Cancer Support Thread 98: support for those diagnosed and going through treatment

[FcukBreastCancer]

Hello 👋

@Ventress glad you are here - I didnt know you were in hospital hope they are looking after you.

How are you spending your days @Ventress ?
are you able to do any crossword puzzles or rewatch any favourite films? Or a nice book? Or perhaps you don’t fancy any of that at all.

that sounds scary but I am glad you’re still here with us. What’s on the menu for today, any visitors?

Glad to see you back Ventress hope the ward is comfortable and they are looking after you well xxx All good here . We survived being almost literally roasted alive in France over the last NINE days. It was like a cauldron honestly. Today is cooler and it’s like a gift has been bestowed upon us xx

@Bangersndmash, bless you? I hope you feel better today. Thank you lovely

Sending you peace and love @VentressI am glad you are with your loved ones at this time.

@Ventress - glad you are here and only "delusional", was it the drugs they gave you? Hope they are looking after you...sending strength and hugs to you and your family

@Ventress Also glad you are here and wasn’t sure if you were in the hospital. The whole routine there with v/s, meds, wake ups at 0300 etc can sure throw a body out of whack. Is there any American food (not sure of stores like Aldi cos I’ve never been) that you’ve always craved? I’ll put it on the next jet! I’ve been following the temps in London and Paris since the heatwaves started. It looks a bit cooler today? We’re due for 90+ this week but it can and does change daily. I hope there’s some long time relief out there for everyone. Hang in there everyone and sending love.
Thursday morning is my egd/colo and I’m so anxious. The bleeding I had a month ago was ominous as far as esophageal cancer goes.No transfusion yet. I need to lose a bit more blood (my hgb needs to be 7 and mine is 7.7, normal is 11-15 at my hospital).

@sbmpp it is cooler here now but about to ramp up again next week they say. We are not adapted here to high temperatures not much air conditioning in homes etc so we all flake out in the heat and as @Nonamelass says in France its been worse.
I do feel for those going through chemo as there is no air conditioning in most hospitals.
I hope everything goes smoothly on Thursday morning I will think of you and send prayers, I would be anxious too, in fact I think you are really brave to go ahead as I am not sure I could.

Holding your hand from afar @Sbmpp hopibg it goes well xx
@cantbelieveIamhere the heat was actually almost frightening. I feel so sorry for people in hospital or city flats with no aircon or that have to work.people were sleeping in parks.

The best part of being in hospital is the air con! I am having a day to day battle - inflammation vs infection (I somehow .managed to contract serious cellulitis and my edema has gone insane!) and Oddly this did allow DH an and DS the opportunity to to into central London with getting the full
carer experience ! And the lady in the bed opposite owns a care management company and is interesting to talk to.

i do hope you are all well-ish 😍

much love ♥️🙏

I am glad you've got air con @VentressI could do with it now on day 2 post chemo - have awful hot flushes and body sweats! The joys.
Sorry to hear you are in hospital though - but it's always good to have an interesting person to talk to. Take care

@Ventress phew glad you have aircon. Îd be interested in talking to the care home owner lady too. I bet she has some tales to tell! Hope your daily battles aren’t too difficult and that DH and your son are managing ok too. Take care xxx
@Pieceofpurplesky eugh chemo is bad enough without a heatwave on top. Hope you have somewhere cool and quiet to rest .
@Sbmpp @Bangersndmash and everyone else hope you are all still hanging tough.
I’m ok just managing this fatigue that comes with the treatment . My head wants to do stuff but body says nahhhh and with all this heat I haven’t been out doing a bit of walking. It’s definitely a case of use it or loose it in my case so Îm going to have to force myself a bit ..
love to everyone xx

@ventress good to hear you are cool at least, I hope they are looking after you. It helps to have someone interesting to chat to, I hope you win your edema battle.
@Sbmpp hope your tests are over and you are okay.

sorry for all of you still on chemo in this heat, I am grateful mine was done during winter and only have two hours or so every three weeks for the injection.
@Nonamelass are you expecting more heat in France this week? we already have one hose pipe ban, wont be long before its all banned. Definitely too hot for walking unless its really early or late in the day.

It’s been nice but not too hot this week ( comparatively to the demon inferno we had)
next week is heating up sadly I think. I just feel so unfit as between treatment fatigue and hot weather îm not active at all. Ps when I say walk i mean a stroll in the park ;) or with my shopping trolley for food.

