H

Had results today from biopsy on tonsil and now know its cancer, its all been really quick what with scans and hospital visits so not really had time to think about it now it's just starting to sink in but I'm pretty positive, I'm told its spread to a lymph node has anyone else had this 

HiAli

I am sorry to hear your diagnosis, but the first thing I would say is there is always hope. Al my friend here has the same and is currently undergoing all the treatment. He is having a six week course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy over most of the week meaning daily trips. The first thing they have to do is make sure you have no teeth that will get corroded by treatment so need removing first,. They then measure you for the mask this apparently is quite comfortable. They then arrrange the neginnings of the treatment. It will not be easy so you will need a good support system around you - family, macmillans, friends especially when you have down days. Some people loose taste buds during treatment some can find swallowing hard but if you look back on our talks there are mouth exeercises to do. 

Find all the exciting food things you love that are highly flacoured and stock up you will need to keep your weight up and need things that are exciting to make you smile. 

good luck i am here is you want to talk. 

stay strong x

Afternoon, 

had a great morning with friends consequently i am shattered now and voice has nearly gone. shall fall asleep this afternoon probably. They brought me a metal hedgehog to go in the garden but it is so cute might keep it indoors. Sounds like work has not changed one bit! shame really. 

Diet out the window this morning so all day - they brought cake and crisps and tea!! so hubby and i will treat ourselves to having chinese for tea. good job as i have no energy for cooking. 

Finishing watching ghost wars also still holding my interest which is good, often series dont do that or have some boring episodes but this is good. 

Hubby says he thinks the mini mafia are sneaking about again and that this morning they were clearing up the mobile restaurant out in the carport. They obviously did not do that too quietly because Pedro was showing interest. The restaurant must have been smelling good because people had come from all around to participate in the menus and i was told they were quite reasonably priced. Cleaning up was a little more chaotic they had left a couple of wrappers around so hubby is going to tell them to be a bit more careful. 

When my friends looked around the garden they made a few comments about the good life, it does sound strange when i say over there is the veggies, sweetcorn, butternut squash, celeraic, there is the apple, pear, plum trees then there are blueberries, blackcurrnat, saskatoons, the summer truffle and walnut tree!!! i could be as nutty as they were lol. 

anyway have good days hope things are not too bad,. 

keep smiling x

Hi, sorry to jump in on your posts but have any of you suffered with burns from the radiation, if so how long did they take to heal?  
My husband has 2 more RT sessions left for cancer of the right tonsil and lymph nodes but he has terrible burns which are actually more painful than his throat at the minute.  This, along with the horrible mucus which makes him choke, is really getting him down and I feel so helpless as I can't physically do anything to make it better. I Would appreciate any advice, thanks.

Hi Judy 

I am sorry to hear about your husbands situation and I hope it improves soon. When Al is on he will reply to your thread here. 

No one has mentioned the burns to me but mucus is a *** for everyone it seems and some people react more than others. what has the nurses and consultants said? does he have a tube in? 

The best thing for you is to try and keep his emotions up as much as possible. Try all distractions and have hope that is important. you are probably the most important person apart from oncologists etc in his life and it is not easy on you iam sure so you must also have some you time. if you dont look after yourself and destress then you cant be there for him either. we are here for you to write and keep in touch any time you like. x

Morning,

wow the rain has come down torrendous down pour. I sleep in the conservatory so it sounded so noisy ! yet the animals took no notice!! and are flat out. Thankfully hubby had taken Pedro outside for a play before he lay next to me on the bed. lazy ***!!! (I cant talk). 

the rain will do the plants good but as long as they dont damage the baby ones i had planted. i cant wait to see the colour coming out. iam so pleased with what we achieved this last week. 

