Another date for the diary

I will be attending the Mesothelioma meeting in Plymouth on 1st October 2007 in Plymouth.
Another meeting that is happening is

MESOTHELIOMA PATIENT AND CARER DAY

Which will be held on Saturday 13th October 2007 in The novotel, Euston, London.

I am going to attend this meeting also (family commitments pending!) as it looks interesting and I feel it is a good idea to get as much info as possible.
The link below takes you to Mesothelioma UK which as more information.

http://www.mesothelioma.uk.com/

http://www.junehancockfund.org/news25.htm

Any more diary days, I will post here.

Cancer loves Sugar

Since I found out I had cancer I have been looking into foods and what they contain. Also a lot of sites have information about what is good and what is bad.

One thig that is not good is refined sugar. Cancer feeds on sugar and a lot of foods these days contain it. I am adding a link with more information about this statement.

www.ndmnutrition.com/cancer%20loves%20sugar

Hopefuly it will be of use. Another thing that is not good is hydroginated fats/oils. It is suprising how many foods contain these things.

Anything that is discovered would be gratefully recieved on this site.

I can't forget Theo : )

I am experiencing something that I haven’t had for 10 months, Pain.

I had a lot of pain last year before my operation and it went away after about 2 litres of fluid had been removed from my left lung.
It is now making a return and I think it is because I had a slight infection about a week ago. It may be that I have built up fluid again. I will see my doctor next Monday if it gets worse as I am back to work tomorrow.

Theo (my cancer) has been very quiet and is probably wanting to be heard. It was so good to be pain free for so long and I am sure it will happen again soon. I forgot just how painful and breathless it is when Theo calls.
It gives me a reality check as I have been living my life without pain for those few months, this brings me back to what is happening to me. I will not be beaten by this disease and I hope Theo can settle down again very soon.

Public Meeting Monday 1st october 2007

I will be supporting Jackie Lowe on Monday 1st October at the meeting she has organised to highlight legal issues and bring awareness about Mesothelioma to all those people who do not get to discuss it with any one whether they have it or know someone who has it or are just interested in the subject.

Jackie Lost her father, Roger, to this disease and works tirelessly with her family to bring Mesothelioma into the public arena and strives to bring awareness about a disease that is so easily preventable.

She has many experts attending the meeting, Linda Gilroy MP in Plymouth, Dennis Yiannakis (Consultant Oncologist, Derriford Hospital), Sean McPhail (South West Public Health Observatory) and a representative from the family.

I have added a link below for more information about the campaign, Meeting and Roger Lowe.

www.prospect.org.uk/healthandsafety/rogerlowecampaign

Hopefully, it will be well attended. I will post information later next week.

Harvest Festival Assembly

I went to see my son at his school Harvest assembly today and he made me so proud. He sang with his class and at the end he said a prayer on his own with the vicar. His headmaster said he picked his prayer as he had wriitten it well and the content was good. The children collect food for the old peoples estate near us and for the Shekina mission in Plymouth, a charity for homeless people.

He was wonderful. It is coming up to a year now that I had my diagnosis and a lot of what is happening now are things that I never thought I would see.

It makes me enjoy it and appreciate it a lot more than I probably would have if I hadn’t had the diagnosis.

Massage

Two friends and I went for a massage today. I had booked a full body massage and a facial.

The facial was wonderful and I am sure I fell asleep twice!

When it came to the full body massage I was told I could not have it as I needed a note from my doctor saying I am well enough.

I was dissappointed but could understand the reason why.

Tomorrow I have my youngest son’s harvest festival to look forward to.

got it sussed?

I am not sure if I have worked it out but the pain and and sickness I have been getting recently I think are down to too much Iron. I have been taking Iron tablets and also having my occassional drink of Guiness when I have come home from work. I have stopped taking the Iron tablets (these are tablets I buy from the shop) and stopped the Guiness and it seems to have cleared up.
I hope it stays that way as it was very uncomfortable.

a good night out

I had a brilliant night out, I got to the restaraunt and found a big number 1 balloon with my name on it on the table with 6 other balloons. It was a lovely touch and made it special.
We had a great night and it was made even better with my friends. I didn’t get home until 1:30am and am feeling a little worse for wear this morning as I had to get up for my little son and get him ready for school.
I am back to work tomorrow and starting the next 3 day 12 hour shift.

