Feeling rough this year

Hi Alison

, 

Really good to see you here, but sorry you have had a rough patch.

Hope you start to pick up soon, are you just having soft foods at the moment, scrambled, just a thought. egg.

A lot of people are taking a step back from the group, but a lot of new ones have come along.

Hope you get on at Chisties ok keep us updated.

The wheel keeps turning for us all.

Take Care Ellie xx

"You Never Walk A Lone"

Hi Alison,

I'm sorry to hear that you are feeling so rough.  It really takes it out of you when your body is struggling with infections.  You did have me confused for a minute as I thought of Christies the auctioneers rather that The Christie when you said you were going for a consultation but I have always had the ability to be stupid at times!  I hope that the consultation goes well for you.

I like Greek yogurt with chopped fruit, nuts, seeds and honey.  As a kid when I was ill I used to drink milk warmed with an egg whisked into it to thicken it slightly and sweetened with honey or sugar (like a very thin custard).

Take care, love and hugs,

Gragon xx

Hi Alison

How nice to hear from you although I’m sad to hear you’ve had such a rough start to the year. Infections really take it out of you. 

I like a smoothie made with yoghurt, strawberries, banana, cranberry juice and almonds. It is sweet, easy to drink and full of protein. 

Fingers crossed for your bloods! 

Lots of love 

xxx

Hi Alison, So sorry you are struggling with infection, I do think cancer patients get more than their fair share!

When do you go for your consultation to the Christie? (Gragon, your comment about the auctioneers did make me smile). I'm not getting notifications either, just the occasional one, here and there! Admin are looking into it for me!  Well, my spinal surgery is done, thankfully, and I got the stitches out on Monday. However I feel worse this week than I did the week after the op! The problem is not my back, but my left buttock (sorry gents, but there's no other word for it) It is painful when I stand,sit and lie! I've been faithfully doing the exercises the Physio gave me and my back feels not to bad! Anyone with any ideas, please let me know as it is unbearable at the minute. In fact it was so bad, I missed our youngest granddaughter's 4th Birthday Party on Monday but thankfully my daughter brought the girls round, to give her a birthday cake and we gave her her presents which I had bought before the op. 

Maybe someone has pulled this muscle while exercising and can give me some tips. The district nurse said it's more than likely due to the way they have to manipulate you in theatre, to do the op! Bye the way Alison, I was told not to drink Lucozade at all once while in hospital! The doctor said all it did was make your teeth bad but it was well advertised! I've not had it since. Told fresh orange was better! Who knows!!!

Hi Annette, 

Sorry to hear you have a pain in the arse. It must be really bad for you to miss your granddaughter’s birthday. I know how much your grandkids mean to you and that you’d crawl across hot coals rather than miss out on their little lives. Bless your lovely daughter for trying to make it up to you though. 

I hope you can get some relief soon 

xx

Hi Annette,

sorry you have pain in your buttock. Do you think it could be nerve pain from your sciatic nerve ?

Pain tablets may help until it settles down. It is horrible to swap one pain for another.

i will probably having more RFA on April 16th but the consultant wants to discuss with me first. Hopefully over the telephone as I do not fancy a trip to London in between.

meanwhile my mother keeps phoning me and asking me to come over to her as she is unwell.

she wouldn’t get out of bed yesterday with her carers until I came round and has a red cellulitic leg.

meanwhile we are looking after my daughters dogs as well as ours while she moves house. 

Lfe is so busy at the moment. Rogers hand injury means trips to the hand centre. Stitches out today we hope.

Hi Annette

If you look up spinal stenosis online, you'll find that a pain in the buttock is a classic symptom. I have that. It's actually where my pain starts when I get on my feet. The pain gets steadily worse until it becomes unbearable, after only a minute or so on my feet, then the pain goes across my back until my back seems to want to split in two. By that time, I'm almost screaming in agony and I have to sit down.

As Ruth has just stated, the sciatic nerve could be the cause, I do believe that could be the case with me. Whatever it is, it's damn painful.

A pain in the buttock might seem to be something to laugh at or make fun of, but it's a symptom of what has caused me to to see life from a wheelchair. You and I are both in need of wheelchairs, I do hope that you will be able to do without yours now. 

Keep up the exercises Annette, it's so easy to get fed up with them. If you need any support, drop me an email and I will try to help. You have been so supportive for me which I really appreciate.

Love

Tvman xx

Hi Daloni, Thanks for your reply. Yes you are right about walking over hot coals etc and the family also know how bad it is when I couldn't get dressed to go to the birthday party! Let's hope it will get a bit better soon! 

I'm so glad you typed "you 'have' a pain in the a***" rather than " you 'are' a pain in the a***!!!!

Are you now back on chemo after your break?

Thanks for taking the time to reply Ruth, especially when things are a bit hectic for you! Your wee mum obviously wants your attention and feels a bit sorry for herself, her leg must be so painful! I suppose being in her nineties she's allowed to feel sorry for herself. Obviously she thinks you have nothing else to do but run after her, God love her. It must be such a strain on you with extra work looking after your daughter's dogs. Is it long until she moves into her house? Now another clinic to attend is not what you need! Is Roger's hand improving?

Somehow, I don't think the pain is caused by the sciatic nerve as it doesn't move down my leg and I thought sciatica always did! Anyway my back seems to be healing fine, so that's one good thing! 

Am I right in thinking you had RFA before and it seemed to work well? When you have your consultation, will you be for it or against it? We have lots of difficult decisions to make about our treatment, please let me know what your consultant says and I hope you manage to talk via the telephone!

Hi Tvman, Thanks for your reply. However as I explained to Ruth, the pain does not move over to my back, or down my leg, it is just in the one spot! The surgery I had was to decompress and clear around the spinal cord, (the surgeon said that took a while) then scrape off extra bone spurs growing on the spine, then he put a bracket in to stabilise the vertebrae that had moved out of position. He seemed quite pleased it had gone to plan! Before the surgery I didn't have pain in this area, it went all the way down my leg to my feet and thankfully that has gone. The nurse who took out my stitches said it could have been something simple like someone 'leaning' on this area to watch the surgery as it is a teaching hospital, or even the strange position you are put in to have the surgery. I do have lots of bruises in the most unusual places, so I'm hoping it will clear as quick as it came!

Everyone keeps saying its early days yet and be patient to let things settle in their own time! Now doesn't that sound easy!!! I suppose we should be used to one step forward then two steps back! Pain is a difficult thing to live with but if you have sciatica, by your description it sounds like it, is there nothing they can do to help? Even physiotherapy or maybe acupuncture? It's worth asking again!

Thanks everyone for your replies, it's just nice to know there are people who just "get it" and know how you feel! The support here is second to none and most appreciated.