Hi Laura

not heard of manuka so no and just plenty of water for me.

Thought about the flu jab but on balance decided against it. Varied opinions whether should get done or not.Touch wood, I have been fine so far but it was and is one of my worst fears of catching the cold/flu and bronchitis would be an absolute nightmare.Been in house most of time with heating on and any time out i have worn a neck warmer/snood and hat and kept well wrapped up.

Wishing Mick all the best when treatment starts and lets hope side effects are kept to a minimum.

Keep us posted on journey

kind regards

ian

Hi Ian

hope yiu are keeping ok m just got an image in y head of you in a snood !!!LOL

have yiu started gentle walks yet?

wentbtinlovak drs yesterday for a tablet revue should OMG my repeat script was 3 pages long! So reduce stress thatbdiwn nearly iff the co codomol down ton4 x 8 mg and 4 paracetamol hoping by next weekend paracetamol only.

although  he has put me Omaprozole for 8;weeks for silent reflux so watch this space never had heartburn before now but it’s a common side affects and it’s hard to enough to eat as it is without that. my oncologist said stop ibuprofen which I did 6 weeks ago and if no improvement get dr to prescribe Omaprozole.

have a good weekend ,3 days to gimfor me and I am remaining calm,don’t know about Monday morning though !

Hazel

Hi Ian

we went in October 8 weeks after treatment because we sometimecstsy 8 weeks we gave a yearly policy with 90 day max stay .

i was a travel agent before retiring so am used to the varies of travel so one day say down took the plunge rsng  my insurers  by the time I had said tonsil cancer the tears were flowing !!!! So composed my self theynwoikd keep me insured b ut nit for tonsil cancer or anything to do with cancer which is fine don’t plan getting it again lol !!!plus it’s not like heart trouble  any twinges I woukd be at an airport on my way home before u can say jack Robinson !!

at the moment the EHIC card will cover yiu for emergency treatment in EU countries a big bone of contention is if we leave on a no deal that will will stop on the 29 th March. Spain are as a country concerned how it will affect tourism and Valencia Murcia n adalusia province are hoping to strike separate deals to keep,it going.  What u she be yontemember the EHIC onky covets emergent nit things like repratiattion if u need a private’s plane to get unhime.

my current insurer  wouldn’t cover me when policy expired  so I started the trawl of finding someone who would. .

we have got a joint yearly policy for me n jihn max stays 90 days unlimited trips for £235 for the 2 of us excluding my tonsil cancer so will live with that.  To include tonsil cancer was iver £2000 so took executive decision cheaper to fly me home business class if need be. Want it  more  if I fall off my bike trip over kerb etc etc  hoping I do neither. 

Got it via B U P A. Online then rang to explain re cancer it’s surprising how the c word elicits a soft voice. Lol. .

hope it makes sense if u only want a normal 2/3 week cover u shouldn’t pay much more than u would have before 

hx

thanks for best wishes 

Hi TFS

many thanks ,I took the decision that sugar coating it was no good to anyone . Positive mental attitude wins every time , plus forewarned is forearmed .

Hiw are yiu feeling ?

H 

Hi Hazel, and everyone, i am great, day 10 done slight mouth sore and tiny bit throat tightness but a spray or two of manuka and im good. Im not fooling myself, know the easy bit is about to end, but the machine is off Mon so i get 3 days off now, then  i think it will  all start to escalate as next week ends.Oscar, great to see you progress i saw you were a bit unlucky at the start but well done.

Hi TFS

enjoy yourv3 day break ,week 3 things start to ramp up at bit, week 4 is when the fun could start but we are all different .

enjoy weekend , do yiu have to go to Puerto de las Cruz for treatment ? Is it IMART that u are having so u know ?

H

Santa Cruz is our main hospital here capital  city  about 25 miles from Puerto, although i live in South about 50 miles away takes an hour or so each way. We have an amazing expat charity here, that have helped me so much with transport, translators and more, called FACT  (fighting against cancer Tenerife), selfless helpful people.

My treatment is like yours Vmat. They seem to really believe in it.

