Obese but with pretty normal legs / arms etc but very fat, enormous belly ***Ovarian cancer diagnosis - title edited by MNHQ at OP's request***

[TwitterQueen1]

Hi
I'd be glad of any advice or personal experiences here. I am around 4 stone overweight, so definitely obese. Most of it is on my stomach though, which now looks like I'm 11 months pregnant with triplets. I'm in my 50s so this is not a possibility. It's very painful and I am short of breath when I walk etc.

I've put on a lot of weight in a short period - 10lbs in 2 months.

Six months ago I was bodyboarding in the sea, walking every day and doing an exercise class every week. Now it's a struggle to do anything.

I'm having bloods done on Friday but any ideas / comments? Am I just unlucky to pile it all on in one place?

Hair is beginning to go! Who knew I had so many grey / white ones....
I ran my fingers through my hair earlier and quite a few came out. Definitely need a hair cut tomorrow...

Leslie I have a pampering session already booked!

Hi TwitterQueen, have you got an appointment booked? It's amazing how your hair just starts to go, isn't it? I hope it isn't too sudden for you. I hope you are feeling well?

My hair is growing back with a small white patch but at least it's growing back!

I'm glad you have got some pampering to look forward to

Do you know anyone with hair clippers you could borrow? My dad just shaved mine off for me. I am a cheapskate didn't want to pay anyone for a haircut I really would not have chosen. Plus I didn't want to go through the whole boo hoo you have cancer thing yet again

I have been silently following your thread - wishing you all the best, and

my hair grew back stronger and a totally different colour.
I was a faded blond (you know the standard pale beige) and it grew back a middle kind of brown ...

Had the hair cut! It cost me a grand total of £15 plus tip, and the woman who did it took the best part of an hour and great care over it, which was lovely.

It looks fine - I'm glad it's done. No-one fussed or did the sympathetic looks thing. The only thing that horrified me was the huge number of grey/white hairs that had been lurking under the brown ones.

Prok Good to hear from you. I'd love it if I grew bright auburn curls afterwards but suspect I'll have to settle for 100% grey... hey ho.

Hi TwitterQueen1 sounds like the haircut went well and I'm glad you had someone nice and didn't have to pay the earth.
The number of greys in my hair is awful, I couldn't believe how grey it looked in my wedding pictures last year - though I maintain some of it was the photographers lighting!

Sounds like you got a bargain - I'm glad the hairdresser was nice as it makes a big difference. She'll come in handy when your hair starts to grow back and you need some help taming the chemo curl!

I'm glad you had a good haircut and I hope you are feeling alright today :)

How're you feeling today TQ? Hope you're doing ok.

Hey TQ.
How are you doing?
Thinking about you

Hi all
I'm feeling pretty good thanks! I started round 2 on Wed and was expecting to feel awful again, but actually I'm not too bad at all . The brain fog has cleared up quite a lot - not entirely, but I am managing to work more effectively, which is reassuring and confidence-boosting.

I've also got the date of my CT scan for operation evaluation, so I feel that things are moving forward. My hair is well on the way out but I'm coping with that.

I had trouble with the cannula this week but the nurses brushed over it as it was near the end. I think I must have knocked it on one of my many trips to the loo and the point actually went into my hand, rather than the vein. A small area on the hand is swollen, bruised and very painful. I also didn't get my full whack of carboplatin. Not sure if this matters much?

The Look Good Feel Better pampering session was fantastic, though my hands shake a lot at the best of times so I couldn't apply the make-up myself. A lovely make-up artist did it for me though and I came out feeling - and looking - amazing. Great goodie bag too - tx to all contributors including Lancome, Clinique, Liz Earle, No 7, etc etc.

Loosing a little weight week by week, which is pleasing too - the fluid seems to have gone from my stomach - don't know about the lung though, I'm still breathless. So now not quite so obese! I was 79kgs fully dressed on Wed.

Hope everyone else is doing OK.

