Hi Hen and congratulations I have spent many times reading your chat and have 2 more to go so hope to be joining you soon with luck end Feb and cant wait well done and have a takeaway for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Carol

Hi Carol!

Glad you are need the end of treatment too. Have you been well or suffering??

I am off out for lunch with my Mum and Dad, sister and brother. I think it is the first time in about 5 years we have done that without 'hangers on' (husbands, children, wives and boyfriends!!!!). Although I don't have the all clear yet it is the end of treaement so a good nosh up is in order!!!!

Keep looking at the end of that tunnel!!

Love Hen xxxx

Hi Hen yes iv been through the hell of it all and the sickness has been uncontrollable with all drugs so just have to put up with it for 2 more and I dont think I could cope with any more soo very glad when the chemo ends yes I know it's not over as all the tests and checkups but the chemo will stop and thats what im aiming for.

Glad your going out and enjoy the day it must be very surreal?

Carol

Hi Carol

Gosh you do seem to  have had it rough. Like you say, only 2 more to go. Just grin and bare it.

Lunch with my folks and bro and sis was lovely. We didn't stop talking!!! Four hours non-stop. Really makes you put into perspective how important friends and family are.

My Mum and Dad have been so great, helping with my girls, 2 and 5. We are lucky that my husbands folks are nearby too and also retired!!! They just love their grand children so like to have them lots!!!! We have been getting quite a few lie in recently!!

Do you have family nearby?

What u been up to today? I have been having a tidy in the house. Looking forward to my daughter's assembly in the morning.

Hen xxxx

PS Hey Gra - where are you?????

HI Hen great to hear you had such a lovely time and you deserve it after all this!!

Our 2 daughters live down south and our son moved to Grimsby so we see them in the holidays but we talk a lot on the phone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You wouldn't believe what iv been doing if I said decorating the house he he he NO IT'S TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have an old dolls house shop which im doing up so it was only a 15in x 12in room he he he

Iv not done  it before always saying no time or too busy so this has forced me to be indoors more so I thought I would do it and it takes my mind off things, and I should get a really nice sea side shop selling shells etc by the end I HOPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Off to bed now night

Carol

Hi Carol

My, my you busy bee! My friend is into dolls house decoration and renovation! My girls love all her handy work - they will have to settle for their little wooden house from Mothercare.

I'm glad you said I am deserving a nice meal out. I was trying to convince my husband a third child would be an appropriate gift for having chemo for 6 months!!! He was not in agreement and have settled for the promise of an extention and a new kitchen and finally a utility instead!! Oh I would also like a big bowl of steaming mussels, pate on toast and a rare steak!

What are you looking forward to after your chemo is done? Is there any food you have avoided and would like?

Notice my obsession wih food!!!

Regards

Salivating Hen xxxxx

Hi Hen well I spent all yesterday sorting and arranging tiny shells on the units so this seaside shop better be worth it he he he, (Iv already done a tudor house and a greenhouse and garden last year)  Still it takes my mind off Wed and stops me picking all the time as im soo rough on the chemo week I spend the next week eating any junk I can as they wont allow me takeaway and cant have yoghurts which I love so stuck with rut of pigging anything else and saying to hell with it!!!!!!!!!!!! I will have to get fit after!! I LOVE CHINESE boo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have lern't to make a mean lemon drizzle cake for hubby so he will need to get fit later with me he he he

All im looking forward to is getting back to all the things I love and they wont let me do!!!

My horse, the greenhouse and my veg plot and garden Yes you can see im an outdoor woman even in the winter im hardly ever indoors so this has been a real pain!!!

It's brill to hear of people getting to the end as you usually only read the dispair of all this!

Must try to put a pic on this!!!!!

Chat soon Carol

Hi Hen/Carol!

Sorry I've been slacking on the reply! Work has been insanely busy for me since I went back and it's been taking up a lot of my time!

Good to hear you're finished your course Hen! I'm nearly there too....3 more weeks and it's over with! Got one next Friday and the last one 2 weeks after that....oh I can't wait! I'm almost excited about it now....

I'm also planning out stuff...we've decided that a new car should be accompanied by a bigger house, so while I've been skimming Autotrader daily my wife has become addicted to Rightmove....everytime she says "Oh Gra, you HAVE to see this!" I cringe a little, because I know she's looking at something outside our budget!

I've decided (I think) on the car I want, just waiting for a decent one to pop up for sale towards the end of the month and I'll be getting it test-driven and bought hopefully!

One thing I've had a lot of time to do is work out the finances. Properly. Not guestimated. Being able to download the last years finances from my bank in excel format has been really handy. It's really looking great since the mortgage got paid off, things are really looking good. We've spent a ton of money doing this house up over the last few months and the bank balance is back to what it was already. It's like we didn't touch anything at all, and it's a huge weight off my shoulders not worrying about a mortgage too. Well. Until we move house, but that's going to be later in the year anyway.

I'm doing a 2 day week followed by a 4 day week at work. It's been tough in some ways but good in others. It's been tough because they've allowed a lot of work to pile up for my return, and by a lot, I mean a LOT. It's been good to get back in to see everyone else again. Getting back into the swing of things has helped me dig myself out of boredom at home anyway!

On the chemo front I've annoyingly developed superficial thrombophlebitis in my wrist. It's basically deep vein thrombosis but not in a deep vein and not causing any serious problems other than it's goddamn painful. In my case it's one of the veins in my wrist that's swollen up into a hard lump. They just gave me some cream to rub in and told me to take pain killers. I haven't been taking the painkillers though. I'm a man. I'm manning-up and dealing with it. Go hard or go home etc etc. It's extremely painful to touch, just have to avoid touching it till it goes away I guess, which according to the consultant isn't likely to happen till after I finish the chemo as the drugs just continue to irritate the veins all the way till the end. The cream should stop it getting worse with a bit of luck, although having rubbed it in religiously 4 times a day for a week I can say it hasn't made much difference that I can tell you of....

I was close to a hospital stay recently too - must have picked up a nasty cold from one of the kids or something as I ended up really unwell and had a temperature that was going through the roof. At one point I had the ward manager on the phone telling me to pack my bags and wait for an ambulance to arrive. Then they changed their minds at the last minute as I'd been in earlier that day and my blood test results showed I had a high white cell count so they decided to let me stay at home. After taking paracetamol for the next 24hrs my temp dropped to near normal and all panic was averted! Phew! Closest I've been to a hospital stay!

I'm out tonight with my wife's cousin and her hubby as it was her 30th birthday not long ago and they're having a meal for it, which I'm going to stuff my face at!

Looking forward to getting hammered too. We haven't been out properly in a while so I'll be making the most of it!

I see your son moved to Grimsby Carol, not a million miles from me! I'm just over the other side of the Humber Bridge! Small world!

Right, off to get my phone back from my eldest son before he flattens the battery again!

Speak soon!

Gra xxx