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  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello Gill,

    Like you, I was very interested in the meals that Marias described. They were certainly very colourful.

    I am sure that HelenLouise would have had interesting food in Japan. It always strikes me as very dainty.

    I cannot understand why children will not eat Brussels Sprouts. I have always loved them and they are a very important part of my everyday diet. They are up there with broccoli for goodness. I was dismayed to read some weeks ago that "They" were trying to take the bitterness out of Brussels Sprouts.

    I was interested in what you had to say about cutting down on chemotherapy for testicular cancer. As you know, I am a great believer with breast cancer treatment in trying to bring a patient to no evidence of disease with as little treatment as possible. I think it is important to catch the breast cancer as early as possible and have the minimum surgery possible to remove the tumour. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are lethal and you can think you have escaped them when you finish treatment but they can come back to haunt you years afterwards. I shall never forget the nurse who told me that you can get sarcoma cancer years after treatment. This is a rare cancer in the bones caused by radiotherapy. We do not really know what has happened inside our bodies because of our treatment until something turns up out of the blue.

    Perhaps medical teams should try smaller amounts of treatment and see what happens. No doubt the drug companies will not be in favour of this.

    I was sorry to read that the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital has now closed four of its critical care beds because of lack of staff. Let us see if Boris Johnson will wave a magic wand and fix it all.

    We are not beginning 2020 on a good note. I cannot believe the latest speech and escapades of the President of the US. I have not heard a word from our Prime Minister, that one who calls himself "of the people" about all the latest trouble and as you say, our man of the people is on that Private Island in the sun!

    As for Dominic Cummings, he is calling on all weirdos to apply for jobs in the Civil Service. That will complete the circus that our Parliament has become.

    Have you any thoughts on the people putting themselves forward as Labour leader?

    It is another cold day here today and yesterday was even worse and very windy. It was Raymond's birthday today, but we decided to have a quiet day today in the warm.

    That is all for now. I am wondering where Mary is and what has happened to Hanieh.

    Love.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello Marias,

    Thank you for your latest post. The meal your brother prepared of coconut rice with fish sounds very nice.

    I was interested in what you had to say about the novenas. It sounds something very similar to Advent.

    Thank you for all the information about the customs surrounding Christmastime. We all have variations on the period around and after Christmas. Here we talk about the 12 days of Christmas. It starts on Christmas Day and ends on January 6th which is called Twelfth Night. Raymond and I do not do anything special on these days. We are not religious. We just exchange Christmas cards with our family and friends.

    I remember in France that we had a special cake on January 6th. It was a special cake called Une Galette des Rois. I have mentioned it on the thread in the past.

    That is all for now.

    Abrazos.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello Kath,

    Thank you for that dramatic photograph. We are getting headline news every day about what is going on in Australia. It is truly frightening and I do hope it will be brought under control soon. It is so sad about the animals.

    We are all thinking of you.

    Love.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello Mary,

    I was so glad to see you back on the thread. I see that you have been catching up.

    I shall be glad to see Monday January 6th come so that we can get back to normal. It seems that everything shuts down here for about two weeks. Monday will be the first full normal week. Parliament will not be back until Tuesday and the schools and colleges etc. will probably start back as well.

    Happy New Year.

    Love.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • maryjv
    maryjv Member Posts: 269

    Oh Katy! Devastating photos-hoping for the safety of everyone involved in the fires

  • rosiecat
    rosiecat Member Posts: 1,192

    Hello Sylvia,

    I've read about the bitterness being bred out of Brussels Sprouts, I've also noticed them being sold as 'new and sweeter sprouts'. I have always enjoyed them just the way they are meant to be.

    I absolutely agree with you about the effect of chemotherapy appearing years after treatment has finished. I do know people who are now suffering from unexplained pain and weakness in their arms, hands and legs. Doctors often blame this on arthritis when plainly it is not, though I do agree that chemotherapy makes arthritis worse and this is certainly true in my case.

