Thread 12 - TalkLair: “I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.”

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 11).

The days are gradually growing longer, but the worst of the winter weather is not yet behind us. In the TalkLair, we remain hunkered down keeping cosy and warm. The hearth is glowing, the walls covered in dubious artwork, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them).

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

I was just reading Vogue's noscars where they give out interesting or silly oscars. Anyway, the dog from Anatomy of a Fall won best dog.

Found out yesterday that the Oscars is on ITV tonight which blew my mind. I'm going to watch as much of it as I can for the first time in years.

@Dotellhimpike the dog, Messie (?) is at the Oscars. He is so beautiful!

Has it started yet? I turned it on a while ago and it was just Jonathan Ross wittering on.

So Oppenheimer won many Oscars. Deservedly, in my opinion, as I found it a most excellent film. And good for RDJ too!

I didn't see it at the cinema, but eventually got to watch it on a plane earlier this year - I was somewhat startled at the sex scenes (although they were tastefully pixellated) because, well, I was on a plane. And a Middle Eastern airline, at that.

I didn't see it at the cinema, but eventually got to watch it on a plane earlier this year

A humblebrag I'll remember! 😛

We saw Oppenheimer at the cinema and thought it was terrific. I'm sorry Barbie didn't do better - I really enjoyed that one.

Ryan Gosling doing Just Ken at the Oscars was one of my highlights of the night. It was a pretty decent show and Jimmy Kimmel did a good job.

I was pleased for Robert Downey Jr that he finally got an Oscar but last night made me realise that he's a bit of an arsehole. Not for his speech but how he was with Kimmel at the beginning.

I wasn't disappointed with any of the wins but other films/actors etc would have been equally deserving. There were a lot of deserving films up for various awards this year.

I fell asleep briefly but was thankfully woken up when they were showing some clips for sound because there was loudness. I was grateful because I didn't miss any of the big stuff.

I haven’t been to the cinema in ages (probably not since before the pandemic) and have yet to get round to watching any recent films although I really want to see Barbie and Oppenheimer at least but watched the Oscars anyway. It seemed like a better show than it often is. I missed the beginning though so avoided Robert Downey Junior revealing himself an arsehole (though it’s not much of a surprise, really).

I loved Ryan Gosling’s performance of Just Ken and I liked the intro bit he did with Emily Blunt although that was slightly marred by my bafflement about her dress.

Sad to see Karl Wallinger has died, even sadder to think Robbie Williams was a bigger star than Karl ever was, with the songs Karl wrote,

I didn't post about it on Sunday or yesterday but things got really dodgy. Not only could I not eat solids, which is fair enough I knew it was coming, but I was having trouble with water and the Fortisip that I have as a supplement. I could swallow them but only in sips and after a few sips I'd bring up saliva along with a bit of the water or a bit of the Fortisip. By yesterday I was not in a good way. I was dizzy and a bit scared. Snoop got me to the hospital where I told them the issue and my dietician and consultant radiologist were emailed. I was basically desperate for some form of feeding tube so I could get some nurishment. Luckily, despite my difficulty drinking I was reasonably well hydrated as evidenced by it being easy enough to get a canula in for a CT scan.

Thank god, today saw massive improvement. So far, no bringing up saliva and the ability to drink normally. I've had a litre of water so far today. Fortisip also going down better and Snoop made me some scrambled egg which I managed. It was a bit difficult but stopping to have some water saw it go down. I've had three small bottles of Fortisip, the scrambled eggs and some lobster bisque and thank god - I'm thanking her a lot today - the dizziness while not gone is getting better and I feel almost normal again. It was really scary. I still want a feeding tube because things are definitely going to remain difficult and I don't want to be in the situation I was for two whole days. I can't afford to do it with my weight now being "too low" according to the BMI calculator thing.

Wrt the weight thing. Since I've become a little bird woman I find myself looking at people who are perfectly "healthy" - except they're not at all - on the red carpet or places like that, who are as thin as I am and I want to shake them and tell them to eat some food because whatever they may think it doesn't look good. I saw a photo of a woman at the Vanity Fair party in a backless dress whose arms were possibly thinner than mine, her back showing all the bones and I found it heartbreaking really. She was, of course, beautiful, but she's risking her life by thinking that to retain her career or something, she has to be thinner than is healthier for any person.