Celebration

I will be going out this evening with my team from work to celebrate reaching my 9 months.

This is a landmark for me as last year I didn’t think I would live past the 9 months and this is now bonus time.

My next landmark is Christmas as I bought a new tree last year and the challenge was to see it up.

I really did think that this was the end as the devistation of hearing such grim news really messes with the mind.

I feel more positive now and feel I can challenge my illness.

I can remember crying as I watched my youngest son sing in his Christ tingle service in a local church last Christmas and really believing this is the last time I will see this.

Some Oncologists need to be more careful with information they give as sometimes they are wrong, this creates horrors in the mind and fear in the heart.

The first one I saw generalised my situation and thanks to info on the furry monkey website (http://www.thefurrymonkey.co.uk/) which advises that you can have a second opinion, I changed to someone else.

The Ongologist I see now is more positive and tells me how it really is. He is very honest and also tells me that tomorrow is still insight.

Here is to the next 9 months.

Menopause?

I have been feeling so tired the past few days, I am at the age where I will be affected by the Menopause and am not sure that is the tiredness or it is due to my 12 hour 3 on 3 off shift at work or Theo (my cancer). I have an under active Thyroid that I take medication for as I do get tired with the Thyroid issue.

I do think that it may be due to my age. I have my Alopecia, Thyroid, Menopause and Theo…what a combination.

I am falling to peices and without my wigs and makeup I don’t think I would step outside the door.

I did find a jumper that, amazingly, matched one of my wigs!

The colours are perfect together.

I have tried to use my wig as an accessory and turn it into a fun thing rather that to mope about losing my hair.

JANE TOMLINSON

I was watching the coverage of Jane Tomlinson’s funeral today and I related to so much of what Her husband had to say about her. Jane was diagnosed with incurable, advanced metastatic breast cancer in August 2000. She challenged this disease until the end . She went against her oncologists wishes and did the iron man which is running,swimming, cycling and lasts for 16 hours. She said that having a terminal condition didn’t mean your life had ended and she proved to a lot of people what was possible with determination and courage. I think she was right, I feel I have a value for life now due to having the diagnosis as I don’t take things for granted any more. I, as many others, have been inspired by Jane.
The link below is to Jane’s site
http://janesappeal.com/

I would like to express my sympathy to the family and say thankyou to a very inspirational lady who will help me cope with my illness. She has shown me that I can do what ever I want to do.

CT RESULTS

My results for my CT scan was very good again. I went with my sister, Wendy and my friend, also called Wendy.
My Oncologist explained that there was a minimal change but not enough to have any bearings on the tumour. I was so pleased to hear that although I did break down in the room as all the woes of the past few days and the stress of waiting for the results seem to come all at once.

I went to our local B&Q store with my sister, Wendy, after I had the results and bought some yellow pansies, a butterfly beaded garden decoration and a bumble bee windmill to add to a pot in the garden in memory of my cat.

I am still missing my beautiful cat, I had him for 12 years and he was such a great comfort to me, always purring and never refused attention. He was always ready for a hug.
He was a unique cat and was a great mouser which would give him the urge to go across a busy road to a wooded bank area which is full of voles and mice. He managed it quite well for a while but age and weight were against him as this probably slowed him down. The picture to the right shows the flowers I bought. The large green tub that has the pansies in was the tub he loved to curl up in. Many a sunny day I would look out of my kitchen window to see his large, ginger body squeezed into this tub. All plants in it have since been crushed but I didn’t have the heart to put the pansies in there. The pansies in the smaller pot are in his blue cat dish. He is buried beneath these items.

Wendy and I went for lunch and enjoyed some quality time together. I try to squeeze as much quality time into my 3 days off (I do a 3 on 3 off shift at work - 8 till 8) and sometimes there are not enough hours left to see all the friends and family I love so much.

Just a quick note : Thanks Theo for not growing. Lets keep it like that.

