Cancer support thread #73 - come in, we're here for you.

[Trumpton]

Welcome to the new support thread for anyone who has cancer, at whatever stage of treatment, is worried about symptoms, or is waiting for tests or results.

This is the place to worry, moan, ask questions, share experiences and good and bad news, and celebrate milestones!

If you've got a loved one with cancer then your best place for support is probably on the Life-Limiting Illness board.

Our previous thread is HERE

Current members, please do introduce yourselves smile

Sending love to all and wishing everyone as easy, happy and peaceful Christmas as possible, despite exhaustion, poorly families, beastly cording, deaf ears . . May your stuffing be herby and your sausage rolls flaky!

And returning the wishes @Bloodybridget and all others.
Awake with stomach cramps ...This does not bode well .
I wish for us all a day as free of woes as possible . I shall curl up on couch and play The Belle Dame palely loitering !
Even wine has lost its appeal !

Christmas morning at stupid o'clock and no tinies to blame.
Waves to Bridget.
Happy Christmas everyone. X

Morning @Skap
How is the sick boy ? You do know it’s not all about you don’t you ?
The above said by MIL when I was struggling at the start of treatment .
She has form for inappropriate comments !
Hope bat boy gets a voice and you get ears back .
I bought a dozen flannels and the dgc know to wash hands really well and use a clean cloth to dry their hands and then throw into wash basket . They are very excited about that ...strange creatures .

Up early today to take DD and DGS to the airport. Just time to pop in and wish everyone a lovely day.

Trumpton. at your MIL.

@Trumpton hope your stomach cramps don't develop into anything too horrendous.
@Skap I've been awake most of the time since 3-ish - DP and I are in a hotel so I'm trying not to wake her, I'd kill for a cup of tea now but I reckon 7.30 is the earliest she would tolerate being woken.

Ooh hello @meercat23!
This is a bit like getting together to open our stockings, isn't it? Round the fire at the Patience Inn, with plenty of hot drinks to hand, maybe some toast? In fact where I am would make a very good Patience, it has a lovely cosy lounge with an honesty bar, and a snug, and there's a huge Christmas tree in the breakfast room.

@BloodyBridget
Well an Honesty Bar ...there’s your answer ! Have a quick snifter to start the day .
MIL who is 96 always has a tot of whisky in the Christmas Day morning tea . Hasn’t done her any harm !

Pops in to the Patience Inn to plump up cushions and serve drinks (whatever you fancy) and breakfast.

@Bloodybridget, hope you don't have to wait too much longer for the rl cup of tea.

@Trumpton, wishing those stomach cramps away for you. I love your wig and the big knickers. Since my op big knickers rule, even though I could now get my smaller knickers on. I open the pants drawer every day and my big knickers look so comfy, on they go!
Bless your dgc ro be so excited by a hand-wash, how lovely it is to be young.

@skap, happy Christmas to you.

@meercat23, safe journey to the airport.

So sorry to see so many new people here, I hope your loved ones pamper you today.

@sparkysalmon

I'm back at work and it went well although the children were shattered after an 8 week half term. It was fabulous to see them all.
I think @skap suggested I look at the menopause board. I have been lurking there but haven't posted yet!

@sparklysalmon, I don't know anything about cording, but did admire your toned arms.

Sorry on phone (as usual) with no glasses on, don't know where the extra @sparkysalmon came from!
Will read through properly on lap top later!
Just got out of bed and found mouses head, Christmas gift from the cats!

Merry Christmas ladies, including any lurkers! Glad to see the Patience is serving some nice breakfast options this morning, think I’ll help myself to a pain au chocolat and hot chocolate. The seats by the fire look cosy.

I hope everyone has a peaceful and joyful day with whoever you are celebrating with. Much sympathy to those trying to celebrate while recovering from chemo, awaiting scary results or dealing with any side effects. Let’s all hope that this time next year life looks much improved for every one of us.

Our children are very excited about Christmas and yet every year they are so amazingly restrained about opening their stockings - we went in at 8am and they were chatting away but hadn’t touched them. We’ve never told them they have to wait for us!

Nearly murdered my MIL last night mind you when she strongly implied in front of my daughter that Santa was me and DH. WTF MIL! I’m not sure if she got away with her desperate attempt at recovering the situation...

Lots of love to you all xx

Well in this household we are running Christmas to suit ourselves.

We have told friends and family that we are closed until midday, to give us all a chance to loll about in bed without the phone ringing, DS works at Bills and worked a full eight hour shift most days and some doubles so he could do with some sleep.

