I was diagnosed with Cancer in March and although we knew it was Cancer its still a shock to be told it. I have had 2 chemo cycles now and have my 3rd at the end of the month. I would love to chat about the chemo side affects to anyone..
Thank you so much for returning to post such a lovely message, I had been concerned about you and Roy as the last post you made told us that things were pretty bad. I do hope that your situation has improved now. It has just been Anne and I chatting on here for a while so I am also concerned about the other ladies.
We are coping ok as a family, focusing on putting on a nice celebration of life for Mary on Tuesday, and thinking about things we are going to do with our lives going forward without her - although she will always be with us. While I am typing this I am looking around, and she is everywhere - our beautiful home and garden are a testament to her dedication as a homemaker, and she has left me with three wonderful (grown up) children that I couldn't be more proud of.
Getting a bit emotional writing this - but in a good way.
Dear Anne, thank you again for your responses - it seems that you started posting on this thread just as it all went quiet, and I do understand that it can be a little frustrating. But do keep an eye on the forum as I am sure it will become more active again at some point, and you have a lot to share with others that may be very helpful.
The celebration of Mary's life went very well, there were over 200 people in the chapel which was so humbling to see. I was so proud of my children, all three got up and said their piece - my daughter had a bit of a wobble but managed to say everything she wanted to. All in all it was a wonderful celebration, sad and happy in equal measure.
Without the love and support of my friends, family, Mary's colleagues, and of course the wonderful people on cancer chat, I do not think I could have done this. So thank you all for your part in that, we have managed to give Mary a service to be proud of and I am very happy about that.
I have just set up regular monthly payments to Cancer Research UK and also to the Hospice Lottery, which supports seven local hospices. If I win, I will donate my winnings to the Hospice that looked after Mary. We will also be looking at raising money for them in other ways.
It really seems that Mary could not have had a better celebration of her life and to be honest I am not surprised; I am sure your children are as proud of you as you are of them. Great fundraising ideas too; it is moving to see that you are continuing the fight with all these great initiatives.
I hope you are not too tired though and that you take time for yourself as well after all you have just gone through. I am glad you made such great friends on Cancer Chat; you have been such an important contributor in this ovarian thread.
I'm sorry i've been absent for so long but am sorted now, had hernia operation and immunoglobulin therapy (for autoimmune disease) and all in all its had a great effect! Have spent the last 2 weeks painting the hallway (never said I was quick) but i can do things now that i haven't been able to do for 3 years so feeling really good in myself.
Have just caught up and was shocked to read Mary has gone, she seemed to be doing so well. John, if you read this I hope you are managing ok.
Happy Christmas Hazel, and to anyone else who is reading this.
Just a quick update - Myself and my family, 9 of us (three adult children, two partners, two neices and one neices husband) took part in a fundraiser on the 9th December for the Hospice where Mary spent her last weeks. We joined hundreds of others all of us dressed as Santa, and did a 2.5 mile Santa Dash through Hemel Hempstead! We had a good laugh doing it but it was quite hard for our untrained bodies to run that short distance! All for a fantastic cause though, I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful the Hospice was in making Mary comfortable and dignified, and also supporting us all as a family. They have to raise 3.7 million pounds a year to keep running so it was nice to be able to pay something back for that free care. We have raised over £3,700 so far, and Tesco have pledged 20% of our total, we are absolutely delighted with this.I have also set up monthly payments to Cancer Research, hopefully one day they will find a cure for this dreadful disease!
I am doing ok, life goes on! Mary's passing still feels a bit surreal. My daughter and I have both started having councelling, we're not sure if we need it or not but the Hospice are providing this service so we felt that even if we get a little benefit then it'll be worthwhile.
We are also considering going to see a Psychic medium, I don't normally go in for all this sort of stuff but trying to keep an open mind, some odd things were happening after Mary's passing and it seems like too much to write off to coincidence. I wonder if any of you have views or experience of this, I'd be interested to hear.
I wish you all the very best in your own personal journeys and truly hope you get the best results from your treatment.