    I've been wishing everyone a peaceful New Year, the news regarding Iran and America may well mean that peace is shortlived. We have to hope that no one is stupid enough to press the nuclear button. We also have to hope that Johnson engages his brain (!) before opening his mouth and making things worse. He really is a liability, sending his father, (who poured scorn on the education of the working classes), to an interview he was too frightened to attend. He also hid in a fridge, pocketed a journalists phone because he didn't want to look at a photo of a sick child, lied to the Queen and unlawfully closed down Parliament. He still compares himself to Churchill. We're in safe hands.

    I don't think much of most of those standing for leadership of Labour, with the exception of Keir Starmer. Starmer as leader with Yvette Cooper or Harriet Harman as deputy, though she is now 69 and probably wouldn't want it. Whoever takes over needs to do something about the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital quickly. The Government could easily pay of the PFI debt and save a few lives, but the East of England is forgotten.

    I shall be taking the Christmas tree down tomorrow. The fairy lights Michael always strings in the trees have already been packed away for another year, so all is looking a bit bleak in the garden, though two or three roses are in bloom.

    A belated happy birthday to Raymond.

    Take care of yourselves

    Much love,

    Gill xxx


  • rosiecat
    rosiecat Member Posts: 1,192

    Hi Mary,

    Just thought I'd touch base. I'm wondering how your shoulder is doing? I'm guessing that much of your time is still being taken up with physio appointments and working your way through the daily exercise routine. Good luck.

    Nothing much happening here except the wretched political situation. Though Mr. Trump has livened things up for us, as we wait to see which way our Prime Minister decides to jump. I hope we're not in for an interesting 2020.

    I'm now on a diet after an overindulgent Christmas. I'm not actually overweight, just prefer to keep to my usual size and stop the rot before it begins. Diets make me difficult to live with, grumpy and more than a little self righteous, though Michael seems to be coping well so far.

    No reports of particularly bad weather anywhere in the States, let's hope it stays that way.

    Much love,

    Gill xxx








  • helenlouise
    helenlouise Member Posts: 363

    Konnichi Wa and happy new year! I have scanned through my favorite BC.org thread and thank you all for your thoughts and wishes. Our trip to japan was just wonderful. Every thing went as planned and we had a truly awesome time. So many people, so much history and a culture like no other I have experienced. We made many happy memories of not just an amazing place and people but just the two of us together and having fun. I will post some pictures soon.

    I think it's the first time in the last two years where cancer hasn't been on my mind or in my thoughts daily.

    I did, at times, feel conflicted. Being away having fun whilst my country suffered the most horrific time. It was news in japan, so we keep abreast of events. It took us as long to fly from Sydney to Albury as it did Tokyo to Sydney . Our domestic flight was cancelled due to smoke. So finally a flight to a neighboring town then bus. But that was a trifling inconvenience compared to what so many are enduring. We came from 8 degrees in japan to 46 degrees then the day after 19. The weather is crazy! The closest fires are approximately 100kms away, so we have no immediate problem. So much devastation is so very sad.

    I have this week and next to relax before I go back to work. So once again I am fortunate to have time to rest up. We walked an average of 10kms each day with our max being 16.5. That was a big day and I will admit we were lost for some of it! I am pleased my body and feet managed. I am glad to have been well enough to do what I have done.

    Feeling very blessed.

    I hope my post find each of you looking forward to good health and happiness in 2020.

    Love and best wishes - Helen x

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello Gill,

    Thank you for your latest post. There is no point in medical staff trying to blame the long term side effects on other things. We all know that cancer treatment, surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and for those patients with hormonal breast cancer, years of taking different medication, all have side effects and somehow we have to learn to manage them. I was told I had sailed through my treatment and I was not unwell during that treatment, but I definitely have long term side effects and there is no cure. In particular I am thinking of peripheral neuropathy and lymphoedema. They can be managed, and these two can be of varying degrees, but I do not think they go away. Mine are manageable but I know, from reading various threads, that some patients suffer very badly from lymphoedema and I would imagine that peripheral neuropathy is of varying degrees.

    Do we ever know what these treatments have done to our hearts and the general working of the body? I had ECGs before and after treatment and all was declared fine, but do we really know if this is the case years on?

