None of us really know what we are capable of, until we have to. I don't think that  there is any age where the dealing with terminal illness is any easier than any other age. I hope that your Grandma's passing is peaceful and that she passes away knowing that she is loved. -sch ... View more

Hi Shane,   Congratulations on completing your treatment. How long do you have until you are "confirmed" cured? The waiting can be difficult, I recommend you find something to occupy your mind especially as you close in on that date.   -sch ... View more

Hi PP,   Have you been curing the olives yourself too? I did a batch or two about 10 years ago. Seemed like such a lot of water.   -sch ... View more

Hi Nik198,   How did you go? I hope everything is ok for you now. ... View more

@Caz63we haven't heard from you in a little while. Did you hear back from the surgeon? ... View more

Hi Mummy1, I'm sorry to hear what you've been going through. This is tough, and I won't try and tell you that I know what you are going through, because I know that only someone who has had to live through it could ever possibly know how hard and difficult it is. Have you talked to your family about how you are feeling and your fears and concerns?   -sch ... View more

Hi DF, I'm sorry to hear that you've been diagnosed. As far as differentiating between stage 2 vs stage 3, I think that is largely up to the oncologist. I think that the best option is simply to ask your surgeon and oncologist if the enlarged lymph node could be caused by the cancer having spread to the node. But yes, if this was the case, I think this would change the staging.   -sch   ... View more

Hi Lisa2,   I had my tumour removed first, followed by 12 cycles of chemo. Personally, I thought that the surgery was easier to deal with as you had surgery once, followed by a recovery period afterwards. Chemo just keeps coming back and I had a number of side effect symptoms.   I was really sore for the week after surgery, but I also had a colectomy + ileostomy, so I don't know if that had an impact on how sore I was.   Your recovery time will depend on what will be performed during surgery. While my surgery was reasonably significant, I recovered quickly. Factors that I think helped in recovery; Fitness level before surgery Staying on top of pain medication Movement/exercise in the weeks after surgery Motivation/attitude   I found that the week post surgery was the most painful (obviously). On one occasion I'd been sitting in an reclining seat. My wife was there and the nurse arrived as it was time for me to shower. I knew it was going to be painful getting up, but nothing prepared me for how bad it really was going to be. After that, my pain medication was increased and the pain was a lot easier to manage. Tip - stay on top of the pain medication and tell someone if it's too bad so it can be increased.   Within the first week I also did as much walking (really it was shuffling) around as I could. Even if it took me a while to get anywhere. Three weeks post surgery I started back at work. This involved walking to and from the train station and work. About 2 km all up.   So staying on top of the pain allowed me to exercise/move which in turn allowed enabled my recovery.   My diet was fairly restricted post surgery, but that's because I no longer had a large bowel. How the surgery for your stomach will be impacted, I can't say.   Let me know if you have any other questions.   -sch   ... View more

I'm starting to think you just like being in  hospital...*sarcastic eye roll* What for?  Infection?   -sch     ... View more

Hi Lisa2, I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis. It's never easy, but very hard if you have kids. I was diagnosed with bowel cancer at 40 and had two young children. Chemo was annoying! There were side effects, but you will work around them.   Have the surgeons set any expectations around what stage they might think it is? Do you have a partner who will be able to assist you and the children? The children will be OK. They are resilient and will bounce back.   What surgery do they have planned? Is this for removal of a tumour?   And most importantly, how are you? How are you feeling?   -sch         ... View more