Morning Elona

How are you today hope you are ok, have had a bit more interest in the bird table had a couple of wrens and I think a blue *** the only trouble is its that far down the garden now I think I'm going to have to get binoculars lol, all ok her a I'm just waiting for call from Macmillan nurse to tell me mdt meeting outcome so had a bit of a restless night, the sun has come out again so will try and persuade son to do a bit of mowing while I tidy and weed, hope you have a nice day planned

Alli x

Hi Al and Alli 

morning to a sunny day looks cold and brr it was last night freezing! but it looks lovely today may try and get outside for a short while. 

love hearing about all the veggies being grown i love growing things from seed it gives such pleasure seeing the tiny heads peeping through the soil and emerging into the daylight. then eac day seeing the small seedlings grow bigger anbd bigger, stronger and stronger. 

AL i would ot transplant until the seeds have grown to about 1.5 times the depth of tray or you can see the roots well. otherwise it gets a little difficult. if they are growing too tall and 'leggy' you mayneed to give them a little real air by putting them outside in the sun during the day for a few hours to harden them of and encourage some root growth until they are older and redy to produce. 

some herbs are hardy like rosemary and some thymes so even in wales should be ok outside. 

Alli i decided not to grow tomatoes this year as i get over run with them and currently have 5 tubs of tomatoes sauce in freezer! they are though a good plant to grow and you can grow in any good compost it does not hvae to be tomoato compost; start in a smallish pot that you buy it in then when you see roots at the bottom of the pot replace with one twice the size. you dont want too big an pot at the end or all growth will go into roots not tomatoes. whn it grows get a bamboo stick to hold it up and gently tie it to the stick belwo a stem so it does not slide down and you will get a nice tall plant. you will need to pick out stems growning between arms but can advise later on if you want. 

ahh hedgehog houses have five in the garden - three in outside area and two in rehab area. not in usea tmoment but the feeding area is. miss my l;ittle prickly friends but dare not have them back yet. have written chapter on equipment for hospital just deciding what next. have also written introduction to research paper. 

Al mini mafia is the rat population lol hubby makes stories about them for me because there is obviously a good rat run underneath the houses here and we get tunnels emerging and sometimes little mafia appearing. 

Hubby informed me last night gradad was a bit tipsy because he had found out two niece were pregnant ! i told him to let him know not to get too excited as they will have to move on. 

going to take it easy today hahaha.

oh i have a butternut squash emerging thankfully i realised the silly seed was growing the wrong way so had to help it a bit not very intelligent!!!! quite a few celeriac now and sweetcorn but diasppointed with plug plants a quarter of them are not doing well. i suppose that is the risk you take with these. think i will get enough though to make a good display. 

anyway keep smiling and stay strong soak up the rays! x

Alli - love the birds on your table yay!!!! enjoy xx

hi 

bit of a duller morning but thats ok over did it yesterday and feeling it. keep saying mellow day thenkeep pushing myself  sometimes a bit too much. for instance i dismantled  half the old hen run yesterday lol

listening to the news this morning does not bear well for my appointment all those people still waiting on procedures and surgery wow, (4.7m) scary for them. 

Alli fingers crossed you hear as soon as possible after your MDT - i had to wait until friday to hear from mine. 

Al hope your getting some rest and not doing too much too soon, after getting better. take it easy andlet body do its work. 

in door jobs today and perhaps a little fitness on the nintendo ring lol (i should say i can only manage 2 minutes at the moment but that two minutes is fun!). i also cheat !!!! i cannot squat due to my back so i sit down on a chair lol, i cannot run so i fast walk because me leg goes so it is all about adaption but i did like pplatform games or sonic when younger and this brings the child back. a couple of minutes of fun is worth hours of nothing. 

started another chapter on hedgehog book about the diet. and nutritional properties of insects and found an interesting research on insects as human food - yuck!!!! i dont mind trying many things but not sure about eating insects. hmmm what next!  - mind you i watched master chef last night and dont fancy trying sweetbreads either - the texture puts me right of. 

i saw the blue *** couple last night was really happy they have not been into the box yet it maybe because i have taken the run down there or is still too early for them i dont know but lovely to see them in the garden. hoping eventually i will get a more bird friendly garden but the baby trees need to grow up a bit more so i can put some more bird boxes up. Pigeon visited again this morning he is not scared of the table and where it is so pleased even if pigeon he is quite handsome. 

