Hi all
I'm off on holiday tonight for a week, spoke to mum last night and she seems fine but not really looking forward to starting chemotherapy. This isn't happening straight away now though as she has an infection under her arm where her lymph nodes were removed and they can't start chemo until that's cleared up. So she's on some strong antibiotics and may not start the first cycle of chemo until after I'm back.
I'm not much the wiser but Mum doesn't really know what to expect in terms of what she will be able to do and how she will feel during the chemotherapy. I told her that everyone reacts differently and it's impossible to tell exactly how she might feel. Also I don't know exactly which drugs she will be on, but if anyone there could let me know how they felt and how it affected, or is affecting them, I'd be really interested to know and talk to Mum about it after I get back.
In the meantime though I'll be speeding down the slopes (fairly carefully) by day, and speeding down to the bar (somewhat recklessly) for the apres ski by night. I hope to come back intact.
I look forward to reading your replies when I log on again on the 10th March.
Dave
FormerMember
Since the weekend, Mum has mostly been in hospital. She wasn't keeping anything down and lost half a stone in four days so when she called on Monday morning they invited her back in, got her on a drip etc. to feed her up a bit. Hopefully she will start keeping her food down and regaining some weight and be home for the weekend.
The doctors have said they will make some changes to the chemo and the anti sickness meds for next time so hopefully the reaction won't be as bad.
Half the family, 2 sisters, 1 brother in law and two grandchildren are visiting this weekend and, if Mum is better, they might be coming to London the next weekend for Easter so I'll see her then, or shortly afterwards.
This whole thing doesn't get any easier as it goes along, though if I've been a bit worried, it must be ten times worse for Mum, and Dad for that matter.
Really hoping to report great improvements after the weekend, have a good one.
They had me on Metoclopramide, and when that didn't stop me feeling queasy all the time, and sick occasionally, they gave me Ondansetron (as mentioned by Joanne - Hi Joanne). I only took that for a week, though, as it gave me awful constipation!! I was given a good tip for dealing with that: prune juice! They do sell it in some supermarkets now (we didn't know and my partner got it from a health food shop, more expensive). The prune juice did work for me. Anyone else tried this old-fashioned remedy? I found fresh pineapple good for the sickness, and also biscuits (because Metocl works by emptying the stoumach unnaturally quickly, so you feel sick and hungry!), eg during the night. What's the latest with your Mum? xxx Penny
I saw Mum on Easter day for dinner and she seemed really well. She's due for round two of chemotherapy tomorrow but with different anti-sickness drugs this time, hopefully she will be better and recover more quickly without having to go to hospital for three days.
You can't really tell to look at her, but her hair is falling out. She is going to a wig shop sometime soon to get that sorted. My sister, always trying to see the positive, mentioned that it would be easier, not having to wash, blow-dry and style her hair every day for months and just have a ready made, styled hair do ready to go. This was greeted with polite silence and I changed the subject quickly.
Sleeplessness seems to be a bit of a problem, I think Mum expected this in the first week when she was on steroids but it's still going on apparently. Any advice on dealing with that would be much appreciated, I'm not sure if she would be allowed to take normal sleeping pills along with the other medications she is on at the moment?
Mum had round two of Chemotherapy on Wednesday and I've called her both yesterday lunchtime and today and she's feeling fine. We'll see how it goes over the weekend but it seems like the anti-sickness meds are working this time. She's now down to just a tuft of hair on the top of her head but didn't seem too worried about that, she's wearing headscarves and my sister is taking a few hats up there tonight as Mum doesn't have any. I think a visit to the wig shop is scheduled for next week as long as Mum is still feeling well.
We're all feeling a lot more positive now but we won't know any more for a couple of months until they do some more scans at about half way through the course of chemo to see if there's been any effect on the tumour.
And the best part is the KT Tunstall concert in London is two weeks today. I've mentioned on here that we have tickets for this and Mum is very positive that she'll be well enough and really looking forward to it. We've also started talking about a trip to see the cricket in the summer, maybe around the time of the last scheduled chemo session. We're thinking of going to see a twenty-20 match but Dad doesn't think it's 'real cricket' so he might not come.
So pleased to hear that things are taking shape with your mum. I found that once the chemo was underway I became more able to get into step and carry on my life around it. It sounds like your mum is doing the same.
As for the trouble with sleeping, a friend told me of this idea and it really does work :- Think of a subject that makes you happy, i.e. places that you have holidayed or your garden (if you enjoy gardening) Then work your way through the alphabet, a=Athens, b=Barcelona etc. it keeps your mind occupied and away from reality. I very rarely get passed M. Its better than pills as I feel i've had enough cocktails for the time being.
Hope you have a fantastic time at the KT Tunstall concert.