Hi

Yes the treatment is state of the art targeted to .ooo1 mm or something like that I know many a time in the table it moved remotely after they had scanned me and it was tiny movements . Years ago we would have had 2 wall bricks out at sides if neck and been blasted to high hell.

Have to agree with you in San Javier near where are apartment is MABS the ex oat cancer charity were brill when we venturedover r 8 weeks after treatment. I contacted them about hiring a nebuliser or where I could buy one along with a humidifier,they git back to me and said they had them all I had to do was go up they would put one in one side . Gave me emergency contact card if u needed anything contactvthem if I needed pharmacia or hospitals and was struggling they would get someone’s to translate for me. So needless  to say gave them a generous donation and quite a few bits for the charity shop. 

Have tomsay the he ex pats are good at stuff like that. 

Hazel 

Hi Hazel I rang the bell but left the mask..I just didnt want it, my garage is already full of junk :)

Im feeling good but very tired now and off to bed soon, I really hope I can eat normally in a month or so, Not knowing what to expect now but obviously improvements! Iv been told to keep an eye on one side of my neck as the skin is very red and could break, Im plastering the E45 cream on and the Hydrocortizone sparingly twice a day, I had chips in gravy for tea and cake and cream after that, Iv lost about a stone now but my jeans are no looser so Im guessing its muscle mass etc. I`ll tell Julie you were asking.

Dave

Hi Dave

xongratulations on reaching end of phase 1 now the long slow haul to recovery. Yiu May have one step forward 2 step backward moments but don’t despair.

imoressed chips and gravy wow , cake and ice cream is excellent double calories!,

my nexk erupted  at end if week 5 and I had 2 more weeks to go consultant  knew I wouldn’t end up with a 3rd degree burn and he was right .After it healed I use bio oil again sparingly but now you can hardly tell .

have a quiet weekend and baby steps next week .i lostb2 stone mostly in the weeks that followed treatment as I was in feedingbtube good lick keep in touch .Sleep is god

Hazel

Oscar;   Just to congratulate you again from me, you give me hope.

Thanks TFS I was pretty fit before the start of the treatment Im almost 61 but keep fit by walking and playing football 3-4 times a week and the docs say its helped me deal with it plus a positive mental attitude, its not over yet but you get my drift.

Hazel has anyone explained why we this indegestion? I rarely got indegestion before the treatment.

Dave 

Thanks TFS I was pretty fit before the start of the treatment Im almost 61 but keep fit by walking and playing football 3-4 times a week and the docs say its helped me deal with it plus a positive mental attitude, its not over yet but you get my drift.

Hazel has anyone explained why we this indegestion? I rarely got indegestion before the treatment.

Dave 

Hi Dave

have you been taking ibuprofen? That can affect the digestive system. I like you have never ever had indigestion problems , but like dr says there little enough we can eat with out taking massive cuts to our already meagre foods we can eat. 

So he prescribed me 8 weeks of Omaprozole and says the radiotherapy does damage the gastric tubes and like the rest if us has to regenerate so can’t hurt by giving us some help .

i

bedore I went to drs I was taking one  gavisxon dual action tablet after food also don’t lie down within 30 mins of eating. 

just remember  we have been zapped to high heaven and everything has to regenerate slowly think a bit like Dr WHo

Have a good weekend ,best wishes to Julie.

Hazsl n John 

Hi Hazel no I’m not taking Ibuprofen thanks for the info I thought the treatment targeted a quite small area so I wasn’t expecting the indigestion, my doc thought it might be change of diet but he didn’t seem too sure.

Dave

Hi Dave

it does but imagine the damage it’s doing it has affects on the gastric linings  of our throats I am atbthe moment swallowing  huge  amounts of snotty gunk which I can feel burning .plus like you say whatbwe can eat can’t be described as a balanced diet !!!! We are eating to survive by putting whatbwe can in ,I didn’t eat fresh fruit for what sent like months veg as well so no wonder we’d have acid reflux being hit from all areas.

but my dr says it’s a te,port blip hopefully.

hope you are looking forward to Ole ole and another win tomorrow 

HaZel

Thanks for the info Hazel it makes sense what you are saying.

Big test for Ole and the boys tomorrow but we are in a better position than we would have been with misery guts.