Canoeing part 2

Well….what a beautiful day and an absolutely brilliant trip. It was so peaceful and tranquil. Well away from the busy city it is hard to believe that this little place is in the same area. We had a wonderful time,(my canoe consisted of Jeannette, Matt and myself) our team mates had a giggle at our expense as the canoe headed for the trees and banks of the river.
I have never done this before but with some good tuition from Matt, Jeannette and myself, had a really good trip on the way back. ( by that time we had learnt a little more about canoeing !)
I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was even more special as I didn’t think I would be here this time 9 months ago so Thanks to Matt, Jeannette, Chris, Becks,Pam, Charlie,Lou (and children), Rae and Tom for becoming part of a great day and creating some fantastic memories.
Also thanks to Canoe Tamar who organise these trips….we will be back!!!
The link below is a website detailing what we did today. Highly reccommended.

http://www.canoetamar.co.uk/

canoeing pics

Canoeing on the Tamar

I am going canoeing, today along the river Tamar, in Plymouth with my friends from work. I have a brilliant team who put up with all my sorrows and joys. My team mates past and present, my team leader and help desk manager make me having Meso easier to deal with as they are all so positive and supportive. I am so glad to have met them and do apreciate the support they give me.

Anyway, back to the canoeing! We have cancelled this twice now and today is absolutely beautiful, it looks like it might happen at last. I will post some pictures on the site as I am taking my camera. It will take my mind off losing a special friend, my cat tigereye, and getting my results tomorrow. I am quietly confident but will not be happy until I hear it from the Oncologist.

Results

I will have the results of my scan on Friday morning at 9:30am. I will post the results as soon as I have them.

Tears for a dear friend

What should have been a day of celebration turned out to be a day of heart ache for my family and me. I was on my way to work and I asked my son Richard to check and see if he could see my cat, Tigereye, as he hadn’t been around to be fed. He was always so noisy and I had missed him this morning.
Richard checked and found him dead on the pavement, he had been knocked down by a car. We were devistated as he was so beautiful and full of life.
He was my shadow and a lot of comfort to me when I lost my dad. I know he is only a cat but he was part of this family and will be greatly missed by all of us.

I can see him now sitting on my dad’s lap milking the attention he is getting as my dad loved cats, and if he is with you dad, please take care of him, he was special just like you were to me.

Goodbye dear friend, thankyou for your loyalty and all the great memories you have given me, you will always be with me, I love you x

I'm still here!!!!

On the 4th of December 2006 I was given a diagnosis by an Oncologist at my first appointment after finding out I had Mesothelioma. He said I would have 6-9 months to live, Well, I am stil here 9 months later.

I don’t feel any different to how I was feeling last year and my answer was the right answer to give. I told him in no uncertan terms that I would not except that and I never have. Heres to next milestone to break……bring it on !

No news yet

I am waiting for my appointment to come through which will give me the results of my latest CT scan. I have usually got an appointment by now but nothing yet. I called the Dr’s secratery and asked for an appointment, she said she will call me back. This has to be the worst time with this disease, each scan brings anxiety and worry as to what will be revealed with it.

I am really hoping that Theo is feeling kind and doesn’t grow. I don’t need him growing at any point. I feel realy well and don’t think anything has changed. I just need to hear it.

I hope I hear something tomorrow as I don’t want to have to ring the hospital again.

Rich has a job

My son Richard, 18, has started work at Orange. He seems to have enjoyed the first week and I hope he succeeds with the probation period and is taken on permanent. He also had his first driving lesson and has vowed never to get in a driving school car again. He was taken on a dual carraige way and was freaked out at having to do the speed limit. I hope he goes through with the next driving lesson as I didn’t start learning to drive again until I was 43. I took 4 tests 12 years previous and took 2 more tests in 2002. I passed and have never looked back.

I am back to work tomorrow for 3 days and am hoping that I get an appointment through from my oncologist this week to get the results of my CT scan. I don’t feel any different which, I suppose, is a good sign but I hate this cloud that hangs over my head while waiting for the results.
I am hoping that Theo does what he does best and doesn’t grow.