Just reading your thread....hope the treatment is bearable....and pleased to hear you're in a trial....I may be biased as I'm an oncology research nurse, but without people like you, treatments would never evolve and improve, so thank you for being so altruistic and hope you have some lovely caring people around ( professional as well as personal) you to get through the treatment ....

That's fantastic TQ.
Onwards and upwards! !

Very glad to hear it

Glad to hear you're doing well! Ouch on the cannula front though -
Carboplatin shoots in at such a fast rate too that it is really painful if your cannula isn't well placed. I have a portacath which is mostly amazing, but I had to have drugs via a cannula recently and the vein was a bit small and it hurt like buggery. Good luck for cycle 3 and for the CT x

Went for a walk this morning on the common where I walked my dog for 8 years. It's amazing the number of people who would have stopped for a chat previously just walk on by now. I wore my 'chemo' hat and was obviously minus dog and felt invisible .

I wanted to stop them and say "Hey! it's me! I'm still here.. Talk to me."

Nicky they sped up the treatment this week, I think I'll ask them to go back to 1.5 hours. My hand still hurts.

Stop I can't claim true altruism tbh. Although I wouldn't wish any this (or any sort of cancer) on anyone I wanted the bevacizumab. But I'm glad to be doing a small bit for research. The NHS is welcome to test me as much as they like!

I'm sorry you found people were like that with you. I found the same after bereavement, I think that people genuinely don't know what to say, but it can still be hurtful.

De lurking to say that you are a class act and I love your style and when this is behind you, you have got to write a book, about anything!.You have such a way with words.

Glad to hear things are going well, TQ.

Loads of best wishes for the upcoming CT scan.

I got in a bit of a state this am. Not entirely sure why - my blood pressure was too high and I was worried they wouldn't give me the Taxol. I had to have extra bloods done to send off to the trial hospital. I was worried about the cannula after last week, we talked about the op.... Ended up in tears, feeling v hot, sick and dizzy and asked the nurse to hold my hand for a bit. She was lovely.

In hindsight, I suspect they took too much blood from the cannula too quickly, which made me feel ill (I don't look at what they're doing). The nurse was making 'worried' noises and rapidly ripping things out of bags..

Anway, I'm entitled to my moments I guess. The nurse also told me to start a diary. We process things differently when we write them down and she said it will help me to absorb and process everything that is happening. She also told me to stop trying to be 'up' all the time and to have a real heart-to-heart with a trusted friend when I can talk properly. I'm going to do this and I'm also going to start a blog!

Lovely friends helping me again with lifts and ready-made dinner.

Oh, TQ, I am so sorry about this. You are being so brave and stoical, don't be hard on yourself. I am glad you had such a lovely and compassionate nurse to hold your hand , the procedures must be pretty tough going. I hope your hand is less sore now, would arnica cream help with the bruising?
Writing a diary sounds like an excellent idea, and a blog . You would have a big audience , you are so eloquent and write so well .
Thinking of you , keep asking your friends for help.

That sounds like a rough morning. It does sound like you had the beginning of a vasovagal response which is why you felt hot and dizzy and sick, but the good news is that you didn't go into a full blown faint. Either way it's a horrible experience. Are you feeling better now?

A diary can be really helpful. It doesn't have to be a weighty tome, but just somewhere to be real.

It's a path to travel and it can feel rockier sometimes than others.

I am very sickly tonight after chemo on Monday( I am always surprised when it's week one and it's so gruelling think I block it out), also urgent bloods just prior to check counts were acceptable as had been low again on the normal check.
Having to rest on the school run - not cool.

The operation, well, what can I say, my experience is all I know which is much like the chemo, you get through it and they help you as much as they can with pain killers and anti sickness meds etc and before you know it you are back on the path to the next step and the last part is gradually forgotten/coped with, you know - and it is ticked off the to do list.
.
You don't have to be brave all the time, do what you need to do to get through.

Rooting for you and yours