed right now... 4 year old granddaughter is staying with us, so I need to be bright and breezy in the morning for the zillion questions she throws my way.... lol

Love and ((((((hugs))))) to you all

Love

Daff xxxx

and theres me thinking you were a nurse Daff. Sorry to hear about youself and your brother and sisters cancers. Some ppl get a lot thrown at them in life, my love to you all xxx

Daff, I was the same with ginger biscuits. Couldn't get enough of gingernut biscuits when I was feeling ill in the mornings from my medication : )

I have found that my online friends have been a great help. I can talk to them all about how i am feeling. This has relieved a lot of stress from me as I have an outlet to talk about my problems. I don't discuss all of my worries with my partner because he gets to upset and is a typical man, doesn't know how to handle me being ill. In everything else he is amazing and has been very good to me since I was diagnosed.

It is good to have forums like this to discuss things and to get comfort and support from the words of others and from their experiences. We are not alone.

xxxxxxxxx

Hello all.... could I please point out that lovely though it is that the lovely Puss is extolling my knowledge all over the thread, lol... I am not a nurse, and all the information I have given, I have sought out for her from sites such as Macmillan, and just generally pointed her in the right direction,, and by googling the specific cancer, to find the help site for that specific problem.

Most folk are probably fed up with hearing that I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia in October 2008. Mine was very aggressive, as all the acutes are. I was unable to complete the full range of treatment because of the effect it had on me... but I have recovered, and have never lost my sense of joy at each new day.... even strapped up to multiple drips and tubes I still managed a giggle, lol...

What I DO have is exactly what many of you on this thread also have in abundance, and that is the experience of your own cancer, your fight to recover, and also the emotional impact of surviving it... the *so, I am in remission. What next?* feelings.

I can only tell people about MY experience... and a little of my sister's (breast) and my brother's (Hodgins Lymphoma, which included a stem cell transplant), both of whom have had their cancers in the last couple of years.

I would heartily recommend looking at the Macmillan site.... there is another one as well that is excellent but my brain is fuzzy.... I'll update tomorrow.... they have specific community boards for each type of cancer... and that is where you will find people who know about YOUR cancer... they will have had it, will have walked in your shoes, or be about to start that walk..... on this thread, it would be more about how folk FEEL about their cancer, their treatment, and their survival... and to be able to say, hey, look at us... here we still are, full of life, and living that life to the full.

It would be good for people about to start treatment to be able to read and see that we are all here.... loud and proud, lol!! And for us to be able to tell them.... yep, it's normal to feel like that... yep, that will wear off/comeback/whatever.... oh, and those little things like nibbling on ginger biscuits when nothing else would do... bit like morning sickness, really ;¬))

Loads of love and ((((hugs)))) to all of you

Love

Daff xxxxxx