Why aye man

Hi Dougie,

Great to hear you've have some encouraging developments today and are feeling in a slightly better frame of mind.

Onwards and upwards my friend. 

Thanks Gavin.

Morning Dougie!  Certainly some positive and encouraging steps taken yesterday and a revival of your old sense of humour too!  Which is even better!  Because what is life without a smile?     

It's good that the catheter has been dealt with and that you now have Macmillan on board.  They are there to support all your needs, palliative care, financial and emotional, so make the best of them and don't hesitate to tell them all your concerns, no matter how trivial you might think they are.  I found their support invaluable for myself as well as my mum.  They have a way of getting things done and will liaise with your medical team.

On the sense of humour note:  My mum was due to go into hospital to have an abdomenal drain fitted and Mel, our Macmillan nurse was to visit her on the ward.  Mum was deteriorating quickly, so Mel phoned the previous evening to ask if I thought she'd make it for the appointment.  Mum died at home early that morning, so she didn't.  Mel phoned mid morning, my sister, Julie answered and Mel asked her if mum had gone.  Julie said yes she had.  Mel replied 'Oh good!'.  

Julie had to explain and to cover any embarrassment I rang Mel back later to tell her how much we'd laughed at the misunderstanding.  We still giggle about it now. 

Anyway.  I hope today is a good one Dougie.  I can't quite keep up with your busy social life but I think you have a day off from appointments today, so try to relax a little and don't forget to smile. X 

 [edit] Oh I forgot the lecture.  Will you stop bloody thanking me man!!! 

A new day, some new medication,, and I am feeling half human at the moment. I had a phone call from the district nurse to see if I was ok, so there is some action going on around me, which is good.

Following on from the catheter removal, and not experiencing any real problems, either yesterday, or first thing this morning, introduce a bowel movement into the equation, then things start to get complicated. I was unable to pass water for a while, and whilst not wanting to make use of the self fitting catheters at this stage, with the use of massaging techniques taught to me yesterday, I achieved some success. The new pill which I took this morning which relaxes the area in question, then took affect, and all seems fine again. I hope this remains.

So all in all, some improvement in my general well being, so much so, that I feel a cafe call coming on to try some solid food.

More perhaps later.

 Yes, I remember that quite well also.

Went to the cafe, had some cheese on toast, really enjoyed it. Night try something different a bit later.

Hey Dougie!  Hope you're having a coffee for me!   X

I keep spotting spelling errors after I have posted, what is going on?

For a change Caz I bought you a hot chocolate, with loads of cream on top. I hope you enjoyed it.

Sorry, if not, I will remember next time.

So glad to see the posts of your whilst having a better day Dougie. Nice too be free from trips today. Enjoy the rest of today.....

The hot chocolate was delicious thank you, especially with the extra cream.  No caffeine either so no problem with sleep tonight. Not that I ever do!  

Glad you've had a better day, Dougie! I'm salivating just thinking about cheese on toast; not had it in ages 

I hope things continue to trend in the right direction  Keep posting!

Thanks for that Steve, I hope you manage to satisfy your salivation in the near future.

Tonight, for dinner I went back to the cafe, and managed a very respectable small omelette, just one egg and some mushroom, together with some mash, and some juicy baked beans. I was very happy with this, and regards it as another step on the road for the tools to fight with. The fact that it might give my neighbours a rather disturbed evening once the beans kick in, is of no concern right now.

Still feeling nausea free, which is a huge result, long may it continue. It is important because of the need to try to build myself back up, and so far it's going good.

 Caz, I love your dry sense of humour, strangely enough, my fingers have been a bit puffed up in the last few days, so with your permission, I will use it as my excuse, so not just an inability to spell correctly. Glad you liked the hot chocolate, the extra cream makes it so much nicer, and I keep on being told that I should be using blue top milk, which I have now changed to, and any cream products I can manage.

Chemo tomorrow at 11am, should be done around 2pm, and with any sort of luck be home well before 4pm. Wishing you all a good evening, mine might not be too bad either, especially once the beans kick in.

Might be back to post later.