well must stop being too lazy no wonder there is no day left by the time i get up - mind up am up at 4am for meds so my exscuse. !! 

take care keep smiling and stay strong x

Alli - try not to worry - distractions needed today because whatever you do will not change outcome, and your interest is their purpose. they will choose the best course for you. positivity needed. thinking of you x

Morning

Another sunny day so will get tidying done in garden still have a pile of leaves to rake up, hope your ok Elona and not trying to do to much the Nintendo sounds fun I think your more likely to do exercise when you enjoy it I don't understand people's obsession with the gym, maybe I'm just lazy lol, Al the day bed sounds fantastic and will be a lovely place to chill when your friends come to visit and hopefully we will have some lovely weather soon, the Macmillan nurse called after the mdt meeting and said they were going to give me the chemoradiation and its curative so was very relieved, she thinks it will last for 7 weeks and will be daily and I can get transport there and back as I don't drive and Garys back at work now so that helps, don't know the details yet she said I'll have an appointment with the oncologist next week, Al how does it work do the sessions last long I think its 3 lots of chemo and the radiation is every day, the bird tables been busy the Mrs blackbirds stopped patrolling around the bottom of it and decided to try it out its obviously the new place to be and the birds are bringing there friends its lovely to watch

Hope you have a lovely day take care

All I x

Brilliant news Alli and wow that was quick they are obviously on the ball where you are. Think Al got this telephone call the following day. what i suggest is to enjoy yourself now and relax for a day or two then plan lots of things to keep your spirits up and soft food very tasty to help those taste buds last as long as possible. Also high calorie food easy to eat - sloppy. remember keep smiling and whenever you are too tired just read our posts or sleep we will be here. 

the sun has emerged here eventually but it is cold have loads to do and geting frustrated not being able to do anything when i want. did clean a little bit of my floor in dinning area and cleared a bit more of the hen run. I also managed two minutes on the nintendo lol but they introduced a different exercise so have to work out how to do it another way lol. 

So pleased your bird table is a huge success have you got your binoculars yet? lol. 

Al you and your wife are amazing inventive sounds great and lovely to have friends over, something to look forward to and entertain in your lovely sounding garden. the peacock sounds beautiful. Your wife has good taste. 

it is going to be abeautiful evening shame it is still cold. 

keep smiling and stay strong x

Hi Christine

I am so glad that this thread has kept you going.  Please feel free to add to it at any time, A post doesn't even have to be about anything in particular.  We have had many conversations on here about D.I.Y.  Bird tables, veg growing and many many other things other than our selection of diagnosis.

Of course you are more than welcome to just log in and read, what ever works best for you.  Because it is 'you' that is important right now.  Just keep in mind you are never alone here.

Good news on your first results, fingers crossed for the biopsy and test on your tonsil.  As we all know on here the waiting for tests and results are the worst times.  The best advice that I had from my oncologist and the hospital was 'take each day at a time'.

Be positive no matter how hard it feels, stay strong.

Al'

Hi Alli

Good news that it's curative :)

Mine too is very curative and I was given a 6 week treatment course of chemoradio, which I thought was the max that they could give.  I would go in early on a Monday for potentially 6 hr Chemo, my chemo was cisplatin.  I say potantially as depending on how well the chemo went, sometimes the machine would keep stopping and you have to wait fo a nurse to start it again.  If all went well chemo would be closer to 5 hours.  After chemo on a Monday I would then go to the radio department.  Radio was over very quick and I actually found it quite relaxing and theraputic.  The hospital is 20 miles away so the whole day took around 8 hours from home and back.  When you are closer to your chemo I will give you some tips on making the day go quicker.  I was worried about sitting there for 6 hours, but to be honest the day went by really quickly.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I would travel to the hospital for radio.  The radio itself lasted from 10 to 20 mins, but with the travel the day took around two and a half hours.

Pre treatment I had to see a restoritive dentist and go for a mask fitting. 

The restoritive dentist looks at your teeth and looks into the future.  He/She has to decide if any of your teeth are likely to need removing for the rest of your life.  If they decide that this is the case they will remove them pre treatment.  I had 6 teeth removed.  The reason behind this is because the radiochemo/chemoradio can destroy teeth that aren't strong.  If this happens during treatment it can cause a lot of problems.  Hopefully you won't need any removed.  I now have a strict daily teeth cleaning regime.  I have to use prescription toothpaste and this is for life.  Also my own dentist is no longer allowed to remove any teeth.  If they feel any need removing I have to go back to the restorative dentist who will try and save them.  if you do need to have any teeth removed it may put your treatment start date back a bit.  They have to wait 10 days after removing any teeth before starting treatment to give the gums time to heal.

