Hiya purpleangel Wow what a tough time you are having at the mo. Do you have some sort of support network for yourself?? Someone who can perhaps have the kids for you occasionally?? It must be so difficult to be at home and know all that is going on at the hospital. Thinking of you Julie ... View more

Hey Sailor Sorry to read of your latest episode. Pain is just horrid when it is that excrutiating. Glad that you have had something that will help you now and hope that it allows you to stay pain free. Julie ... View more

Hi Rubes I felt very angry when I was going through treatment. I had to figure out why and what I was angry about and then I could sort of work through it a bit and get a bit of normality back into my thinking. I hope your flu/cold is getting better for you and that your bloods hang in there to enable you to finish your treatment. It is always a bit "tenterhooks" time waiting to have a scan and then subsequent results. Don't be too hard on yourself. Most often we treat ourselves way harder than we would anyone else that was going through the same thing as us. Thinking of you. Julie ... View more

Elizabeth Kubler Ross had a great recipe on grieving. I think it has helped so many people understand a little better what is going on for them. 🙂 ... View more

I am wondering whether Malcolm may have been referring to a slang expresion of a yank? Trying to think what it is called and can't remember. Cockney rhyming I think?? ... View more

RIP Andrew ... View more

Hiya unclet, Welcome and apologies for the late reply ... working incredibly long hours these days and not always having internet. :) I still suffer from not much saliva and my taste buds are back most of the time. THere are still some things that I cannot taste or the taste has changed for me. Most fruit these days is just sour, hence I don't bother much with it other than peaches and bananas. Feels like forever when you first finish treatment. I hope you start to notice some small differences in your saliva and taste issues and soon. I used to experiment with things like vegemite and of course the experiments depends on what your mouth can tolerate. I still don't do chili or anything too spicy and hot these days and I am heading for two years since completing treatment. All my best Julie ... View more

Hi Deb and T I will give you some of how I found treatment. Firstly, no question is silly ... if ya dont know you dont know and you find out. 🙂 None of us knew beforehand and I wish I had found this site a little earlier than I did. Wear whatever is comfy and easy to get on and off, you will wear a gown during treatment. We were given a cubicle to get changed in and then we waited in a separate section to the main waiting room and then would get taken into the treatment room. I suffered from the cold during treatment, I had chemo first and think that impacted on that - plus I had lost a reasonable amount of weight by that stage. Nothing drastic and I just always made sure I had a jacket (think layering). I never used to feel all that much during treatment. Mainly you can hear the machine whirring a little as it turns and at times my tongue would feel quite burnt after treatment. This is when I would go straight to the little hospital shop and buy an icecream. Plus I would always carry cold water with me and made sure I drank plenty after treatment. I did get tired and didn't work during treatment, however, I was a country patient so distance impacted on that. Doubt that i would have worked anyway as I was quite affected by the treatment. Not everyone is the same and some people manage to work or at least return to work as soon as treatment is finished. Some tips would be .... treat oral hygiene/care highly and start it right from the beginning. Aloe vera and honey can be your friends as they are both natural treatments that help the skin heal. I started oral hygiene from the start and made sure I did the salt water and bi carb rinses regularly during the day, plus I used honey and aloe vera on my skin "before" it became bad. Prevention is good ... also think ahead re food and how you can deal with the different stages. Stay in close contact with your cancer nurse or radiation nurse - they are invaluable and can offer all sorts of solutions and advise during treatment. Ok, all the best to you both and please feel free to email me through here if I can help further. Once you get started it isn't so scary, just the thought of it all is the hardest part. Julie ps ... make up litre bottles of saline solution and keep in the fridge and do saline soaks after treatment - helped with keeping my skin ok for treatment. 🙂 ... View more

Hi Karo I looked on eating as part of my job in this process. It still wasn't easy but I basically broke down the process and took out the bits where I could be responsible and in control of what was happening to me. Food was one of those things aswell as self care of my mouth and skin etc.... I made it my job to eat 3 times a day at least and just focussed on things that I could get down rather than taste. It isn't all that much fun but at least I didn't lose too much weight. I found eggs to be good aswell as pasta in soups. I would make savoury omelettes with some vegetables in it, plus yoghurts etc.. as Rodney has stated. Soups are another good thing also. Julie ... View more