Oh my gosh i saw a news report yesterday about a town in New South Wales Australia where the grain had a bumper year and a drought meant the mice had reproduced so much they were running across peoples pillows at night, school desks and where everywhere wow it was amazing and awful at the same time. I am glad my mini mafia are not that bad!! i dont think i could cope seeing and feeling mice creeping everywhere and trying to bite me etc yikes. 

oh sun is coming out thas promising. Mind you a lazy day today is in order - hope you all have a good lazy day too and relax get as much rest as you all need. Enjoy the day do something enjoyable.

hope everyone are doing ok

take care

keep smiling x

Hi Judy

Firstly no need for any apologies, you are more than welcome to post on this thread whenever you wish.  Feel free to come here even if its just for a general chat.  Like Elona said, you need to also make time for yourself.  It's really difficult I know, but try not to burn yourself out with worry and stress.

I really feel for your husband at this time as his body is going through a lot and I know how down it can make you both feel.  It may not seem it right now, but it will get better and easier.

I am just over a month the other side of treatment for T4 Tonsil Cancer (6 weeks radio and chemo) which had spread to nodes and local area.  I was very lucky with regards to the radio burns on my neck,  Radiology supplied me with a cream called Epaderm right at the beginning of treatment.  I applied this three or four times a day to my neck and head for the duration of the treatment and still do now.   The cream definitely helped a great deal.  My wife just reminded me to tell you to keep the cream in the fridge as the cooling helped a lot too.  Obviously do check with your M D Team.  I am hoping that Sam will see your post too as he was given a different cream and went through a different experience to me.

With regard to the mucus, as well as the different mouth washes and sprays, we loaned a nebuliser from the cancer hospital which helped a great deal.  I would enquire at your hospital if they have ones that they lend out as a good one is very expensive to buy.  I have heard that some doctors surgeries also lone them out.

I wish both you and your husband all the strength in the world.  We are always here if you need us.

Be Strong

Al'

Hi Judy. 

Im just about 2 weeks post my last fraction and literally until the final day I had zero burns. My Oncologist was gobsmacked. Then a couple of days later.... Holy breakout!!! My whole neck went red raw and a bit weepy at times. Left with a dry crust which seems to renew daily.. it is slowly but surely getting better... keep up your application of Flamigel or what equivalent they have given you, keep the area clean and it will heal.

I've already noticed the right side of my neck which had the lesser dose is already 70%+ healed..  left is getting there but taking more time.

Mucus is evil, but again, should settle once his radiation levels start coming down.

One thing I am learning is everyone's recovery is different, alot of people have common side effects, such as the burns, the mucus.. from there things will differ, and like everything, it differs from person to person.

Atm, my main after effects are excess saliva (as apposed to lack of!) Which is making me cough up every so often especially using my NG Tube. Along with my neck burns!

I am only 32, and very much used to being in control of my health (and the confidence to deal with others!) And have leaned that this process is one of the most brutal treatments going, that and its a Marathon, not a race.

The side effects will get better but will take time. 

Speak with his Oncology team, Carbocestine and Nebulisers can help Mucus. 

Hello Elona :happy:

We are definitly going to look into the different 'flavoured' Geraniums.

Yesterday was brilliant seeing my other two daughters, weather held out too which was a bonus.  I told them that I have/had cancer and they both took it really well.  They totally understood why I had not told them earlier which was amazing of them both.  If the borders stay the same (Indian varient allowing) we will be seeing them again at the beginning of June. :happy:

I was absolutely shattered yesterday, but thought thats's ok it's Sunday tomorrow I can rest.  DINGDONG!  8am this morning!!!  Water company want me to move my car so that they can do works that they were supposed to do last Wednesday.  It turns out that it wasn't to get to the area they were working on, it was so that they could park one of their vans!   Not a happy bunny.