The mask fitting was like a spa day, I can only imagine as I have never actually been on a spa day.  I found it very relaxing.  They warm the material up and then mold it to your face where it hardens.  The mask is to keep you in position on the radio machine.  It has lots of holes in it so you can still see and breath.  If you are at all claustophobic I would tell them.  They can't do enough to make you comfortable.

I also went in for an op to remove my good tonsil and take some biopsys prior to treatment.

I only completed 5 of my 6 chemo sessions.  Prior to my 6th I felt that my body could take no more, I took advice from my MDT and they were happy for me not to complete my 6th.  They did say that there was a good chance that due to bloods I wouldn't be able to do the 6th anyway.  Today I still feel that that was the right decision.

They will probably talk to you about having an NG Tube fitted at some point during your treatment.  I was determined not to have one fitted.  I felt that it would be a battle lost.  However around the end of week four I had lost too much weight due to not eating properly.  This was down to loss of taste.  They talked me into having an NG Tube fitted. I could have cried, but better to lose a battle to win the war.  I had it fitted and now it is the best thing ever.  Without it I would never have been able to fight back as hard.

With regards to weight there is no ideal weight that you can go into this with.  They will weigh you at the beginning and then you'll have a percentage that you can lose before they start to worry (you may have to ask how much you can safely lose).  losing too much weight not only means you are not getting enough nutrition but your mask wont fit properly. I spent a bit of money on some scales so that I could keep an eye.  My scales matched the weights at the hospital.  I did go for a lot of walks to improve my fittness pre treatment, and carried this on for as long as I could during treatment.  We also invested in a rowing machine to help with fitness pre and post treatment.  I am not a gym bunny by a long shot :)

Alli there are loads of bits of advice that I can give you, but this post would be a book long :laugh:  As you reach each step I will  tell you what happened. helped, didn't help me.  Do keep in mind that we all react to the treatment differently.  What I will say is never be in pain, if you are in any kind of pain let them know and they will sort it for you.  

I hope that this has helped

Stay strong

Al x

morning 

AL you are quite amazing reading what you have told Alli the fight for fitness and eating etc. The journey has been fought through sheer determination I can see. I am so glad you are through this and able to help others now. 

I hope everyone has a good day today the sun is out again. We had some rain yesterday but not enough to water the plants. However, good news some butternut squash are emerging they just needed a push and a talking too! Al has your wifes plants arrived yet? My little plugs are struggling to cope half of them seem to be pulling through the other half are battling the battle of survival too. 

Have made a list of questions for my doctors for monday so am going to print a copy of and drop it of at the doctors so they can get an idea for monday dont want to speak to someone with no knowledge. Managed to find a paper on necrotising granulomas in the head and neck which was quite interesting. Unfortunately did not say about management. My lump is being christened Fuego -spanish for fire because thats what it feels like when it gets inflamed. 

right had better finish my cuppa and get myself motivated for the day! 

keep smiling and stay strong x

Good Morning Elona :)

Thank you for the veggie advice...  I'll have green fingers before I know it!

Well the day bed come garden bench is complete and 'chained' to the front of the house.  Not that I don't trust anybody, but there has been a lot of garden thefts lately.  Its very big, but very comfy.  We also purchased a cantilever parasol to keep the sun off, gets very hot out the front, but now need to purchase weights which cost more than the parasol, bloomimg cheek!

Also in the process of converting the old garage/shed/stone/brick outhouse into a multipurpose building.  It's 10 x 15 feet inside.  We want it to be usable as another room with bed for people to stay, a party room, a workshop and art room.   We've been watching a lot of George Clarke for ideas lol

I have visions of you on your Nintendo, I did think about getting one for fittness...  Are they any good?  Sounds like you are having fun which is very important.

Loving hearing about yours and Alli's bird table visitors.  Think I may have to look at making an anti cat bird table when my shed is finished.

I have eaten many insects, and they weren't that bad.  I spent some time in Asia where it is common place, they are very high in nutrition and protein.  It wouldn't surprise me if in the not to distant future insects become part of the western diet, mosy burgers and flydogs lol.  I did draw the line with fried terantula though!

Sunny here in the valleys today, time to be outside and make the most of it.

Hope you have a great day.

Be strong

Al x