Dave

no worries Dave , goodnight hope you are sleeping ok I am in a bit if an insomniac phase which is unusual for me I am an 8 hour a night girl usually. But at min if I am not  prising gently with water myntongue from roof of mouth before it make a sound like tearing two pieces of Velcro just thought I would share that with you to look forward to later ,I am spitting into tissues as saliva as gone the other way and feels like a bottle of glycerin in my mouth. Oh the joys of this cancer but we are luckier than a lot as cure is the aim so will live  with the bad bits. 

try gaviscon  dual action tablets Tesco gotbthem on offer at min for the reflux they do help 

Should be a good gane

Hazel

Sleep wise I’m hit and miss but getting by, my throat is so dry by 4-5 am I have to get up to rinse and gargle, Iv pretty much lost interest in food so I’m eating to maintain my weight which is strange but necesarry and the skin around my neck is just about holding and resembles boiled ham, wonderful.

Dave

If you look at my blog www.radioactiveraz.wordpress.com on the last radiotherapy day mine was like a piece of raw meat oncologist knew it would happen but didntbwanr to scare me. If yours breaks skin go to cancer hospital they have wonderful burns bandage s ok costb#70:a roll thankmfod for nhs but unleavened them in unrilmthey fomgreen n smelly sounds revolting but with 3 weeks u can see in photos mine had healed .

last night bed 2315 slept like a log until 0030 thought I had been there hours urhgghh 

night 

hazel

Hazel

have you ever had a regular sleep pattern post treatment to date or still hit n miss?

one thing im still stuggling with is fatigue and i dont know about you but it sometimes hits me like a wave and I need to go to bed, lierally..its a funny feeling and woudnt just put it down to normal "im tired" and more like body on shut down if that makes sense.

Anno slow process but cmon lol give us a break lol. As you know gonna try baby steps at work week Monday.
No way of knowing yet and will give it a go but im hoping that this fatigue starts to abate a little more sooner rather than later..

How many hrs a day/night would you say you slept in total just now and have you ever had a period post treatment when you had good sleep pattern or is irregular sleep a norm anyways?
Do you still nap and sleep during the day?

Sorry you get most of the questions as we are all following you behind Im afraid lol

Again be thinking of you tomorrow and evrything crossed you have a good meeting and all best wishes

kind regards

ian

HI Ian

sleep what’s that lol !

my last full nights sleep without the aid of co codomol was 9 th May last year the date we ledt Spain before the nightmare started. 

I liken the feeling of being hit by a wave simikarvti jet lag from the far east to  home , it just overpowers you. .

yes it’s a vicious circle it’s radiation tiredness ,everyone I’ve seen oncologist nurses suggest lightbexercise as ut gets the endorphins going just a gentle walk you will feel tired but each  day just a little further.

i now have 2 x 20 min literallynpower naps one around 12 one around 5 pm convient for Jihntomstart lunch and tea !!! Lol  but I do drop in a deep sleep. I October when we went to Spain I was having 2 naps of at least an hour a time ,that was 8 week starts post radiotherapy.

so you aren’t in your own I am in touch with a girl in Hertfordshire she is same time treatment wise as me and has her own dog grooming business and is fitting dogs in around naps .

treat your body like a factory that need some shut down periods for maintenance which is our sleep periods  .

niw I am coming off the comcodomolmmy nighttime sleep is still fractured .

at your stage we were just getting ready for Spain and inwas in the up at 0300 for at keastb45 mins stage then again at 0600 then drop off until maybe 0900 if i wasn’t  lucky .

last nights sleep was 

bed 2330 straight to sleep woke 0020 mouth stuck sip water back to sleep

wake 0350 mouth stuck sip water back to sleep 

wake 0545 tablets time up 10 mins 1/2 Ensure to make tablets go down back to sleep until 0830 bliss but don’t try and yawn as mouth stuck .

so best u can suggest getbyiur coat in walk down the street not far then tomorrow a little further , youve  2 weeks to tell me youve ve walked a Mile deal ?

bully mate Hazel thank you for the  good wishes .i will be in touch shout out if you want anything