    I have no idea where the world is going in 2020. It has not started well. I watched Politics Live and the first Prime Minister's Question Time today and was not impressed with the Government. I thought Jeremy Corbyn asked good and important questions but I do not think those questions were answered. The Prime Minister is too superficial in his thoughts and I noticed he was reading the answers most of the time.

    As for Labour, it is taking too long to elect a new leader. I think Keir Starmer would be the most balanced and certainly the most mature.

    I think I am going to be following factcheckjoel online. He clearly proved today that the Government is lying about money being spent on education. The facts seem to be that spending went down in 2010 and has not recovered yet. Any extra money will apparently be catching up money!

    I do hope that newly-diagnosed patients will come to our thread for support, information and help through their cancer journeys. There is so much information and experience on the 473 pages we have now reached.

    I do hope Mary, Maryjv, Helenlouise, Kath, adagio, Marias will stay with us and that new patients will join.

    Thank you for all the effort you put in with the thread. I hope this year we can once again help patients to cope with every aspect of their cancer journey.

    Thinking of you.

    Love.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello Helenlouise,

    Thank you for your most interesting post about your trip to Japan. I was so glad to know that you had had such a good and interesting time. I am sure we shall all look forward to some photographs.

    It was good to know that this trip had taken your mind off cancer.

    I am sure we are all following the news about the bush fires in Australia. It has been headline news for a long time now.

    It is all very sad to see that part of Australia burning and I do hope it will come to an end soon.

    I hope you will be able to rest and relax for the next two weeks so that you are ready to go back to work. You certainly walked a lot during your visit to Japan so you should be fighting fit! It was good that you were well enough to do that walking.

    Everything is much the same here in Exmouth, Devon. We seem to be getting rain, winds and absolutely no sunny days.

    That is all for now. Happy Healthy New Year to you and yours.

    Love.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello everyone,

    I have been looking back at the thread and I am amazed at how strong our small group has been with their posts and information. I have looked back from page 473 to page 450. It was some undertaking as I found it hard on my right arm where I had the breast surgery etc. Thank you so much for all the effort.

    I picked out a few names who posted and was wondering how they are.

    Hello to pkville, ucfknights, dragonfly46, 53nancy in Manitoba, Canada, viewfinder in the US, LoveandLight (Sarah in the UK), jags56 (India). I think dragonfly46 is in the UK and we must not forget Flora in the UK.

    Wishing you all a Happy New Year.

    Best wishes.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • maryna8
    maryna8 Member Posts: 1,832

    Hi, Gill

    Thanks for reaching out, I have been quite busy, but some of my time has been taken up with just being worn down by a persistent sinusitis/allergy/cold which has had me down. I have been able to keep up with most duties and appts. but then have no energy left. Today is a little better, but as of yet I don't know how it will be tomorrow. Seems to wax and wane.

    One thing about it, I haven't had much urge to eat a lot, since my sense of taste is off. So I Haven't gained any Christmas weight, which is good. I did notice today, when I picked up a box of chocolate truffles for a friend, and stole one and ate it; that sweet chocolate seems to be something I can taste. Maybe a good thing I didn't find that out sooner.

    Our area of the country has had a balmy December, this is good for people building houses and such, but I find dull brown winter days just boring after a while. This weekend there is a "chance" of snow, but it seems we don't get much of that anymore. It usually ends up being a mix of snow and ice, which nobody likes.

    Politics ugh. I have had to turn a lot of it off, it is so ugly as we lurch toward another election. I listen to the news from the Middle East, and wonder what is really going on behind the curtain. I wonder about Hanieh and I hope she did get away from Tehran, with her family. I am not sure what is going on with the UK, it seems like another situation where things go on and on and nothing is solved.

    My shoulder is better, I am working with light weight now, and it is still painful when I step up a level. I am typing on my keyboard with both hands, that's even a little painful. Baby steps, I guess. I still go to Therapy twice a week, and do my exercises twice a day at home. I am trying to use the arm more, as in lifting dishes into a high cabinet and so forth. Progress!

