well my sister is telling her 6yr old later today , they’ve had good advice from the school and offer of support from them when needed and a book to help explain to Willow .
Now sitting in my garden listening to birds so much thinking my head hurts . I did a shop earlier got lots of bits for my sister , creams , bath Bits, new towels , gentle mouth wash , puzzle books . Going to give her a care package in her own basket . Things she will need along this journey.
We have a dental assessment Monday we are not sure if this is about Chemo or for RT after Chemo.
Ive been brought up catholic but omg have not been to church since my teens, I’m planning on going next week to mass , you never know he may listen to my prays x
Not a religious person myself but I did have a couple of friends praying for me, one locally and one in Atlanta in the US and I was very grateful for that, wherever you stand on religion it sounds like you're going to be a godsend to your sis. My big bro is my closest friend in the World and we've not actually had a cross word between us in forty plus years (fought like cat and dog when we were kids though, ha) and he was always available for me even though he's mostly globetrotting for work, Vietnam currently. He's also a cancer survivor (bowel) so understood better than most.
I'm actually "off duty" at the moment as I'm on holiday but I read your first thread earlier and you got some great advice.
The dental check will be RT related because it can damage the bones in the jaw over time so tooth extraction is difficult due to healing problems. Any teeth that your sis has that are showing signs of poor health, or potential poor health, will likely be extracted as a precautionary measure; I had three removed but all at the back so my "smile" was unaffected. If she needs a lot taken out she'll get free reconstructive work done once she's well enough (and gets to the top of the waiting list, postcode lottery sadly).
Good that you've got the school involved, our youngest was 17 when I was diagnosed and we liaised closely with his college, bit different than with little ones I know but a wise move. My wife and I were still ignorant of how badly it affected him (and his big sisters) until much later; he was apparently at times crying himself to sleep at around 4.00am, then getting up at 7.00 to get the bus, deliberately missing the bus and just walking aimlessly until it was time to get home nine or ten hours later. Broke my heart hearing that. He also went from a "distinction" student to scraping passes. Horrible.
Anyway I'm sorry I don't mean to depress you, you sound like an inspirational person and I'm sure with you and your family's help your sister will come through this. It's unfortunate she saw the thread about the death on here on her first visit, I've been here six years and can assure you they're extremely few and far between, there are many many more positive ones.
Best wishes and thoughts to you all.
Metastatic SCC diagnosed 8th October 2013. Modified radical neck dissection November, thirty-five radiotherapy fractions with 2xCisplatin chemo Jan/Feb 2014. Recurrence on larynx diagnosed July 2020 so salvage laryngectomy in September 2020.
Anna my son is now a strapping 23 year old who I picked up from the airport here in Zakynthos on Wednesday so he could join us for the last week of our holiday. Wife and I are fine and back to how we were, she's disabled and I'm her carer and have been for many years but we live a happy and largely private (ten grandchildren aside) life. Situation when I was ill obviously made things complicated but our daughters rallied round.
The "off duty" bit was reference to my role on here, mentioned below each of my posts, that I'm lucky enough to have been deemed worthy of the title of "community champion" with a particular brief to watch over the head and neck group along with chris2012.
Many others contribute as much and often more sense than we do but we commit to spend time here so get to wear the prefect's badge, ha.
Metastatic SCC diagnosed 8th October 2013. Modified radical neck dissection November, thirty-five radiotherapy fractions with 2xCisplatin chemo Jan/Feb 2014. Recurrence on larynx diagnosed July 2020 so salvage laryngectomy in September 2020.
