Cats Just a quicky reply but enjoy that wallowing and its ok to do it!! Just dont stay there and put a time limit on it. Then while you are down there ... enjoy and really embrace it. Am really sorry to hear you got put back in hospital again. That happened to me quite a lot in the early days and whilst the staff are wonderful, its just not a great thing to do. HOpe they get your pain sorted for you. hugsss Julie xoxo ... View more

Hi Bob sorry i cant help you with the type of cancer you have. Just wanted to say hi and am a patient at Fremantle also. I have found their team to be fantastic. Julie ... View more

Hi Tonya Please accept my condolences, I am so sorry to hear your news. My thoughts are with you and your children. Julie xo ... View more

H I think that a voice via any means is great! If everyone speaks out a little it will all add up to a lot and we can make the road a little bit smoother and easier for someone else. I think it needs all the powers to be that deal with cancer to get together and listen to what patients and caregivers have to say and then try and bridge the gaps. I think they first need to ask the question "what would have made your journey easier?". This needs to be asked of many and then pull out what they can and work towards making this experience easier. I say many because country cancer patients have a different set of difficulties as opposed to city ones. That was just off the top of my head! I guess you get my drift though. :) Julie ... View more

Gees, larn that sucks and i am sorry to hear that! Hang in there and am sorry to hear you have had to cancel your cruise! That is a real shame as you were so looking forward to that. Sometimes we just arent strong I think and that is ok for a while. I think sometimes we need to just drop and regroup our energies to be able to bounce back a bit and biff cancer in the nose again. I am sure T and you are feeling somewhat defeated at the moment, hang in there though and you will be back to living strong again! hugsss Julie xo ... View more

Hey S My experience was the same in that my clinical care was exceptional and yet nothing provided for the social / emotional side of things. It is my belief that cancer nurses are trained very well in the clinical side of things and i wonder if it would be appropriate for them to be trained in depression. Depression is very misunderstood in society in general, neverlone combined with a cancer diagnosis. I am not sure it is down to the dollar or whether someone just hasnt spoken up about it, which i find astonishing really. Cancer and depression often go hand in hand, its not abnormal and i would say we all go through it in varying degrees. As sailor has said there is help out there but its a matter of "knowing" before we can access it. It is my belief that cancer treatment and provision of services is just way too fragmented and absolutle huge gaps in service provision. I think the gaps exist due to lack of money but also who gets to see the whole picture? Cos i am sure that cancer patients do not. At our new local cancer centre i have been able to be a small voice in what is going to be provided. I am pushing for them to provide counselling to country patients who will be staying away from home. This would encompass offering the person a shoulder to lean on if needed and also helping with shopping, chemists, banking, internet assistance or anything else the patient needs. Bit mind blank at the mmoment, wrong end of the day for me as i get tired still. I am hoping they will take it on board even if it starts out in a small way and builds from there. One can only hope!! Julie ... View more

Hi Sailor Funny you should write this as i have been talking to people about this for a while now. I think in some cases we arent told adequate information and at other times we are given a virtual overload of information in the written form. I remember returning from perth with a miriad of booklets that i was supposed to read. All the while being on heavvy doses of morphine aswell as chemo. Often at a time when we are less able to absorb the information due to drugs or in shock from diagnosis. I think the solution is to have one person who is assigned to the cancer patient right from diagnosis and through treatment and beyond. Of course the person would have to be trained in all facets involved with dealing with cancer patients. For example depression, if that was picked up earlier and monitored it would save a heck of a lot of people a lot of sadness and incredibly difficult times. In some cases early detection or monitoring would also enable some people to continue their treatment uninterrupted. There is a lot of support and information out there but boy is it fragmented and difficult to track down. Of course i am just speaking from my experience and those i have spoken to. Plus i am sure things are different (goodness knows why) in different states. Something really needs to be done about this issue and hopefully that wont be in the distant future. Julie ... View more

