The Great Recovery part 4

[TopOfTheCliff]

Time for a new thread. Welcome aboard!

You may have finished active treatment for cancer, be in remission or NED. You want to look forward not dwell on the past. You know you ought to be eating well, exercising more and picking up the threads of your old life. Join us and share the ups and downs of recovery. We understand!
Here are some resources we found helpful:
The Mountain Lion
https://www.cancerpal.co.uk/post/what-it-s-really-like-to-receive-a-cancer-diagnosis
Peter Harvey on Psychology of recovery:
https://workingwithcancer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/After-the-treatment-finishes-then-what.pdf
Resources from Penny Brohn:
https://pennybrohn.org.uk/our-approach/resources/
Breast Cancer Now Moving Forward:
https://breastcancernow.org/information-support/support-you/moving-forward
Get your Oomph Back with Carolyn Garritt
http://www.oomph.london/home.html
Charity providing treats for cancer patients:
https://somethingtolookforwardto.org.uk/
Exercise is good for you:
https://www.webmd.com/cancer/features/exercise-cancer-patients
Any more suggestions? Post them below
There is also a thread for those suspected to have cancer, or newly diagnosed and facing treatment, and also a thread for those with Stage IV cancer who want to talk to others in the same boat.

Welcome @frostyfingers So glad you made it through and can join us. Really sorry about your DH and your uncle. Glad you have got lovely friends who you can go away with.

Lovely to be on holiday @dancingwhilstfacingthemusic Have a great time.

Well done on the weight loss @TopOfTheCliff Exciting to have a wedding and a baby due.

Just a lazy day here, was a bit achy from gardening and its quite hot here but lovely to be able to do not much. DS has just been in the garden. DH is playing the piano. DD has spent the day doing her punting on the river job then is staying with a friend tonight and doing same job tomorrow then back home.

Nice to read all the catch-up news.

I’m still having treatment for a saraoma after the failed reconstruction. Still not seen the surgeon but chatting to the other staff it looks like taking tummy or other bits for a diep - this is a hard no for me right now.

I’m missing the UK very much. New job is going well but I’m still very tire and relying on chocolate. Need to set some goals. Eleventh wedding anniversary this weekend.

Welcome @frostyfingers . I recommend a personal trainer. I found one after the first cancer triathlon and broken ankle saga. She has become a good friend and motivated me to keep going through the second cancer and the plateaux and the backwards bits. We suffer so much damage from treatment it is a real project to manage recovery. Whatever you are facing you need to be in the best shape you can manage. The girls trip sounds lovely!

Oh @Littlecaf those radiotherapy delays sound awful!

@frostyfingers it's good to 'see' you again, you've made it out the other side! I'm so sorry about your uncle. Ilost so much muscle I've had to work really hard to regain some fitness but I'm absolutely loving it. Wishing you well with that, and all good vibes for your DH.

Happy wedding anniversary @FairyWren7 We have our 25th anniversary soon.

Just gardening with DH and the silkies for 2 and 1 bit hours tonight. He's working on improving the lawn, I was tidying up the garden. Had a few birds and a couple of butterflies as well as the silkie chickens. DS is in the garden shed / garden a lot and also using our garden table where he seems to eat lots of bananas and this time pineapple as well but then I find the skins in the garden, 15 banana skins and 1 pineapple today. At least he's eating fruit. Seems to be running in there as well, which is good as it gives him some exercise. Have a final thing for the bird pole and 3 lavenders arriving tomorrow for planting at the weekend though weather forecast is a bit meh but will bring some much needed rain.

Just getting a Chinese takeaway now - am eating a lot of banana splits at the moment but reassuringly when I weighed myself BMI was 24.1. DD has been doing her punting job.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

@MsPengiuns thanks - its creeping up as a number!
Congrats on reaching 25 years - that’s a proper milestone.

Your life sounds lovely - countryside idyll. Which county are you in?

Thanks @FairyWren7 We are in Cambridgeshire.

Just spent 4 hours doing the garden and garden shed with DH and silkies came. They each dug themselves a hole and sat in it like 3 plants.