Calm is now returning as I can smell a pork roast with crackling cooking ever closer to being on my plate, hopefully at least some of it will have some taste :laugh:

Have a great day

Al x

Hi, thank you everyone for your replies, we have been applying the Flamigel 3 times a day since day 1 but I think because he is fair skinned it's affected him more, the radiologist says it is how they would expect at this stage and the nursing staff say it's not infected even tho it's raw, weepy and crusty, he can barely move his neck!  They have given him some Flamazene to put on when he's finished treatment on Tuesday and they promise us it's amazing stuff, let's hope so  
The mucus is his other big issue, he is unable to swallow anything apart from tiny sips of tea and even then he coughs and chokes.  He has Carbocisteine and he uses a steamer a few times a day which does help a little.  He has a RIG tube so he's living on Ensure complete and has all his meds this way too.  Amazingly to date he's only lost around 4.5kg.

 This forum has been really helpful for me (albeit absolutely terrifying at times) but I am that person who wants to know everything, I believe that forearmed is forewarned, hubby on the other hand would rather not know what's coming but I do try and prepare him for each stage. Only 2 days to go and we can begin the long road back to recovery
Thanks again

Morning

Well the rain has temporarily stopped and it is a little blowy but not too bad. HUbby is entertaining the Pedro with his kong jubbler and i am stitting in bed as usual with my cup of tea lol (what a lazy person I hear you say! never out of bed lol). 

Sam nice to hear from you (even tho to Judy) and hope the saliva calms down soon and burns too.

Alli hope your ok and coping keep positive x

Judy taek care hope the last couple of days go ok and healing begins x

Al glad your daughters were amazing but then they are part of you so did not expect anything less. Hope you managed to enjoy the pork and crackling - dont like pork but love crackling lol. that will be good for your weight. We have not had a good roast for ages not sure why actually because we both love them. Best bit for me is the crispy roast potatoes yummy!!! 

Al Have been looking at the geraniums and apparently you can also get chocolate and mint scented too. I have a liquorice plant in the garden that is quite amazing it really smells of liquorice. Makes the garden quite interesting. Did all those plants arrive for your wife?? forgot to ask. How is she ? apologies i forget to ask that is rude of me. what colour did she paint the bedroom. 

i tilked the fireplace yesterday - or at least put up the new tiles i had got of ebay for the fireplace. These are victorian flower tiles that came out of an original fireplace but are on the sides of mine. iam really pleased they are very pretty even hubby liked them. we just have to decide what to do to finish of the fireplace - it needs some sort of surround might have to go to reclamation yard sometime that will be fun. 

the mini mafia had a party across the road last night boy were they noisy it was to celebrate the long awaited wedding. It looked like a greek wedding with lots of throwing plates and broken china with drunken family members strewn across piles of food lying flat out exxhausted and drunk! The newly weds left quite early on running up the road (customly to take their lifes in their hands as they have to go and find a new home). There was a lot of cheering as they narrowly missed a passing car. Since grandm and grandpa are too old to stay up late this meant the youngsters could misbehave. they had forgotten to inform the alligators who had come back from America for the occasion that it was across the road so they turned up in the carport and had to be redirected. A cake throwing in your face started at 2am i dont think anyone was left with a clean face! hoping for a quieter night tonight. 

Well lockdown has definately lessened listening to the news hope that the Indian variant does not cause any real problems we cannot deal with any more. I dont understand though when t was obvious Ramadam was not being socially distanced and India were under huge strain from the pandemic that we allowed people to go and come back so they brought the strain back in. Lets hope we get it under control and it does not affect most of us. 

Bengals are play fighting over me now so will have to finish and move before a claw comes my way!!! 

keep smiling x

wow a wet afternoon after a gorgeous morning ! torendous rain but then planted a daphne and the soil was bone dry under a cm deep. Have kepot my little lights on all day outside as the dull sky needed brightening up! boy dont we all need cheering up sometimes but there is always something we can see that will make us smile- we just need to see it. 

Alli i hope that you are coping ok and your partner gives you all the support he has been. i hope the bird table gives you delight in those dark days and you can begin to see the light shinning at the end of the tunnel. 

Sam I hope your ok.

