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Well its been a while since I wrote on here so thought it about time I did..
Mum is doing ok at the moment, Goint tomorrow for the last cycle of chemo (Gem Carbo) and then next Friday for the top up. She has been very tiered the last week and has a low blood count so is going to have a blood transfusion on Monday.. Then going on Xmas eve for a CT scan.. ooo its all go at the mo.
On a positive note I have started my fund raising campaign for Weston Park Cancer Hospital in Sheffield.. Had a weird...
So Alice has nothing on me - Alan in Wonderland = that's how I feel. Having fallen down a rabbit hole and struggling to find my way out - meeting strange and not so nice characters along the way.
Parallel Universe
I am going to try very hard not to talk about food.
I could talk about the the flocks of field fares (not sure how they spell themselves) I saw on our walk, or I could talk about the scent of a pinemartin which the dogs regularly pick up and follow. But who wants to sound like Autumn Watch? (But were the vast numbers of birds I was seeing today escaping from floods further South? I would like to know that. )
But here is what is on my mind: a year ago we were functioning in...
Spam, Broth and being Off Piste
I was so delighted to see that some people are reading this blog and then I noticed a particularly slimy bit of spam.
This raises the question of whether broth and custard attracts spam?
But thanks to genuine replies - they are much appreciated.
The broth is going down well and the husband had almost ten hours of reasonably comfortable sleep last night - the best for a while. There is a lot to be said for that old- fashioned invalid food, apparently.
The...
Chicken Broth and Baked Custard
One of the advantages of being off work is that I can cook good old-fashioned things for my husband. It's Mrs Beeton-style invalid food. Today, for example, one fat fowl (organic) simmered with every vegetable I can lay my hands on, followed by a baked custard, delicately flavoured with a vanilla pod. Tomorrow? Probably more chicken broth .... Ideas, Mrs Beeton? As well as the cooking, I can take on walking the dogs. And, joy, I can do some of the other chores...
I have started, so I will continue ...
From my perspective, there is only one great basic certainty about oesophageal cancer: food is life. If my husband can't eat, he will starve.
For fellow carers, and those who have eating problems due to cancer, I hope your experience of dieticians has been better than ours. I seem to remember the only advice we were given was aimed at all cancer patients who were going through chemo, and that advice was only given when we asked to see a dietician.
...
Tuesday was a good day, bringing the very best of news: the cancer hasn't spread. It is adenocarcinoma, non small cell lung cancer in its early stages. I met with my specialist cancer nurse, Michael (who is amazing), and the surgeon, Mr Jordan, who is also amazing. After reviewing my PET scan, the surgeon was keen to offer surgery and stressed that this was good, as not everyone is suitable. He told me how it would be: 2 chest drains, central line, catheter, cannulas and an epidural morphine pump;...
How to start? I think, deep down, you know, don't you? My recent feelings of living on automatic pilot – that of seeing the world from a distance, hovering on the sidelines and watching as everyone else just gets on with it; living but not quite fully. My worst fears have been confirmed – I do have lung cancer. I don't want this blog to become morose and just a diary of cancer – it is going to be my partner on this journey of downs and ups and I am determined that the ups will win....
PDT - Not a silver bullet ...
Just in case my many readers (ha, ha) think I am under the illusion that PDT is a 'cure' for inoperable oesophageal cancer - I do not. The research suggests that it is a useful palliative treatment and it seems to me to be preferable to the alternatives which are very, very few hence my probably unreasonable delight that I have found someone in this country who offers this treatment. I also believe that it can be used in conjunction with other treatment, if...