We started with the garden shed as DS seems to now be out there most of the day and using it like a summer house. We did ask him and he moved back to the house for us to garden / do shed but has sofa cushions, Peter Rabbit quilt, sheet, pillow, cushions, hairbrush and we found 2 apples he had eaten and a pen and paper and he appeared to have written 2 passwords on it. One was a flower's name. Tried to clean the garden shed a bit and then threw out a few things to make more space for DS though its a good size shed already. DH was then watering the plants, been hot here, and then digging up some soil for new lawn and then planted 3 lavenders I had bought and we put out the birdbath. I was mainly clearing, incredible how much clearing of leaves, sticks etc there is to do (we are surrounded by trees) and there was also plant cuttings DS had made and a massive stick I cleared and he seems to have cleared the gutter but on to the floor so I swept up that. Quite a few things in flower now. Just had a kebab and will now have a rest. DD has been working punting again, doing 5 days this week and next. Easy day tomorrow, just collect a few things from shops and Sunday lunch.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Gosh @MsPengiuns you are a whirlwind of activity! I managed two sessions of bramble bashing today and pulled convolvulus out of the garden. It faces north and originally had terraced layers of stone on the cliff side so since I put my boat seat at the top looking at the view I have been clearing beneath it. I’m thinking of putting in lots of spring bulbs there in the autumn. DH is building games for his daughter’s wedding. He’s got a giant Connect 4 and Jenga and now is making Cornhole.
I’ve been up to the allotment and started harvesting lovely Anya salad potatoes. It’s quite tidy up there which pleases me! The courgettes have stalled due to the lack of rain.
Tomorrow I am going cycling so will have a day off the garden. It’s been so lovely out in the sun though.

Does anybody want to come and do my garden? 😂 I really have no motivation or interest or talent at all!

One of my friends died suddenly this week, he was in his late 50s, so it’s been a shock to all of us. I had a couple of friends die of cancer last year, but that obviously was a much slower process and when they died, it was expected, whereas somebody who appeared otherwise fit and healthy just dropping dead is much more difficult to integrate. No idea what caused it so far.

I’ve not exercised much this week, I’ve been mostly watching Wimbledon instead! I also decided to try a low FODMAP diet to see if it would help with my IBS-type symptoms, and it does seem to have massively settled them. It’s not very sustainable on an ongoing basis though, fine for eating at home but not if I’m eating out, so I need to go through a process of working out whether there’s anything specific that setting them off.

I’ve had a minor setback. Infection in the “bad” boob. So antibiotics for 14 days. I’m a week into these. They’re strong so are making me feel a bit sleepy.

boob looks bruised and swollen. But I’ve been having apts with the bcn team every two days pretty much. So am being well looked after. Bloods showed infection markers at 80 on day one of antibiotics. Three days later they were at 15 so the drugs are working.

it’s just bummed me out a bit.

That's rubbish @ememem84 I'm glad the antibiotics are working though.

I've had some episodes of dizziness and lightheadedness lately - I'm not sure what that's about 🫤 Otherwise feeling okay, although appetite/eating is changeable every day.

My local breast cancer support centre run a post-treatment course, and I went to the first one last week. We had a talk from a 'nutritionist', - I found her attitude alarming, she advised a couple of women to stop taking prescribed medication, and really attempted to put a positive spin on my lack of appetite and huge weight and muscle loss during chemo. I won't be taking any of her advice. I think we're doing meditation next week, much more my thing!

I'm just on my way back from a lovely overnight stay in West Sussex, it was a really nice little break, and the first time I've been 'away' since May last year (apart from my hospital stay!).

@TopOfTheCliff I love your boat seat.

@ememem84 that sounds painful and upsetting, super sorry you’re going through this. Hopefully it’s resolves too. Big hugs.

I’m nearly through radiotherapy. My friend is giving me a lift tomorrow and she’s lots of fun so looking forward to that bit at least. I have a lymphodema clinic appointment in the morning - the area post mastectomy is a bit puffy still, but not really to look at, just to feel. I can’t feel it if I have a bra on.

Had a good day catching up with cousins, DB & his family and our parents today. Cricket match & picnic in local park. Chucked it down but we’re a hardy bunch. DCs had a sleepover at a friends last night so DP and I went out for dinner for the first time in forever. Was nice & adult! Nice to start making plans for the summer and beyond.

Sorry about the bad boob problem @ememem84 hope it settles quickly.

@SierraSapphire I've got my hands full here or of course I would help out 😂

@BatshitCrazyWoman I have had weird balance problems and tinnitus and hearing loss since chemotherapy. Nobody knows why. they said "It's a virus" but without conviction. I'm just getting older 🙄which is better than not!

@MissMarplesNiece thank you. How are you getting on? Any news on the non-surgery plan?

@Littlecaf you are so close to the end now! How many more sessions left?