Anyway, things aren't great but they are better than yesterday and they'll be better again tomorrow, so now I feel comfortable telling you how bad and scary they were. I'm so glad that there was a turn around because I'd rather not be admitted to hospital if at all possible.

Hugs and sympathies to you Mouse and if I could send you some of my sample fat supplies to draw on, I would.

That sounds awful @MouseMinge. I'm glad today has been an improvement.

I lost a lot of weight when my dad was dying and I was already very slim (not intentionally, I'm just one of those annoying people). When he died I stopped eating completely and eventually dropped down to below 7st. I was forcing myself to drink Complan with milk. I remember being distressed at how my clothes were hanging off me, and of course I felt physically awful being so undernourished. I have similar phases now where my endometriosis is flaring... the pain and nausea make it difficult to eat and then once I've gone a few days without food it's like my appetite completely switches off and I find it very hard to start eating again. I now try to put extra weight on in my good phases so I'm prepared for the inevitable bad ones.

I’ve had a horrible day of pain, nausea and hormone-induced mentiness. I couldn’t help but stop crying when I turned around and saw this, however

Oh look at him! I'm sorry you're having a mare of a day but happy that cat insanity stopped your tears. My fat boy fat has just pushed himself up against my calves. I think he wants to me to go bed and I will, just not quite yet.

I have Reese curled up next to me on the couch while we watch TV

Kasper has had playtime, dinner, and is now doing his nightly rounds. Shortly he will jump up on the coffee table and stare at me intently until I fetch his lick-e-lix like a good slave.

Oh poor @MouseMinge and @VictorianBigot you both have had an awful time! I hope things are better today, wishing you good appetites and comfort and lots of cat love.

Here's Mochimochimochi doing a Kasper.

Mouse

I'm sorry to hear how bad you've been having it, but cheered by:

Thank god, today saw massive improvement. So far, no bringing up saliva and the ability to drink normally. I've had a litre of water so far today. Fortisip also going down better and Snoop made me some scrambled egg which I managed.

VictorianBigot · Yesterday 23:08

I’ve had a horrible day of pain, nausea and hormone-induced mentiness.

Are you down with a bug? I hope you're feeling less awful now.

((@MouseMinge )) and ((@VictorianBigot )) Sorry your both going through the wringer.

Hope they can get you sorted with another tube, Mouse. Woman cannot live by lobster bisque alone - although well done for giving it a damned good try.

She's adorable 😻

@SinnerBoy Thank you. No, just my usual PMDD and endometriosis combination. I feel slightly better mentally today but physically I'm wrecked and will be working from bed. I've just been booked in for my first Zoladex injection next week which will shut down my ovaries and hopefully improve things substantially.

How are you feeling today @MouseMinge?

What Kuc and Bint said. And you guys have the best cats!

Gentle hugs and all manner of health improvement wishes to ((@MouseMinge )) and ((@VictorianBigot ))

@VictorianBigot today started backwards. I woke up, was aware that I was in pain, went to have some water and then things were back to Monday. Snoop came round and hugged me and stuff because for the first time I was in tears.

Good news. I spoke to my dietician and they are on it re the feeding tube. My overall consultant was contacted on Monday - when I brought up the issue at the hospital - and it's just a case of getting it done. My dietician followed up today. There will be a long wait at Brighton (two weeks) so they're hoping to do it at Worthing which I'd prefer anyway. Just knowing that made me feel better, mentally at least. Further good news. Went to Snoop's after radiotherapy so I could shower with someone near by just in case. We decided to try scrambled eggs again and after a dodgy start it went down. So the day has come to a close a lot better and not so backward.

Dietician said that the issue is that because there's a build up of salvia it's resting toward the top of my oesophagus causing it to feel like I've got a big lump there, making it hard to swallow and causing pain.

Anyway, moan, moan etc and thank the saint of class A drugs for morphine which gives me some release.

Also 52% of radiotherapy done, I'm slightly over half way through!