    Hope you have a great 2020, and I shall talk to you again soon,

    Love, Mary

  • kathseward
    kathseward Member Posts: 380

    Hi everyone.
    Hope u are all doing well! First week back at work and already loaded up with the paperwork that accumulated on my leave. The world of public health remains focussed on pertussis measles and other infectious diseases and im ready for my 1st two uni subjects for the year. They are epidemiology and my first internship. After that one more semester and I'm done! Nurse practitioner masters complete yay!

    Onco appointment next week and though I feel well my mind keeps going to that dark place! Uni will be a blessing to keep my mind busy! Much love to everyone

    Cheers

    Kath


  • maryna8
    maryna8 Member Posts: 1,832

    hello dear Sylvia, I hope the New Year is being good to you. For me I am glad the hubbub of Christmas is over, now the spectre of the Taxman aporoaches, and I have to start digging up documents for his perusal.

    As I told Gill, I have been under the weather, and I hope that passes soon. we are set to be unseasonably warm again today, with rain, and then cool off 30 degees or so for the weekend. I think this warm winter weather is stirring up a lot of allergens.

    I have been looking at my newest issue of WDDTY, there is an article about high-oxalate foods, and what too much of this can cause. I am beginning to wonder what is safe to eat, according to this publication. I have been warned off a lot of food groups over the last couple of years. My acupuncture doc says moderation is the key and I know he is right.

    The cover of this latest issue is "protect yourself from wi-first and 5G". Quite difficult, I think. I have wi-fi in my home, otherwise I would have no connection at all. 5G will be widespread soon, seems hard to dodge it.

    I'm going to send this before I lose it, greetings to Raymond and I hope you are both well. I shall talk to you again soon.

    Love, Mary

  • maryna8
    maryna8 Member Posts: 1,832

    hi Kath

    The fires are so dreadful in your country, I hope relief will come soon.

    Congratulations on attaiNing your Nurse Practitioner Masters, you have certainly earned it with all your hard work and dedication. Not to mention all the miles you have logged, wow! And you did all this despite the BC diagnosis, I think you will be fine when you go to doctor.

    Cheers, and accolades, Kath!

    Love, Mary

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello Kath,

    Thank you for your post. You sound very busy back at work but your work sounds most interesting. I do wish you every success in the subjects you are taking at university.

    I am sure you will be an excellent nurse practitioner.

    I am not sure exactly what the work of a nurse practitioner is. It is a fairly new term over here. Before, at my surgery, we had GPs, practice nurses and district nurses. Recently I saw on the walls of my surgery with photographs of two nurse practitioners and three nurses. I tend to keep away from the surgery so I am not sure what they all do. I have noticed that the surgery seems to have a lot of locum GPs. There are still three permanent GPs and that is the number there was when we registered 18 years ago and the surgery was quiet. The three doctors in the surgery then have departed but there are still just three but a lot more patients! The surgery is run very differently and takes about three weeks to see a GP. I always insist on seeing the replacement doctor to the doctor with whom I registered 18 years ago.

    I do hope all will go well with your oncologist appointment next week.

    Keep in touch.

    Love.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello Mary,

    It was nice to hear from you.

    I was sorry to read that you are feeling under the weather and I do hope you will soon be feeling better. Do you have the January blahs?

    I have not been reading the WDDTY because my small natural food store in the town has stopped stocking it and I do not really want to take out a subscription. I think we have gone from not having enough information to having too much information and I think it is getting ridiculous. I do not really believe in superfoods. The so called experts are forever changing their mind on what is good for us. It is all very confusing.

    I believe that as far as our nutrition goes the Rainbow/Mediterranean diet is hard to beat and it is everything in moderation as far as I am concerned. I still do not eat meat and have not done so for years, but I do not agree with attacking meat eaters and I think, at least in the UK, the vegans are getting a bit out of order. I still do not eat dairy products, especially cows' dairy because of the growth hormone factor. I stick mainly to fruit and vegetables, organic where possible, drink unsweetened soy milk, plain soy yoghurt (Sojade), plenty of nuts and seeds, beans and pulses, wild red salmon steaks and prawns on the shell. I also eat 100% black chocolate and drink 100% black cocoa.