Today we went on a memorial ride in the countryside for a friend who died suddenly of sepsis two years ago. It was a lovely occasion with really lovely friends but tinged with sadness too. I am very happy to be back riding with my friends but the hills were hard work!

Lovely seat @TopOfTheCliff

I wish I had enough energy to come and do your garden too @SierraSapphire but I find doing mine I enjoy and its good exercise but it uses all my energy. So sorry about your friend.

Sorry about the infection @ememem84

Glad you had a nice stay @BatshitCrazyWoman

Good to be nearly through radio @Littlecaf

Just a quiet day here, collected orders from 3 shops and then Sunday lunch and cleaning DSs room. DD did her punting job. DS mainly in the garden and watching films.

Oh my lord. That’s awful.

I spoke with one person here a while back who claimed to be a dietician. She isn’t registered but has done an online course in nutrition….she said it took a weekend (red flag).

she suggested a meal plan for me. No carbs. And mostly raw foods. (So essentially vegan as no meat or fish). And also suggested evening primrose oil to help with menopause symptoms.

and wanted to charge £1500 for the privilege of a 6 weeks meal plan.

j got out of there. Told her I’d said I didn’t want any drastic changes to my diet. This was a massive change. And my cancer was oestrogen positive. So nothing like ep oil. She also suggested hrt. Nope.

That’s an absolute shocker @BatshitCrazyWoman these people shouldn’t be permitted to do this - so many people would take the wrong advice.

Sorry to hear of the continued boob malfunction @ememem84 it really drags on.

I’m a year down the line from my first op this week. If anyone says to me “it’s all behind you” I will have to take a deep breath.

Our flight got in very late last night so today will be a slow moving one, with a nap.

@ememem84 interestingly my oncologist has recommended evening primrose oil. I had triple positive breast cancer.

@dancingwhilstfacingthemusic I hope you had a good time away and are recovering from your late night. The nutritionist woman irritated me, I have to say. But I'm pretty jaded about the whole 'juicing, sugar free, whack some kale on it' 'cures' for cancer.

The nutritionist sounds alarming @BatshitCrazyWoman particularly as part of a course at a support centre. Since having cancer and googling I get a lot of targeted ads and similar for very questionable looking advice. There is a lot of misinformation out there.

I've seen a gastroenterologist recently about my ongoing issues, which seem to be a mixture of chemo related IBS and colitis. I'm being referred to a dietician to try and manage things that way before trying steroids (which I am keen to avoid). I've just looked up the low FODMAP diet @SierraSapphire, it does look pretty limited but it's interesting to hear that it's helping. Have you managed to reintroduce anything? I love bread and find the thought of no gluten upsetting.

I hope your infection is settling @ememem84, how very annoying.

I’m mainly at the exclusion stage @demivolte- and eating at home or taking a packed lunch to work is absolutely fine, it’s not massively different from what I ate already, I think if I were to eat out it would be more difficult, particularly avoiding onions and garlic! I did have a piece of sourdough toast at the weekend though, and it didn’t seem to do anything much. I actually think the worst bloating I’m getting is coming from probiotics in yoghurt and kefir. I’m wondering whether I have SIBO, though I’m also not quite sure whether that’s a real thing or whether it’s made up 😂. I do need to lose a few pounds again, and actually it helps for me to be on a restricted diet because I find it much easier to cut out things completely for a reason rather than try and limit what I’m eating.

@SierraSapphire Interesting about SIBO, I'm wondering the same thing about whether it's an actual thing or not. I was on the verge of making a GP appointment today to discuss my symptoms. I take so many antibiotics, I can't imagine there's a bacterium left in my gut, let alone a "bad" one that's overgrown. I've been looking at Symprove, the probiotic drink, but I am very sceptical about the health fads and it's so expensive.

When I did Zoe, my microbiome was identified to be good, and I do eat a lot of plants @MissMarplesNiecebut this came on a year and a half ago. The FODMAP diet has definitely made a difference, I am, ahem, much less windy, so I’ve clearly been reacting to something, it’s just working out what. I actually don’t think it is bread or milk, maybe it is things like onions or beans or lentils. I’m finding it pretty easy to stick to it whilst I’m catering for myself, so I will carry on a bit before I start to reintroduce things.

DH and I just spent 2.5 hours on sorting the garden shed and trying to make it more summerhouse like for DS. We got everything out, sorted through it, cleaned it inside and the front, put a garden flowers rug and underlay down, threw out some things and put rest back. It does look nicer and more like a summerhouse. DH was supposed to be in France today but Eurostar got cancelled so now that's pushed back to September.