Ahh Dougie. Sounds like your today's calorie intake was enjoyable and never mind the side effects.  Yes blue top milk has a higher fat content and therefore more calories, so you should be using it.  The omelette was a good choice too with all that protein which will help reduce the water retention and the fat fingers.  I can't promise it will help with spelling though.  

I'm just plain daft.  I do and say the most stupid things, so I've learnt to laugh at myself.  Although my sense of humour tends to get me in trouble at times, because I see the funny side of everything, but I don't care. It usually makes others smile too.  What is life if we can't smile?  

I'm off to bed soon but I'll catch you in the morning before I go to work.  Have a restful night.  Hope the beans don't bother you too much and you get it out of your system before tomorrow, otherwise chemo might be self service.    X

I'm really really glad to read that today has bean better. 

(See what I did there )

Can't really think of a witty reply off the top of my head doc, I am a bit of a has bean.

Good stuff Dougie.
Keep it up man.

Glad to hear you`re feeling better Dougie, long may it continue. 

Fantastic to read your much more positive new and great to hear you've had a decent meal. If the neighbours complain about the noise then just threaten them with Tony's (Aimsir) loudspeakers.... 

I have to confess I've been at a bit of a loss over how to respond since your awful news earlier but I've been visiting the thread. Maybe it should be renamed 'Caz's pep talk' thread..... 

Long may the improvement continue Dougie.  

Thanks for the positive reaction, and the idea's. I appreciate it's difficult to respond to news of the sort I delivered at that time, and I don't expect anyone really knows how to handle it. We just are not programmed to deal with these things, and I would not expect anyone to try, especially as I am a total stranger to you all. I know how I react when given similar news, and I am at a loss to know the right thing to say.

I hope that this thread goes part way to helping everyone who has read this thread, and that was the real reason for me getting involved, the way I have.

There is not much more to add to todays news really, suffice to say, that the underlying problem is still very much in evidence, but I have had the best day, physically, and mentally, probably for around three weeks. The taking on board of "real" food, is a bit of a triumph, and will obviously help in the battle to come, if I can continue. I know a 30% chance is not very high, but it's a lot better than zero, and that is the only way I can look at it. Miracles do happen, and I am hoping I will be one of the lucky few. If I fail, it won't be because of the lack of fighting ability, I still have plenty of that, no matter how hard it gets.

The new regime of chemo sessions start today, and I am praying that it does not upset the equilibrium too much. I know it tends to promote constipation, but I think I now have to tools to deal with that, and it will probably reintroduce that awful nausea again, but the new medication seems to be working wonders with that, so may lessen the impact. Then of course, it will depends on whether my body is strong enough to take all the downside to the treatment. An unimportant part of that will be total hair loss, which luckily I managed to avoid with the original chemo sessions. This new treatment will be more aggressive, and hair loss is a part of that, but the aggressive side to it is necessary to try to ward off the new growths, and hopefully go part way to reducing the damage done over that last three months. That is the idea of the medical team, and I hope they are correct, we will see.

OK, I have probably rambled on for too long, but I needed to give you all some insight into the immediate future for me. I will be taking strength from you all, once the needles go in later.

Thankyou for you all being there, and I will try to update the situation sometime during the evening.

Morning Dougie!  

Yes it is a very difficult subject to talk about and one that most people shy away from.  People just don't know what to say because it isn't understood and it makes them uncomfortable, so they say nothing.  That's what makes cancer such a lonely illness for the one who has it.  We need to change that.  Some posts on here are short but nonetheless meaningful and heartfelt, which I know Dougie understands.

I've always been able to voice the unmentionable biological things, body parts, sex etc, often with a wide eyed response from the listener.  That's probably due to my biology background and because I believe we should all understand our bodies a lot better than we do because it's the most natural thing.  Embarrassment in that respect missed me out, so it's a good job I wasn't born in Victorian times.  

Dougie, I'll be thinking about you today and willing you to have a good one.  You're aware that the effects of your treatment could be unpleasant for a while but also that there's light at the end of the tunnel. So keep that thought with you.   Xx