    Of course I continue with plenty of green tea and have been trying different kinds of Rooibos tea. This tea has no caffeine and you can have plain tea, green tea Rooibos, Early Grey Rooibos and vanilla Rooibos. I buy the Tick-Tock brand. Have you tried any? In the evening I often have Pukka three ginger tea or Pukka three chamomile tea.

    I agree with your acupuncture doctor about everything in moderation.

    As for wi-fi, I do not think it is probably doing us any good, but is a fact of life and 5G is probably the same. I do not use a mobile phone but do everything on a laptop. I do find sitting at a computer very tiring and think it is bad for posture. I do wonder at all the typing being done on smartphones. It seems very bad for your hands and will probably give a person repetitive stress syndrome.

    That is about all for now. Politics seems mad in both our countries so better to keep quiet!

    Keep well.

    Love.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • adagio
    adagio Member Posts: 713

    Just checking in on the thread today!

    Sylvia - I agree - we have way too much information now and it is challenging to sort it all out in my mind. I think I am going to try and keep things as simple as possible. I have been doing a lot (too much) of reading about repurposed drugs for alternative cancer treatment and again - what works for one - does not necessarily work for another - plus I do find it very depressing to be honest.

    Maryna - so glad that your shoulder is improving slowly. I too have had a cold which has been hanging on since Christmas and it is very slowly getting better - this is rather unusual for me, since I generally do not get colds, but in the grand scheme of things nothing to complain about - just makes one feel miserable.

    Kath - the fires are so devastating - I have a friend close to Sydney who lives in a neighbourhood on high alert to vacate their homes. Some of his neighbours had left already!

    Gill - fortunately for me this Christmas food held absolutely no appeal due to a bad cold - my taste buds were off completely and all I wanted to do was drink water. My only downfall was when an English friend of mine came by after Christmas with her home made plum pudding and it was delicious!

    HelenLouise - so glad you had a wonderful time in Japan - a trip of a lifetime for sure.

    Best wishes to all going through treatment and struggling with side effects - it is not an easy journey!

    Looks like 2020 is going to be a very interesting year world wide - so much uncertainty, turmoil, disaster - we must keep our minds focussed on all that is good - which means we have to look around us a bit harder than usual to see the positives! This is a daily challenge for me.

  • maryna8
    maryna8 Member Posts: 1,832

    hi Sylvia

    I was reading an article this morning about the Ukrainian plane that crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran. 176 dead and apparently over 2 dozen of them were from an Iranian-Canadian community living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. There were more Iranian students from all over Canada on the plane as well, since Canada had adopted a policy of trying to attract skilled people from Asia and the Middle East. It all has me thinking a lot of Hanieh today, she had her dream of moving to Turkey and from there to Canada.

    We are having a very dreary Saturday , flooding rain last night and much colder today. I am hoping we will get some of the forecast snow, hasn't happened yet.

    I hope you and Raymond are having a restful weekend.

    Love, Mary

  • maryna8
    maryna8 Member Posts: 1,832

    hi Adagio

    I call this malady the Christmas flu, since it seems so common at this time. I am thoroughly tired of it, and also just tired of being tired!

    I hope you snap out of it soon, and me as well.

    Love, Mary

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello adagio,

    Thank you for popping in. I do agree with you that probably the most sensible thing to do is to keep everything simple and also in moderation.

    I tend to focus all my efforts to stay healthy on good varied nutrition and I think we all know basically what that good nutrition is. As I have said before, for me it is the Rainbow/Mediterranean Diet with the emphasis on fruit and vegetables. I think the diet here in the UK is not conducive to good health. I think that eating out is quite a problem as there is too much emphasis on chips with everything and the most common vegetable is peas. Peas are a rich source of zinc but I think that vegetables are used here as a garnish and the emphasis is on meat and dairy products. I think this kind of eating with masses of over-processed food, a lot with added sugar, is causing an overweight and obesity problem. People look a very different shape to when I was growing up and I think supermarkets with aisles of non-food must take some of the blame.

    I do not really look up about repurposed drugs or amazing cures because I think there may be a lot of exploitation. I keep to what I posted when I joined bc.org which is let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.