Hey Willow I think you always make sense in your blogs. 🙂 Being diagnosed with cancer is tough and there is no way of avoiding it being tough because we all have to go through that process. If sharing helps you then it is great and i wouldnt worry about replying to people's blogs unless you feel you want to or can. Most of the time i wonder if i am saying the right thing to people or not. Dont forget your blog to tell us you were in England, that was great news! I had something similar happen to me a few months ago and i questioned how accurate their tests were. I was assured that with todays tests they are pretty accurate. I still have that little bit sitting in my brain "what if?". I dont think that ever goes away completely and in some ways i still have a little bit of "what if" left over from my first cancer. Living as we have to live, in that most of us have frequent tests to see if we are still clear or not, takes its toll on us. It all does even out with time though and does get easier. Be kind to yourself and take good care. 🙂 Julie xo ... View more

Hey Cats Crickeys you are being put through the wringer at the moment! I really hope it improves for you soon. I understand some of what you are saying re the brain and pain. If you go to a pain management thingy i think they teach you techniques to deal with pain rather than upping medications. Thats for chronic long term as far as i know. Just goes to show how powerful our brains are in relation to our bodies. It is always dodgy buying take away food and over my years of working i have worked in a couple of places and yup you really do need to be careful. I think the health dept that perform the checks need to do much more regular checks! When do you get your results back? I hate waiting for results it is exhausting i find. I find myself slipping into that see saw emotion and then its so tiring to try and stay impartial without burying one's head. You will be pleased to know that "it" is ruling the house. lol Ahlee or witchy as i call her bit me the other night. This was after me doing the obligatory scratch around the jaw and then the tail pull that she likes so much and then to finish off we had the tummy rub and then "bite". I am sure you can insert a name here that she got called when she drew blood. 😄 I have put out her tunnel today so tonight i am sure she is going to have a ball when we are all sleeping. Mind you i have put it in the passage and i will move it because its right outside my bedroom door. She hides under my bed till my son goes out and then pops out for me to stroke her. I am well trained, can you tell? Oh the witch is on cue she is at the back door looking out at my long grass that needs mowing. Shame i cant harness the cat to the lawnmower and let her chase me round the backyard. hehe omg she is such a princess! She is pretty funny really and tries to pretend she doesnt like me but she really does. Ok cats i better get some things happening here and i think a nana nap is on the cards this arvo. Hope you are ok despite all your ailments at the mo. hugsss Julie xo ... View more

Hey Cats Crickeys you are being put through the wringer at the moment! I really hope it improves for you soon. I understand some of what you are saying re the brain and pain. If you go to a pain management thingy i think they teach you techniques to deal with pain rather than upping medications. Thats for chronic long term as far as i know. Just goes to show how powerful our brains are in relation to our bodies. It is always dodgy buying take away food and over my years of working i have worked in a couple of places and yup you really do need to be careful. I think the health dept that perform the checks need to do much more regular checks! When do you get your results back? I hate waiting for results it is exhausting i find. I find myself slipping into that see saw emotion and then its so tiring to try and stay impartial without burying one's head. You will be pleased to know that "it" is ruling the house. lol Ahlee or witchy as i call her bit me the other night. This was after me doing the obligatory scratch around the jaw and then the tail pull that she likes so much and then to finish off we had the tummy rub and then "bite". I am sure you can insert a name here that she got called when she drew blood. 😄 I have put out her tunnel today so tonight i am sure she is going to have a ball when we are all sleeping. Mind you i have put it in the passage and i will move it because its right outside my bedroom door. She hides under my bed till my son goes out and then pops out for me to stroke her. I am well trained, can you tell? Oh the witch is on cue she is at the back door looking out at my long grass that needs mowing. Shame i cant harness the cat to the lawnmower and let her chase me round the backyard. hehe omg she is such a princess! She is pretty funny really and tries to pretend she doesnt like me but she really does. Ok cats i better get some things happening here and i think a nana nap is on the cards this arvo. Hope you are ok despite all your ailments at the mo. hugsss Julie xo ... View more