@Nonamelass @cantbelieveIamhere @cantbelieveIamhere , thank you all for the kind words. I finally had the egd. I canceled the Colo the day before. I filled that bottle with 4 liters of water and I just could not drink it. I called to cancel and the nurse told me if I had called earlier in the week they would have given me a choice of two other preps that didn’t involve all that fluid. I’m without words. Anyway, the scope results were good (for me). Tumor the same :). the melena due to the nosebleeds the chemo causes me every other week. I have to make an appt for Colo which I’m in no hurry to do. Thanks everybody. So much.
I’ve been watching your weather on an app I have (i check out the temps around the world 😝). I can’t believe it’s heating up again. I’m so sorry and hope it won’t last long.
@Ventress So sorry to hear about cellulitis and hope it clears. Sorry,too, to hear that you’re still in the hospital (although the a/c part is nice. Do they have visiting nurses? Or family teaching for IV antibiotics (do you have a port?). @Nonamelass I can empathize with the fatigue. The days are endless when feeling so darn tired every week. Plus we still have that da** peacock is still strutting around the neighborhood but plunks himself next to my my window every morning at 0600 and squawks like a banshee. I am so bloody tired I could cry.
Everyone I hope the coming week brings heat relief and health repair (sorry I can’t think of correct word for repair 🤷🏻‍♀️).

Oh no @Pieceofpurpleskythat test sounds horrible.

i do understand about breaking down. : it’s the think the worries me most. I had panic attacks Monday and Tuesday evenings. Monday was are “tango attack” as when I work my entire vision was orange. I remember asking the consultant who was running the first round whether I had actually dies! The consultant, ever dry, said “unlikely! I wouldn’t have been told “ fair enough. The second day I really thought I had been kidnapped 😱 and demanded DH come and collect me (it was 5.30am!). Oops.

I’m glad you had the week of post eeg comport @Sbmpp. The nurses are onsite- the unit is part of the hospital, which is good.

I’m glad the weather has been better @Nonamelassoh no, peacocks are just the worst!

im very worry about getting another infection as the new left drain is not draining properly and I'm worried it’s infected, bearing in mind I’ve spent the last week fighting infection 🙁

I saw some great videos on protein salads this morning. All of them looked amazing!
it won’t let me link to the video 🙁 but if you google fresh pasta salad you will find it. I’m going to try all of them!

hope you are all doing well 💐

@Sbmpp so glad you didnt have to have the colo - but yes its amazing that suddenly there are alternatives when you say I cant do this.... the peacock sounds like a right character, but yes annoying if you are trying to sleep. Good to hear no bad news so keep going!!

@Nonamelass yes gentle walking is all we are capable of at the moment! I feel like I cant get any momentum when trying to walk, its weird but better than it was immediately after chemo.

@ventress hope you have a better week and see some improvements, sorry to hear about panic attacks, not surprising when you are in hospital they are always in and out disturbing you so you dont feel able to relax properly.

@ted27 how are you doing? has your itching subsided? I have just ordered a cooling sleeve to help with the itchiness as sometimes its only icepacks that help and trying to balance them is annoying.

Absolutely agree with @cantbelieveIamhere! I do hope you all feel as good as you can.
@SbmppI'm glad they found alternatives when you said their option wasn’t possible. Honestly, you have been doing this for so long that you can do it for longer. Hang tough my lovely 💪

Hope everyone is OK. I've just come out of the post Chemo slump and managed lunch out. Am starting to get neuropathy in my fingers so that's not great. Have my scan next week.

@Ventress how are you? How has your week been?

@Pieceofpurplesky i had it terribly. I’ve finished chemo about 6 weeks ago now and it’s really starting to disappear, I hope it gives you some hope. What are they envisaging your scan to say? I hope it’s some good news.

Thanks @BangersndmashI have low grade serous carcinoma and it's to see if there has been any shrinkage before they decide whether to remove them or not. I am not hopeful as I was allergic to taxol so didn't have that as they tried twice and both times I stopped breathing!

@Pieceofpurplesky pacli? Yes I think I saw that in one of your posts, I’ve been dipping in and out as I’ve been in hospital. I had an allergic reaction to pacli the second time but they managed to manage it with steroids and other pre meds. Sorry it’s been shit for uou, have they tried alternatives? Stopped breathing bloody hell that sounds traumatic!

I hope you’ve continued to improve @Pieceofpurplesky🤞

oh @Bangersndmash, I do hope you are doing better this week with less reaction. So many rubbish reactions 🙁

I’m on the mend (hopefully) although Sue Ryder have applied for end of life care which the can only do when no more treatment is available. I don’t believe this and want to fight. I have things to live for! Oncology say I may have more treatment available if I can get to out patients- apparently I have to be strong enough for this. I can do this 💪

wish me luck 🙏 home Monday evening hopefully x