    I dread to think where we are going with breast cancer. It seems more and more women are being diagnosed with it and a lot surviving, even with metastatic breast cancer but it seems to be life on medication with a lot of ups and downs.

    Canada is much in the news at the moment with Harry and Meghan having spent the past six weeks in Victoria on Vancouver Island. On the news today I learnt that Vancouver is one of the best places in which to live, especially Vancouver Island, and that it is one of the friendliest places. I did like that part of Canada when Raymond and I visited it and I did find Canadians friendly. It looks as though Harry and Meghan are planning to live on Vancouver Island. It is causing quite a stir here but I cannot understand why. Modern, democratic countries should not have Monarchies.

    Have you any ideas for good topics that we can discuss with reference to triple negative breast cancer.

    Recently I looked back at the first ten pages of this thread and so can see how much more knowledge we have about triple negative than we had back in 2010 when I started the thread. Those first ten pages were so busy. They started off with mainly Brits but a strong group of American women soon joined in. I do wonder what has happened to them all. You must be one of those that have been on here the longest and I do appreciate your loyalty.

    I do wonder what has happened to Hanieh and her family. I do wonder whether they are still in Iran or whether they left. I do hope they are safe and live in hopes that Hanieh will get in touch. It seems that the world is in turmoil.

    Take care, adagio.

    Love.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • maryjv
    maryjv Member Posts: 269
    sylvia...very inspired by your thought on good nutrition and healthy eating. If I’m being honest, prior to my diagnosis very poor eating and activity habits. As I go through treatment I am focused on healthy eating and being as active as possible, daily walks! I am eating lots of fruits and veggies and have cut out red meats. Thank you for truly being an inspiration to so many!
  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello Mary,

    I have just noticed that you popped in while I was answering adagio.

    The news of the plane crash has been the headline news for several days now with the news this morning that it was accidentally shot down. There were, indeed, a lot of Iranian-Canadians on that plane, more than 60 I think travelling back to universities. Apparently there is a big Iranian community in Toronto, but I did not know about the one in Edmonton. It is such a tragedy.

    Like you, I have been thinking a lot about Hanieh and wondering where she is. I do hope she is well and safe and I hope the same for her family. This afternoon on the radio I was listening to an interview in the US with an Iranian woman who started a movement about giving Iranian women the freedom to choose whether to wear the headscarf or not. There were protests and a lot of the women are in jail. It hardly seems possible.

    Like you, we are having a dreary Saturday. It does not get light until about 8 am and we are having so much damp and rain. The forecast for the coming week is more rain and high winds. I have felt very restless today. I watched a regular political programme entitled Dateline London on the BBC News Channel. It is well worth watching and is repeated tomorrow. Only two subjects were covered, the Iranian crisis and the so-called crisis in the Royal family with Harry and Meghan announcing out of the blue that they intend to bale out a bit and live in Canada on Vancouver Island. Apparently the Queen is not happy! "One is not amused"!. I find the whole world is in a mess.

    What are you reading these days? I have found it difficult to settle down to read. Have you been reading any books about breast cancer?

    That is all for now. Thinking of you.

    Love.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello Maryjv,

    Thank you for your latest post and for your kind words. I do think that eating healthily and eating a mixture of good food and everything in moderation is the best way to go.

    Being physically active is very important and I shall be glad when the weather improves here and I can walk more. Our dull, cold, damp, windy weather is not very encouraging. I also think it is important to keep the little grey cells working.

    We have not mentioned stress lately, but I think it is important to try to avoid negative stress and to try not to worry too much about everything. It is stressful enough to get a diagnosis of breast cancer and to get ones self together to face the cancer journey.

    How are you getting along? I do hope you are coping well.

    Thinking of you.

