Hi Dudley

Welcome to Cancer Chat. Rarsie joined recently and has a son, aged 28, with the same condition as your son. You can read one of rarsie's posts here. Click on rarsie's name and you will read others.

Best wishes to you and your family,

Jane

Hi Nigel,

I really appreciate your reply, it helps so much and your words are practical and very wise. We are a close family and do have a fantastic network of friends. We've always known our son is a very popular lad, but until this happened we didn't realise exactly how much love there is for him.

We are terrified about what the future has in store, but in front of him we are all putting on a brave face. I have been thinking seriously about his diet and I am convinced this will have an influence on how he copes with the treatment and illness.

Thanks once again for taking the time to read my post, and I'll keep this site updated with his progress,

Best wishes,

D x

Hi dudley,

Words can work wonders, I have often said to many people that from my observations when many people retire they seem to go down hill. I believe it has much to do with them not getting some form of interest to keep occupied after working for all those years. I call it mental stimulation...they seem to just have nothing to aim for any more. Of course with my past i have had to lie. in a nice way, to work mates to help them get over a situation. I would talk with his friends and ask them to give him plenty of words of encouragement, give him some thing to aim for..like saying a bunch of friends are looking at going or doing some thing special next year as soon as he get well enough to go, and they won;t go without him....I'm sure you know what i mean. Greet him as they would if they were meeting him for drinks on a friday night...i still have 780 retired military friends who would still look after me...and do ask how things are going even though we have a few thousand miles between us...lol, but the thought is real nice and I have a plan to return and see so many at one of our annual reunions in Devon...you know how it works.

Diet,as many will agree, is very important...my wife is constantly getting me to eat lots of fruit, and we go into the city where there is a real great farmers market twice a week. There we can get fresh produce grown without the use of natsty chemicals etc; fresh fish,cheese...u know. I have a friend just down from me who was suddenly diagnosed and was told weeks to life, they took most of one hip away and he suffered. he opted to travel 300 miles twice a month with 4 day stays in hotels to do clinical trials....it has worked wonders....he has the mental strenght and has gone from a wheel chair,to cane, to walking in 18 months, had his thyroid removed, lost over 100 lbs and his hair...but it was the support from family and friends even when he looked like a walking corpse that helped him....this guy will have a treatment of chemo for 8 hours then he will down 3 double cheese burgers...lol....and he is diabetic..lol......yogurts..i love them and with the good things in them these days are a great source of much needed imput.

Good luck and many on here will be happy to read your rants,concerns and most importantly his recovery.

nigel

Hi Dudley, I believe you and I both have sons with the same brain cancer, please reply so we can chat

rarsie

Hi Dudley, My god you have been dealt with a terrible blow havent you, I thought my situation was bleak but my son has very little loss to his left side and nothing wrong elsewhere, he had a gr 3 anaplastic Astrocytoma 3 yrs ago but in Dec he was diagnosed with a Glioblastoma Multiforme like your son, from reading your letter I have to say I feel blessed in comparison to you. My son is 28 now he is recieving Chemo, had radium 3 yrs ago and cant have anymore, please keep in touch with me and hope things improve for you and your family

Regards rarsie

Hi Dudley

My sister was first diagnosed at the age of 26 with a brain tumour that has now progressed to a grade 4. She has had 3 tumour resections then had to have another 3 procedures on her brain when she developed hydrocephalus due to her treatment. It's good that your son has now been offered treatment, how is it going? Have you got good neurological hospitals near to where you live?

Hi, I am in my early sixties. (my photo was taken a few years ago).  I am just about to retire from work and looking forward to it.  I have two grandchildren aged 10 and 8 who I love to look after.  I have had breast cancer in 1994 and again in 2011, but I have been given the all clear. I have recently been watching lots of sixties music programmes and because I only came to this counrty in 1969 realise I missed out on such a great time.

My brother has metastatic melanoma and is now waiting to start his treatment of a new drug that has just been approved.  I wondered whether there is anyone who is going through the same situation who can share their experience with me.

Hi, My name is Polly and I am 51 years old.  At the ripe old age of 47 I was told I was post menopausal and went onto HRT.. mainly to stop the flushes and my beloved husband's sanity.  In Dec 2011 I started bleeding and the pain was horrendous.  On 15th Dec I went to my Drs and had the obligatory inspection and smear.  Told that this would be prioritised by my local hospital and to stop taking HRT.  On 24th Feb was my appointment with the consultant's registar.  She examined and asked lots of questions.  Took blood and a pipelle test.  She told me that I was either a. not post menopausal and my doctor had got it wrong or b. I had cancer.

I had to wait 3 weeks for a letter and when it came it was for a day surgery appointment, dice, slice and a good rummage.  The bloods done in Feb had proved I was post menopausal, but the pipelle test was inconclusive.  I can barely walk, the pain in my pelvic area is down my legs, across my back, has spread upwards into my abdomen.  My own doctor put me on anti depressants - she kept asking me how the pain was making me feel (!).  I had the day surgery last Friday (24th March), I am back at work tomorrow and I really feel too ill to go.  I am scared, I only have my hubby and I don't want to worry him any more than he already is.  The hospital said I would have to wait at least 2 weeks for the results to come back from the day surgery.... I may not have cancer, but I can't believe that here I am 3 and a half months down the line with no answers, lots of pain, worry, flushes (sorry hubby)  and an increasing fear that nobody cares.

Hi! Iam a 59 year old male. I have had Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma since diagnosed in 2007. I attend Dr Hatton's Clinic at the Churchill Hospital, Oxford. It is an indolent type of follicular lymphoma. I haven't had chemo as I'm on a wait and watch process. I have to attend here every six months. The NHS staff and medical team do a fantastic job. They're worth their weight in gold. I have nothing but praises for the NHS.