Still just starting!

Hi 

I hope all went well today. Are these your planning scans? Are you getting your tattoos etc.,? It’s good that you have a start date for your treatment too. I used the time in between my planning scans & start date to prepare for if during treatment there were things that I didn’t feel like doing or wasn’t able to do, I bought food in that’d be easy to prepare for if I didn’t feel like cooking etc., I made arrangements for someone to walk the dog if I couldn’t myself & bought in practical stuff like some Epsom Salts for bathing (these were invaluable) I found an Epsom Salt bath very soothing when my skin started getting a little inflamed. Having said all this the reality was that apart from being off work because of the practicalities of daily radiotherapy appointments things carried on pretty much as normal until very near the end of my treatment, I found myself a little more tired than usual but I carried on day to day pretty much as usual. 

Hopefully the next couple of weeks will fly by & then you’ll be into treatment & once you start the time goes by really quickly. 

Nicola

I’m two weeks ahead of you Andy, my chemo radiation starts on Tuesday, although I only got the start date last week. They gave me a list of all the appointments, it’s quite daunting but I’m looking forward to crossing them off.

I hope you’re feeling OK. It’s easy to drift into catastrophic thinking spiral. I think the worst possible outcome is major surgery rather than the thing we are afraid of.

My staging scan involved an injection of radioactive sugar, I haven’t had an aniseed drink. Different hospitals clearly do things differently.

my preparations so far:

I’ve used up all the random stuff in the freezer so there’s space for easy to cook things. Planning a big shop at the weekend.

I bought one of those bowls that fits on the loo, with a little plug hole

Bought Epsom salts, been to the dentist, applied for my free prescription at the GP, set up some Whatsapp groups for friends who have offered to help out. Packed an emergency hospital bag just in case. Bought a spare phone charger to carry with me. Made lots of lists. Tempted to make a list of all my lists. 

Dragged my teenage son to the shop to get new shoes, hope they still fit in September.

fed up with preparing now, just want to get on with it.

best 

Trish

Hi ,

I’ve got to commend you on your pre-treatment prep! Well done, you sound as though you’re well prepared for your start date & hopefully you’ll be well into your treatment before you need anything. 

Just one other thing I did on the advice of my surgeon, that obviously only applies to us girls, was to have a smear test & then I’d not have to think about it again until everything from my tumour removal surgery & chemoradiotherapy had healed .

You will definitely feel better once Tuesday is here & you can start ticking those sessions off & it will pass quickly, those 5 weeks go surprisingly quickly when you’re back & forth the hospital each day so before you know it you’ll be offering advice to others that are where you are now. 

Good luck for Tuesday & we’re always here if you need us. 

Nicola 

Nikki65

Thanks Nicola & Trish for your input.

The weird aniseedy drink was a contrast drink to fill my bladder. Also had the IV contrast with radioactive sugar to show up the cancerous cells to measure size and any spread. Got my tattoos so ready to go!

If you read my profile, you'll see that I'm gay, and I have no partner so I normally live alone. I moved into my Dad's place since he had some falls in Aug/Sep/Oct last year. He's had no more than 4 weeks at home since mid Nov when he went into hospital for a hip replacement ... one infection after another,  another fall resulting in a broken shoulder and flare-up of his arthritis. He's become very needy and demanding.

I'll be having 28 treatments of chemo as well as radiotherapy from mid Aug so I'm really pleased ... all-in-all ... that the hospital allows cancer patients to live-in during treatment.

My sister says she will cook for Dad and me at weekends.

The practice nurse at my GP surgery will go spare because she insists that I go "home alone" to rest & recuperate

As far as preparation is concerned, I've got myself a portable bidet that fits in the toilet pan and can be filled with warm water. I'm going to try to avoid standalone moisturisers if possible (don't know why) but have bought some Tena no-rinse washcream. Nearer the time, I might invest in some more jogging bottoms ... already have quite a supply of Tena pads for Men (Dad's move up a size).

Initially I thought you’d be better at home but actually it looks like you could do with a break during treatment. I hope you like your sisters cooking!

You sound pretty organised too. The Dr recommended I invest in some men’s underwear as it’s supposed to be more comfortable. Not heard of Tena washcream, I’ll look it up.

My Dr is a bit twitchy about me living without an adult, but I’m sure I’ll be fine. Life has to go on around us.

My dear

I remember when my sister was living with her third husband ... don't ask!!!

She served me a cooked meal on a cold plate ... ick!!!

But she's been watching me since ... lol!

For me it's gonna be chemo in the morning and radiation in the afternoon for five and half weeks... but I'm looking forward to the rest ... lol

My very best wishes for your treatment ... I'm sure this will work out for you.

I mean ... I've got EVERYTHING crossed (even my eyes ... lol)

If you find some weird plan working for you (mens pants?????) ... let us know?

xoxoxoxox

Hi

We all react differently to the treatment. My skin started to break down from week 3 and I remember wearing my hubbies boxers as they were defo more comfortable for a while. Baggy trousers were a must, I found some nice cheap Harlem pants from H&M which looked good with vests in the summer. 

I used cream to begin with but once my skin started to break down, plain old water sufficed, then towards the end I was given morphine gel to apply directly to my skin. Wasn’t as painful as it sounds!

Lotions and potions will vary between hospitals, there doesn’t appear to be much consistency across the country. 

Sx