Hi Oldman54 Many things as well as radiation can affect taste. A lot of us have been there and yes it does come back eventually. (There can be a positive side to it - it is a great way to lose weight if you need to!) For some reason I went through a period of eight months where everything was bland. It didn't matter if it was spicy or exotic flavours, it was just bland. then sudden;ly one day I had taste back.. Strange thing I have been on the same medication since then and never had that side effect again. I don't know why you have the moniker Oldman, but there are times when I just feel old before my time. Cheers Sailor I realize that the old salt’s of tomorrow, start out as the beginners of today. John Jack ... View more

G'day Vicki Anne This is not confined to women - there are looking good classes for men as well. Maybe not the make up! cheers Sailor Give me a spirit that on this life's rough sea, loves t' have his sails filled with a lusty wind. George Chapman ... View more

G'day Harker Yes that was what it was like for me when three and a half years after diagnosis and treatment the bloody thing recurred. There was not the same angst. I allowed myself to be quite emotional about it and I didn't tell people about it. Between the acknowledgment that it had returned and the experimental treatment I underwent was a period of nine months, on therapy designed to shrink things a bit, or at least hold things steady. During that time I lost ten kilos and had lots of emotional times. Second time around is quite different Take care Sailor The south and west winds joined, and as they blew Waves like a rolling trench before them threw. Sooner than you read this line, did the gale, Like shot, not feared till felt, our sails assail. John Donne ... View more

Hey Collie That's what the site is for - go ahead unburden. cheers Sailor ... View more

Hi collie Why don't you ask your dermatologist to check you all over. Get any lumps, bumps, moles, freckles, etc., checked, wherever they are occurring. Better to have that peace of mind than be wondering if that lump is something. Also ask him if you need to have regular all-over check ups. Cheers Sailor ... View more

Hi Julia.w I had a similar experience. I still have the piece of paper my specialist gave me when recommending the specific treatment where he wrote that there was a 95% probability that I would still be around and cancer free in fifteen years. Well, the cancer recurred four years later and with ongoing treatment there is a good chance that I will make the fifteen years, but I am not cancer free. However, the reality came when after six years I received a call from an interstate specialist who wanted to know about the experimental treatment I had when the cancer recurred. That person finished off the conversation with the statement "You are still around six years later with that particular tumour - that's my good news story for this week!" I guess that they are trying to insulate us from some of the shock and trying to give us hope. The problem is that all the research shows that positive thinking doesn't prolong things and it is very easy to get trapped into always putting a positive spin on things and denying the negatives. Fantastic that you have come through so far. Cheers Sailor An incorrectly identified mark is a hazard, not an aid, to navigation. Alton B. Moody ... View more

Hi Jules2 What an insult! I hope you mentioned discrimination law. If you feel up to going back to work, then those sort of questions should not be asked. You may inform people as a courtesy. I'm retired, but busier than ever and get asked to take on quite a few tasks. Initially I was reluctant to take on anything with a time line greater than two years. That went on for, four years, then six, then eight. Seems a bit silly looking back. I also realise that having survived, or living with, cancer we have a lot to offer in the workplace and that the change we have gone through is good. Work on the positives - what you have to offer. Make a list of them and put them in as work advantages. Go back to the person who did your resume and ask if she would also draft a letter of application you can use. Take care Sailor And when men lose confidence and trust in those who lead, order disintegrates into chaos and purposeful ships into uncontrollable derelicts. Wall Street Journal Editorial 1952 ... View more

G'day 1973 My understanding is that it is quite common to have such feelings quite sometime after ceasing treatment, or certainly after the diagnosis. One colleague of mine had some psychological help a few years after treatment and her counsellor described the symptoms she had as typical post traumatic stress disorder - yes PTSD - flashback, disasters feelings the lot. Hardly surprising after the trauma we have been through! In my own case it was ten years after diagnosis when I just felt as the monster in a room in my mind was threatening top break out of that room and all I was doing was frantically nailing planks across the door trying to stop it get out. I saw a psychologist and it really helped. If you see your GP they can arrange, through the better outcomes for mental health scheme for you to have yup to twelve session with a psychologist on medicare. As others on this site will tell you it is well worth doing and that was my experience. Cheers Sailor Any fool can carry on, but a wise man knows how to shorten sail in time. Joseph Conrad ... View more

Hi Jules 2, Now why didn't I think of chocolate coated ginger - dark and fairtrade, of course. Bundy and ginger beer, sounds worse than scotch and ginger beer. Actually after ten days the morning sickness has passed on, now to just wait for the hot flushes. Maybe the bundy will help with that. Cheers Sailor Not sure sailors would have sung the following, but Rum was a navy tradition, but served as grog - rum and water. Until lime juice came along they believed it kept off scurvy!! God made the sugarcane grow where it's hot, And teetotal abstainers to grow where it is not, Let the Sin Bosun warn of perdition to come, We'll drink it, and chance it, so bring on the rum. Bundaberg Rum, Overproof Rum, Will tan your insides and grow hair on your bum, Let the Blue Ribbon beat on his old empty drum, Or his waterlogged belly, we'll stick to our rum. ... View more

Hi Craftyone There is a concoction known as mint julep that seems t have phenomenal amounts of: mint; sugar; 90% bourbon whisky. Would that do the trick? I suspect the result would be similar to that form the experiment that was done in the 70's to see if marijuana actually worked as an anti-nausea drug during chemotherapy. Two groups were set up receiving the same chemotherapy. The test group were also given the active ingredient of cannabis, the control group a placebo. The result was that the episodes of vomiting were exactly the same between the test and control groups, but those in the control group just didn't care about it. When I look at the recipes for mint julep, no wonder those good O'le boys spent so much time reminiscing! Cheers Sailor Fifteen men on the dead man's chest— Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! Drink and the devil had done for the rest— Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! R L Stevenson ... View more