I will get up at 10.30 ish and have my shower, and then do the Christmas table and prep any veg the chef gives me.

My best friend is dropping in with her fiancee and his adultish daughter there will be fizz and chat.

When they are gone, we will do presents, glide about with copious amounts of fizz (some of it vintage, because the fuck it goblins took over in Waitrose the other day.

Dinner between four and five and then DS wants to watch Gavin and Stacey.

Have a lovely day, but make sure you channel Sinatra and do it your way in so far as you can.

Merry Christmas everyone! Had a relaxing day - my 6 year old had his choice for xmas food today - burger and fries for lunch, then pizza for dinner. I have had rice pudding and trifle (rock and roll lifestyle all the way here!), as mouth and throat are very sore and swallowing is difficult. Am just watching my DH and DS beginning the massive lego model - may have a snooze!

Hi all from the other side of treatment and a very happy Christmas to everyone at the Patience Inn.

I am now 2 months+ post chemo and 1 month post rads. Back in June at the start of chemo, I promised myself that I would go out for lunch on Christmas day with nothing on my head and today I've done that without attracting too much attention as I now have full covering of hair, albeit short and curly! So that's a result

It's been a tough couple of months though with ongoing side effects, mainly gut related, and I've had a cold for more than two weeks which has zapped my already depleted energy. Last weekend i ruined a night away by fretting about a phantom breast lump which is just scar tissue from my recent lumpectomy....so yes....still a bit anxious about it all really. 3 weekly herceptin injections seem to be going well.

I'll be back to work at the end of Jan and maybe less fretful with less time to think ...hope so anyway.

Sending good wishes to all here and hoping for good tbings for us all in the new year.

I haven’t been on this thread for ages. I finished 23 fractions of rads in November and now on letrozole. Slowly I’m putting my life back together and will be starting training for the London marathon soon. I hope that everyone is doing well too

Hi,

I'm 42 year old female, have advanced Hodgkin's and just started chemo. I am feeling very very down right now.

Ah, you've found us! I was just about to post a link on your other thread. Do you want to tell us a bit more? How long have you known?

WTF good to hear from you, hope you get properly over the cold soon. I think it's quite normal to take a while to recover both physically and mentally from the impact of cancer/treatment. What will returning to work be like - do you like your colleagues, will people be understanding if you are not 100% at first?
gib1973 nice to see you again too, good luck with the marathon training! Have you done them before?
Sickandscared welcome to the thread, I just read the thread you started. So sorry you are in this situation, it is bad that there were no investigations earlier. Hope you have lots of support IRL.

Merry Christmas (smidge late). Glad a lot of you have been managing to enjoy the day.

I had some illegal roast parsnips and sweet potato and am paying for it today with lots of pain. But other than that had a lovely day just the three of us, very different to the Christmas in Australia we had planned.

Just been reading newspaper reports of the new trial of exercise immediately after diagnosis for cancer patients. I'm finding it quite hard to take in - I had days during treatment when I didn't leave the house, let alone having a brisk 20 minute walk. And once when I did think I could go out and walk two days after chemo, I collapsed and was in hospital for three days.

@Bloodybridget I had my 1st chemo recenetly and didn’t leave the house for a week! It was so much energy to walk upstairs to go to the loo. I spent all day on the sofa was too tired to even have the tv on so there would certainly be no brisk walk for me!!

Chopped my floaty , falling out hair this morning .
Bloods done already , back at 1pm for #5 of 12 chemo .
I am quite happy with my shorter hair but accept that it will soon all be gone .
Improving the day with coffee and a bacon bap .

Round three, or 75% of the way through by the end of this.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/3770751-It-is-one-o-clock-in-the-morning-I-need-the-night-shift-to-mind-my-worries-whilst-I-sleep

What a lovely thread started by @NaomiFromMilkshake now in classics .

@Sickandscared so sorry to hear that. Please stay and talk to us here. Lots on chemo and there is a lot of support on here.

@WTF99 hello and nice to hear the update, especially the bare headed lunch! Shame about the ongoing side effects.

@Bloodybridget, yes I raised an eyebrow (well what passes for one) at that report. The proposal seemed to be to do three weeks intensive gym immediately on diagnosis but before treatment. Some people start chemo within that period, others have surgery. Plus I have been like you, there have been many days when going for a walk was out of the question.

Trumpton it might not all go! If you have that much left after five weeks you might not lose it all.

I am having a week off so for the first time since the start of October no chemo this week. I started feeling almost human yesterday in spite of a cold.