Al hope your not too tired and looking forward to your Euro vision!! (you never know i may even see a bit lol). I bet you are looking forward to seeing your ffriends anyway. At least they are allowed indoors now not the weather for an outdoor cinema occasion!! i can just see you snuggling under a duvet on your sun bed outside with a huge umbrella and tarpaulin keeping eveyone dry lol cccccchhhhhhhaaaattttering in the rain!!! 

I have a very inqusitive blackbird visiting me now. It is a male and very handosme. so i put up a fat square on the grape vine so hopefully he will find that. He is particuarly interested when i do any digging because he wants the earthworms i may find. I love it when they follow you aroudn - brave like the robin. I am hoping that now my mothers cats are not here the other birds may begin to ome back,. there were certainly a few *** and sparrows early am in my orchard area. I also think one of my released hedgehogs may have come back because there was a suspect poo on the ground lol. so exciting if that is the case. i need to fill the bird table again. 

I have had one of those days where i feel that i have done nothing really. i am going in next door to feed their cat whilst they are away for a few days, strted my tax return then decided that was enough for one day! but did make some black forest brownie bites. i made double the amount because i was going to freeze some to take to work then realised i cannot diue to my condition if infectious! so hubby will have to eat a lot of them!! very goey! 

have good day all and keep smiling x

wow a wet afternoon after a gorgeous morning ! torendous rain but then planted a daphne and the soil was bone dry under a cm deep. Have kepot my little lights on all day outside as the dull sky needed brightening up! boy dont we all need cheering up sometimes but there is always something we can see that will make us smile- we just need to see it. 

Alli i hope that you are coping ok and your partner gives you all the support he has been. i hope the bird table gives you delight in those dark days and you can begin to see the light shinning at the end of the tunnel. 

Sam I hope your ok.

Al hope your not too tired and looking forward to your Euro vision!! (you never know i may even see a bit lol). I bet you are looking forward to seeing your ffriends anyway. At least they are allowed indoors now not the weather for an outdoor cinema occasion!! i can just see you snuggling under a duvet on your sun bed outside with a huge umbrella and tarpaulin keeping eveyone dry lol cccccchhhhhhhaaaattttering in the rain!!! 

I have a very inqusitive blackbird visiting me now. It is a male and very handosme. so i put up a fat square on the grape vine so hopefully he will find that. He is particuarly interested when i do any digging because he wants the earthworms i may find. I love it when they follow you aroudn - brave like the robin. I am hoping that now my mothers cats are not here the other birds may begin to ome back,. there were certainly a few *** and sparrows early am in my orchard area. I also think one of my released hedgehogs may have come back because there was a suspect poo on the ground lol. so exciting if that is the case. i need to fill the bird table again. 

I have had one of those days where i feel that i have done nothing really. i am going in next door to feed their cat whilst they are away for a few days, strted my tax return then decided that was enough for one day! but did make some black forest brownie bites. i made double the amount because i was going to freeze some to take to work then realised i cannot diue to my condition if infectious! so hubby will have to eat a lot of them!! very goey! 

have good day all and keep smiling x

Afternoon, 

hope everyone is doing ok. 

just had some thunder that took me by surprise!! been a strange weather day today, one minute lovlee and did get outside for a short while the next wet then as said thunder this afeternoon. Next door had a large thick bucket they were chucking out so i grabbed it and am making a pond feature in my front garden with it. I dug up more of my drive way slabs and put them round the bucket to look like a well and have ordered a floating basket with a couple of flowering pond plants. we also have a dragon water feature coming from America (a facebook offer) so i have a pedastool for it to sit on and a different light mode to light it up. Probably wont come for months but fingers crossed is as good as it says. 

My green parrot plnats have arrived and fragrant peopnies so i will need to plant them tomorrow. 

Had another bargain today went to the reclamation yard and found a fire surround for only £20 free delivery so i now have to fix it in place and it should look good. Might paint it cannot decide yet as it is painted a reddy brown. 

