PPH - How is your friend doing??

[hippipotami]

Apologies if you don't want to talk about it, or if there has been an update I have missed.
I have been thinking about your friend often since you first posted about her having surgery.
How is she now?

A mum from school who is a friend in terms of we go to the same coffee mornings and mums nights out, but is not a particularly close friend as such, has just been diagnosed with bowel cancer. Her close friends are rallying round. But I don't feel close enough to her to help. I have offered my services to her dh in terms of walking their dd to/from school etc, but don't know what else to do.

[MintyDixCharrington]

Oh Hipp I've just seen this.
Thank you so much for asking.
Well, she has been having radio for um probably a month or more now, and has been having chemo in tablet form daily since then too. Her radio finishes in three weeks, then she has a month of just chemo as she is now, then they rack up the chemo to a higher level.
She is doing OK - very tired, has lost her hair, steroids have bloated her quite a lot which she finds depressing.
So it is all going OK. But it isn't an attempt at a cure, just an attempt to buy some time and for that we are all still v shocked and sad.

WHat has helped her is - help driving her to chemo (fantastic rota/spreadsheet in place), a few quiet nights out (kitchen suppers with just the four of us, simple food, couple of hours max), food dropped off randomly (extra cottage pie for the freezer etc), borrowing chick flick dvds for those endless hours in bed when not quite able to get out but can't stay asleep forever. Just drop things around maybe? A freezable meal and a Grazia one day, a DVD on loan the next, pick her dd up for a playdate for the afternoon and return her - that sort of thing? You don't have to be that close to her to be helpful - doing little things like that without demanding full gory details of treatment etc can mean a lot.

[hippipotami]

Great new name! Sorry to hear your friend cannot be cured, I had not realised that . How truly truly awful.

Thanks for the advice, will make contact with my friend and her hubby and see what I can do to help.
She has had a section of bowel removed and has been given a stoma bag. They are waiting to see the consultant with regards to how much it has spread and if she needs chemo.

I hope you and your friends can give your friend many happy memories.

Again, thanks for the update and advice.
xx

[MintyDixCharrington]

Thanks. Hope your friend gets better soon.