Where is everyone?

Glad you’re all clear wombles . Hope the chest infection clears quickly.

Well done wombles for getting to the ten year mark in good health .

Fantastic news and wish you many more happy days ahead .

We seem to be generating more storms over her in a concentrated period of time . Either that or I am just more aware of them !

However managed to get mum’s garden ready for winter and just clearing the rest of the leaves around my own . In between I have been helping my son with his new flat and taking care of mum most days .

It’s been a busy patch and the anniversary of my dads death hit a bit harder than I anticipated. But like the rest of the planet we made it through .

Mum been in for her latest scan so we wait patiently on the results . Think she must be over the 60 mark for scans now . We are all resigned to the process .

Started doing some small weights as noticed a bit of health care required myself .

Best foot forward .

14 1/2 years coming up for mum as a stage 4 patient and we know the 1/2 matters !
Have we been communicating for ten years then ??! 
That’s a lot of chat and catching up .

take care ,

Court 

Hi there I’m a newby. Long story about finding I had cancer but had all the usual endescopies and colonoscopies with highlights for scans to get the news. My scarring at the bowel and the first colonoscopy not being able get all the way up led to my trusty surgeon warning that they might have to remove 67% bowel;lymph nodes; part liver and possibly some other bit I can’t for the moment (chemo brain fog) remember. Also had warning re stoma. 
Great news was that the tennis ball they removed along with 67% bowel and lymph nodes was all that was needed ( for now maybe) as the cancer cells  while in the surrounding veins had not entered the liver ( phew). Mind you he did take a sliver of the liver ( excuse the poetry) to have it tested to confirm his considered opinion that cancer not in liver. That was in May this year. 

Now on session 6 of 8 ( another bit of good news as I previously understood it was 9 sessions) and while the side effects have varied ( and working -brain stuff - affected badly )  it’s great to be alive. 
Also got cancer downgraded from 3 to 2 after op. All good!!!!

Funnily enough (similar to response above)  I have started making an allotment from common ground next to our village. It emphasises my lack of fitness but I’ll get there and back to working full time. Worst side effect was feeling like somebody was pushing a dozen or so blunt needles up my heels as soon as I put my feet and heels on the ground in the morning. Can now walk on my toes like a ballet dancer but was able to dissipate the pain as the day progressed. 

anyway pleased to hear about other survivors and it does help to see others doing reasonably well. It makes you appreciate every day that little bit more. 

Forgot to say the onchologist said I had a special cancer ( strange cos I’ve never been a tennis watcher) and I was therefore able to get my wish of chemo at home ( max dose subsequently reduced to 80% to maintain liver levels) with tablets. How good does it get 

oh by the way I’m always Tickety boo when everybody keeps asking how I’m doing( however I feel). Also trying to make it easier for anybody to speak to me re cancer (and simple precautions for chemo) and quite a few acquaintances are more relaxed when we talk about it. It’s easy cos I ain’t lost my hair and growing a beard ( earning opportunities maybe at Christmas) just to show it’s not true that everybody loses their hair 

This is amazing Bowel67 . Not only do I love a bit of gardening but to widen that out for the community is just fantastic.

Although I do understand a lot of physical work . However I think it’s so positive for everyone to take all that you have gone through and channelled that into something positive .

Brilliant effort and well done all round .

Court 

Thank you Court and it is what it is. We’ll get there.  

I have found that if I can get something to occupy my mind it helps to keep me positive and pushes the reality of cancer to a little corner of my brain. 

Take care 

Bowel67  signing out and almost ready to see what today brings. 

Me too ! Although it’s my mum that has it I have developed coping strategies that help Me reduce the impact and keep some quality going .

Take care and keep up the good work . We have a catch up thread and happy for you upload your photos of it . You are not allowed to post photos of anyone else just for safeguarding their identity . But projects or yourself are just great .

Court 

Hi Court 

Just for a second or two I thought you were looking for me posting a photo of my surgery line. Really made me laugh and O thought I might get thousands of the new followers on the internet. 
Will be happy to post a pic or two but at present the allotment is in a very early stage having spent days trying to domesticate the wild grass and weeds,. 
At present it is just a large bit of grass and weeds under an extensive weed control sheet. Hoping to get a few days of good weather in between the winter storms where I might test out if my weed destructive plan has been successful. Then out will come the rotovator and hopefully get the soil in a better state. 

ok take care 

Bowel67 signing off for now 

Yep. Must be a ten year chat. Thanks for all your help. How were your Mum’s scan results? My latest family medical news is that my remaining brother will have a liver biopsy for liver cancer, which he says is highly likely. The waiting for it and then the results will be stressful. Not much of a Christmas for him, but he seems matter of fact about it all. Keep well, Wombles. x 

Hi wombles 
On the whole considering her spread they were good in the sense with a targeted therapy alone her target lung tumour remains shrunken down and stable , nothing more said about the lymph nodes they seem to be off the radar but a few small two to three mm nodules grew one mm . They take an image every two mm so I am not overly concerned and nor did we know about them anyway . However it was enough to be classed as disease progression and to stop treatment. I really doubt in other circumstances I would have accepted that at that size of progression but in her eighties after ten months of treatment we as a family were really feeling for her . So sad as it is we are in agreement. However they feel her cancer is so slow growing they doubt it will become symptomatic in her lifetime . 
She has bad osteoporosis and just now we are trying to balance her fluid retention with the right amount of diuretics. She has a wonderful GP practice who sees her every six weeks and we can raise our concerns and make the necessary adjustments as required. 

All in all she is in a better condition than this time last year and starting to get rid of the side effects . She is out and about with some support and just had a lovely day trip to the beach with the new carer who comes in once a month to an outing .

So sorry to hear about your brother . My mum’s friend has just had a liver resection in his 80 ‘s and is on the mend . Hope there are some good options for your brother .

The process is bad .

We had a good few days of snow already but back to the heavy rain and dull days . The sensor lights are switching themselves on early .

Tell us all about the beautiful long sunny days in your part of the world .

Take care and have a great Christmas when it comes ,

Court 

Christmas Day! Hope it is a happy one for you all. About to eat some hot ham with ciabatta bread. Then some trifle, but won’t overdo it of course. Had a bad toothache yesterday but it’s ok now for some reason. It’s actually only about half a tooth as it broke off to gum level a few days ago. I rang the urgent dentist who turned out to be my own dentist and he can see me tomorrow. But I’m not sure now. 
Yes, the days are quite long and not tooo hot yet. The Summer Solstice came and went with my celebratory dance outside at the exact moment. Luckily in the pm so I didn’t have to set the alarm. The south of NZ is not so humid and the days are usually a bit cooler. But that’s the way I like it. Uh huh.
Enjoy the day everyone. I think it’s just started for you. Lots of excited children about and adults no doubt. x