The pair of pigeons are back on the bird table jostling about the seed! they are incredibly handsome and large! you can tell they have put on weight as the fence wobbles as they land! 

have a good evening and take care 

keep smiling x

Afternoon, 

well another gloomy day with high winds predicted and beginning. Also a day when a lot of my plants have arrived, summer bedding plants as tiny as the last lot but a bigger variety so will need planting out tomorrow, some frittaria aurora, peonies, parrot plants and the yakons have arrived! the yakons have large leaves that are quite furry so will be very interesting. fingers crossed they survive. i have planted the yakons and peoonies - hopefully correctly, we will see. exciting times and things to look forward to. 

Managed to get the fireplace surround into place looking good but still cannot descide whether to paint it or not. Its one of those that can be easily left a lone or pained. have not done anything else except a little of the next hedgehog adoption issue. felt quite lazy but think things are catching up on me again as i feel really tired today. 

Hoping everyione is not feeling too bad, or are coping ok. 

Next door was talking to me about the mini mafia hotel that resides underneath her lawn. She thinks it has amazing rooms and plentiful food if you can aford it. There is certainly one mini mafia that is blazen about living there because she said it just ignores her now when it comes out for a wander about! we think the hotel must be a 4 star one and fairly exclusive since we are not over run with down and outs. The rooms are made of the best nesting material imaginable, so much so you can lie your head down and fall aslepp as soon as your head touches the nest. The rooms may be compact and beju but enough for a couple and possibly small baby. Down the passage way that runs for about a mile is a central hall way where everyone communtes for their meals. Food is brought in by the scouts and foragers from near and far. Mini mafia probably come for holidays or business trips, although a few reside here. The mini mafia seem to be digging more runs since a new one has appeared the other side of my house near the other side next door neighbour thankfully by passing my front suspect they are now aware that nothing is to be gained here - or at least i hope.

the wind is definately picking up now they say it could be 50-60 mph so if it is strong near you all take care. may have to batton down the hatches but i dont mind watching from the bedroom window. )begrudge having to put on the heating though it is supposed to be sumer!!). 

have a good evening keep positive and keep smiling x

Well friday and it seems like saturday have one of those days with days muddled up!!! 

The wind finally blew with gusto in this morning so last night was the beginnings today has been full on. Thankfully nothing so far damaged or blown away. 

Very tired today so nothing doing, in fact nearly fell asleep this afternoon. Now to pick myself up a bit watching  MIB international. Neighbours came round with some solar lights for our garden really pleased should be good. 

hubby saw mini mafia over the road last night seems this maybe their new residence. He said he was practising sky diving on wheels hmmm not sure how but seems like the old sinclair with kite wings. the idea is to go up and down the road and in and out of the car wheels. much like most of us when we were youngsters running over railway lines etc 

fire place surround is now in place just needs a lick of paint around the sides and still contemplating whether to paint or not. 

hope everyone is ok pretty quiet here so hopeing no problems and these little snippets are being read. 

keep smiling imagine the fat pigeons, eating all the seeds, the prettiest smelliest plants growing, the idiots that make you laugh, the dog that kicks me out of bed! 

stay strong as AL says x

hahaha just notices a word of mine has been **** out!!! lol was not even rude!!! computers and people dont even know some times when we say a phrase or not. 

well sitting up now quite late and watching paranormal lockdown on television enjy watching these seeing people scaring themselves!! and using their so called spirit boxes. I believe in ghosts and spirits but not sure on the so called tech that these people use. orbs are good and i believe that animals see ghosts better than us so i find it quite fascinating and at least hearing about the history of the places these people visit. The animals certainly do not care less they are sleeping next to me not in the least bit phased! 

Felt like comfort food today so we had some minion chip things (totally a funny thing to get to amuse the hubby) egg and ham and peas. A true british meal lol and lovely! we have an air fryer so use this to cook chips in seems to work well because it crisps things up nicely and unlike oven does not burn chips and dry them out. Hubby treated me to a few more coook books American diner food and street food so we can choose a few more varieties of things. Love experimenting with food and different cultures so next week we will have some American days. Hubby has always wanted to try their so called "gravy". 

