Week 5 of Treatment - Reflections

Hi Ali

I look forward to reading your posts and I'm pleased your so honest. Thank you so much for explaining when you use your sitz bath.. I got one after reading the comments on this forum but was trying to figure out wen to use.. so now I know xx

Im nearly 58...and untilmatch this year have alway been really fit..My treatment started 7th Jan and first week has been ok ..im trying to stay active (when I can ) and this weekend have managed a good long walk bith Saturday and Sunday which really helps me with my mental health.

I know im in the early stages of my treatment and it's gonna get work before it gets better but I'm trying to take on day at a time..

My diet has changed dramatically I used to pile on the butter on toast but now I'm living on really bland food.. tge thought of butter is making me ferl nausea...so i have toasted muffins with a very little bit of orange cheese( not white cheese as thats making me feel sick ) plain chicken.. white rice and white pasta.. and omg..jelly babies, thank you for suggesting them..

I'm also crossing a line through each days treatment and saying to myself-next Friday is a third if tge way through.. the Friday after is half way through.. its the little things that make us happy..

I do hope tge rest of your treatment goes well and I hope you get some relief from your pain soon..

P s madmen is great.. try yellowstone is you not seen it..and also I've just binged watched the good place and man on the inside on netflix.. 25 mins pr episode so real easy watching xx

Thanks Squeak.  for your kind words and well done on staying active - it really does have a positive impact both mentally and physically. 

Sitz bath - yeah I think from week 3 I would use it after every BM.  I'd fill it with warm (not hot) water.  I suffered with either loose stools or constipation and found that my bottom got pretty sore. 

One day at a time - is so the right attitude - also someone advised me, deal with your current symptoms - so instead of worrying about what's to come and that helped me immensely.  I constantly think that this moment will pass, when it's tough. 

Eat what you can - that nausea is so weird isn't it?  I love these ginger gluten free oat cakes - I've not managed to eat one since I started treatment.  Week one I ate some Jaffa cakes and the hubby purchased a multi-box - and I can't bring myself to eat them lol.  I don't think I'll ever eat a jell baby again after this.  I think weeks 3 & 4 - I got my appetite back and ate normal meals.... 

TV - yeah Yellowstone is on the list.  Just seen that Love Island starts on Monday and I can't work out if I'm that desperate or not lol  

Take care and good luck for week 2.

X 

Hi Ali,

You are on the home stretch now for this part of the journey. Only 3 to go but I am in no way under any illusions about how hard those last days are- almost there but not quite. You have been so positive, open and helpful in sharing information about your treatment journey and what has been helpful and I have no doubt this will be hugely useful for others. 

 I hope you have been able to rest up over the weekend and that the pain has been under control to an extent.

Just make sure you don’t book anything in too soon after treatment. My lovely friends took me out for a meal as a celebration for finishing treatment and I could barely sit down or eat so while it was hugely appreciated it was way too soon and quite challenging!

Wishing you well for the next 3 days and keep visualising that lovely holiday ahead.

Big hug to you. Xx

Nearly done, go you. If your gonna watch yellowstone you need to do 1883 and 1923 aswell. Xx

Go Ali!!

What a star.

Your updates throughout your treatments have been amazing and I'm sure really valuable and supportive to those walking it with you. 

You are so close now, just keep going and you will soon be done. I know the effects linger but there is a definite psychological boost to getting home on that final day. Just keep things low key, and remember your body is working to destroy that tumour, then you will turn the corner and healing will begin. 

Soothe your burnt undercarriage as much as you can and use that pain relief as you need it - it's not forever, just to see you through this.

I remember on the last days of my treatment texting my friend that I just could not walk that corridor any more; but we do, and we get there.

I think about you, and all of us, every day we lie under these machines that will save our lives, and I wish all the strength and healing you need.

So close now..

xx 

Yes, this is true, I finished my treatment near Christmas one year and thought I'd be raring to go to my works Christmas party to celebrate. Honestly! I stayed on the sofa and ate toast and it was the best thing I could've done.

Hi Ali,

loved reading your countdown diary which is will be so helpful for others. When treatment finishes you can say goodbye to the daily trek to and from hospital and just concentrate on healing. I used the sitz bath when I had a particularly painful bowel movement and would just wash it thoroughly afterwards. Your positivity will see you through 

Julie

Ali

Everything you write and it all comes flooding back.  And I don't think you are fragile in the least with regards to pain.  What you are going through is widely recognised as an extremely tough treatment and you do yourself a disservice.  I have read other accounts and am so admiring (and more than a little envious) of those who didn't find it too bad.  I don't begrudge them an easier time for one minute, but I think they are in the minority, sadly.

The loo and associated issues are by far the most difficult part of the treatment.  I remember taking at least an hour, if not longer to recover after a bowel movement, my entire back passage would be throbbing so much it took my breath away and at that point I didn't move out of bed.  But Ali, you will get past this.

The next few weeks?  First of all, even though things may get worse before they get better, the treatment is over.  No more trips to the hospital, no more gagging over huge pills and the 'chemo brain' fades.  Don't try and do anything you don't feel up to doing; rest and recuperation and eat whatever and whenever you feel like.  And if you need more meds, creams, dressings, painkillers, keep in touch with your team.  And when you finish treatment, (I am not sure if it was the chemo or the radiotherapy that gave me diarrhoea) but are still on opioids, start with the stool softeners immediately.

And thank you for writing such an honest account for others and with such clarity.  This is exactly what the purpose of this forum.

Gentle hug

Irene xx

PS  I am with totally with you on the other sites.  I dipped my toe in and scurried back here!