    Love.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • maryjv
    maryjv Member Posts: 269
    Agree on stress! This path has def changed what’s important and living a stress free life! I am getting ready for round 2 of chemo on Monday, back at work and feeling good. Just taking advantage of these times and preparing meals for the days I have nothing to give! Thank you ladies for all the encouragement and support!
  • rosiecat
    rosiecat Member Posts: 1,192

    Hello Sylvia,

    I have always thought that I had got away very lightly with chemotherapy side effects, however, my left side, from the hip down has begun to cause me pain at night. As it wears off during the day I'm not concerned that the cancer may have spread to my bones. Sleep is difficult unless I take a painkiller, only paracetamol, but I'd rather not take anything at all. The rib pain has disappeared completely so I'm hoping this is just a temporary glitch. Chemotherapy is such a wild card, with side effects suddenly turning up long after treatment. I had hoped that my chemo brain memory and problem solving abilities would have improved by now. I constantly use the wrong words or forget what I'm saying in the middle of a conversation. I'm only 10 months from my final treatment so perhaps I'm expecting too much.

    Regarding the money allegedly being poured into education by the Tories, I always knew it would be a case of smoke and mirrors. This will be the case for the NHS. Not a penny is being offered to the Norfolk and Norwich, yet it is in crisis and has no money left. As usual, the doctors, nurses and many other clinical staff are doing their best to hold it together but how long before they are burnt out? I shall have a look at factcheckjoel.

    Just when the newspapers ought to be checking up on Johnson they are obsessed with the Harry and Meghan story. We also have climate change, Australian fires and a potential war with Iran to worry about, but a royal story plus photographs fills up the pages without the need for serious journalism.

    The thread has an impressive number of pages packed with information and stories about patients' personal experiences of cancer and treatment. I can't imagine going through it all without the support offered here. Like you, I hope more patients find their way here this year, use our experience and add their own.

    It seems to rain overnight in South Norfolk and the days are often bright by early afternoon. Fairly windy though so I have to hold on to my 'hair'. Hoping that Exmouth will brighten up soon.

    Much love,

    Gill xxx

  • rosiecat
    rosiecat Member Posts: 1,192

    Hi Mary,

    I was pleased to hear that your shoulder is behaving well and you're moving on, even if the steps are just tiny ones for now. The sinusitis or persistent cold is not so good. It must really wear you down and I know that sinusitis can be painful too. My friend has it and can't tolerate the cold or the wind on her face. Not being able to enjoy food when your sense of taste has gone is not good news especially during Christmas, though you now have the chocolate truffles if you're ever desperate. I'm not allowing chocolate across the threshold for the foreseeable future, particularly as I've now lost 4 pounds. I tried Sylvia's 100 % chocolate but it's definitely an acquired taste. I should have guessed that healthy chocolate wasn't going to taste good.

    I seem to remember that Hanieh left Iran but missed it too much and returned, though I might have got that wrong. I think most of us are praying that everything will cool off, especially after that appalling mistake which brought down a plane packed with innocent people. What a start to 2020!

    Michael and I have been asked to do a full inventory, with photos, of the Catholic Cathedral and Cathedral House. It's going to take months, even with half a dozen volunteers. Between that and the archive I doubt that we'll have much time to spare this year. I had been hoping to have some extra free time during Spring and Summer - just for a change. Where do people get the idea that pensioners have all this spare time on their hands?

    Hope your weather is less brown and boring this week. Just a sprinkling of snow would brighten things up and make the garden look pretty.

    Take care.

    Much love,

    Gill xxx

  • rosiecat
    rosiecat Member Posts: 1,192

    Hi Maryjv

    So pleased that you're feeling well after your first chemotherapy. Healthy eating is important, but chemo can play havoc with taste, so be prepared to compromise if you have to. Taste does come back. Rest when you need to and just be kind to yourself. Time will pass so quickly and you'll soon begin to see light at the end of the tunnel.

    Best of luck for your next cycle.

    Love,

    Gill xxx

  • rosiecat
    rosiecat Member Posts: 1,192

    Hi Adagio,

    Good to hear from you and Happy New Year!

    Very glad that you enjoyed your plum pudding. Bad news on the Christmas pudding front in the UK though, apparently sales are dropping dramatically. A lot of people are going for less heavy 'afters' even though these are usually crammed with sugar and preservatives. Christmas is just not the right time to diet.

    Much love,

    Gill xxx

  • maryjv
    maryjv Member Posts: 269

    Thanks Gill! Yes def noticing changes in my taste buds...thank you for your encouraging words