I have decided that when i am up to it i am also going to learn to make chocolates properly. I have seen a book iam going to get - think it will be fun and great for presents. 

anyway back to ghosties - sleep well!! x

Morning - another gloomy mornng it is here. has been raining a lot last night but i had still hoped to get outside looks like that is not happening. 

Al is it your eurovision day today hope your feeling ok and up to it. 

Alli we have not heard from you since your wobble at the beginning of your treatment so i hope it is simply because your tired but it is going ok. 

Sam hope your ok. Judy hope your hubbie is doing ok.

having a lie in this morning being snug as a bug in a rug! pedro, rumpole and rodney next to me are also partaking in this too. seems it is not worth moving this morning. my wisteria has come out in bloom blue, white and pink (the closest i could get to red) being very patriotic!!! haha 

look to the skies and find the hidden images in the clouds and smile 

have a good day x

Morning everyone, what a day it was here yesterday! Did everyone else have heavy persistent rain from first thing to bedtime?. Wasn't very exciting for hubby to sit looking out on our normally beautiful view over the hills ️   He's on day 4 post RT now, the vile mucus is still a big problem but his neck is starting to heal thanks to the cream and he is starting to look a bit brighter although still very tired.
Consultant rang us yesterday, she is very happy with how his treatment went considering how tough the regime was (2 cycles of chemo each consisting of 1 week thru a pump 24 hours a day for 5 days then 2 weeks off then 6 weeks radiotherapy with 2 more chemo days on day 1 and 21)

She's going to see him in 3 weeks and says he should be starting to feel better by then

Hope you all have a good weekend

Hi Judy

I am glad to hear the treatment has now finished and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. You must be as exhasuted as your hubby is. Tiredness will last a long time but hopefully will improve gradually. Hopefully the horrid mucus will also strt to clear. Good news the burns are now healing. Also really good news the consultant is happy with progress. 

I hope you are getting you time during all this so important how are you feeling? 

take care x

Well I'm certainly falling asleep faster. I'm ok, what with drugs and Rig feeds there's something due every 2 hours, I would be totally lost without my phone alarms! but it is exhausting as you are all only to aware.  We have a morale pack delivered every week from our children with some very useful and thoughtful things in although one of the gifts was a bell for him to get my attention as his voice is very weak at the moment, I will throw this bell through the window before long, If any of you watched Breaking Bad you'll remember the old man in the wheelchair who used a bell to communicate, I feel like I'm there .  The kids are amazing though and very helpful.

Hi Judy 

so glad you are ok its nice to hear about you actually. I think sometimes people forget the other person because there is an important issues being addressed, its not intentional but it is important that you dont get forgotten. I love your kids box each week what a lovely idea and how good but yes i can imagine you throwing the bell out the window. If my hubby had a bell he would be wheeled down the garden with his bell!! (he is already in a wheelchir!!). Glad your getting some sleep that is also so importantl 

the nice thing about this thread is that you can treat it as a chat thread too because sometimes it acts as a distraction from the daily life and nice to hear different things even if it is garden, wildlife etc. you are more than welcome to contribute if you wish, inbetween your hectic life. 

tonight for instance we have been watching Eurovision - now if you had asked us that years ago we would have bulked at the idea being heavy metal rockers!!! but we thought it quite fun tonihgt and there were two suitable rockers on GFinland and Italy so not bad. Hope you have had a good evening. 

keep smiling and remmeber you are quite amazing doing what you do x

morning 

looks like a nice day and have already had a text saying a friend may walk Pedro for me. he will love that. slight wind blowing through the trees so could be quite chilly but we will see. 

had some blue *** and sparrows yesterday playng around the fence and bird table that was lovely to see. 

have rasputin curled up next to me whilst i drink my morning cuppa 

have a good day x