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

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

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

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

just had some pigeons competing with blue *** and a rook for the fat square i have hanging up on my grape vine, seems to be a popular place. hoping it will attract more birds and the blue *** come back to nest. 

a friend came over to walk pedro for me that was so kind of her as she lives 10 miles away. they tried to take shugs but she became lame again so came back earlhy but the guys loved it and they said they woulod come again. 

very very tired today sat outside for a while bt have done nothing. have got a new book arrived - how to make chocolate and candies - yummy!! a hard back so i have ordered some things and will have a go in a few days. i am also going to try making my own pasta got a nice blue maker from amazon - hubby treated me. these things are keeping me going although i should concentrate on the diy and doing some more painting. next door want to do a couple of dogs for them sometime. to be honest have not had the energy so these new things might give me the push. you can see why some unfit people just dont bother. Onwards and up wards!!! 

cooking programme now favourite cakes - mouth going to start dribbling lol not good for the diet !! 

keep smiling x

Morning 

Hope everyone is ok. Quite quiet on here just me rabbiting on hoping you are reading and smiling at these nothings! 

they promise us rain today but so far so good so door open dogs out and in and washing on horse in car port to try and get dry. hahaha horse just gone ut so it is now raining!

Starling on fat square this morning looking quite healthy. 

mini mafia grandpa and his brother Arbuthnot (relative of rat who knicked all the grain in the Battle of Waterloo who left the French hungry! so he did his duty for King and Country) were absailing again in the wind and rian doing about 40mph down the road steering quite uncontrollably and having the nerest of misses you had tyo look through gaps in your fingers it was so scary! Grandma went spare and was yelling at him at the top of her voice but he took no notice!

Watching SAS programme with people who want to be in it quite good but i think they are nutts!! i certainly could not do that at all. Iam after all scared of heights lol. 

Done a little sanding this morning ai say a little well it was a little lol you probably cannot even see what i have done but that will do for now. 

keep smiling folks hope the birds and plants are doign well 

x

Hi Elona

i really enjoy reading your posts especially the bits about the mini mafia .
Our dog walking has fell to me for the last 3 weeks, we have a miniature Jack Russell name Rory and a Parson Russell name Pickles, fortunately I only have to go around the corner and we have open fields and hills for them to run about on although when it's windy and raining it's wicked up there. Hubby has had his PICC line removed today so at least it's one little step closer, also it might be my imagination but I don't feel he's been coughing on the mucus as much today either!  Baby steps

Morning to a bit gllomy outside today! 

Judy - fantstic news about the tube and less coughing baby steps can seem like milestones at times and exciting news. LOve the dogs Shugs is a patterdale and behaves quite like. terrier at times. You are lucky too then having fields just behind you - cannot beat this to have walks and let dogs off. Bet it is lovely where you are. Glad you like the mini mafia. 

today i have to gain the strength to do my tax return lol something i absolutely hate although it is nothing really because i do so little 'me' jobs. they keep changing the form and making it so complicared its not fun but will be a huge relief once done. so i have designated this a day for stress!! at least it is not sunny and i cannot want to go outside. -even the mini mafia have been quiet last night they are working towards a mass chistening on the field opposite. it has to be organised in advance of the breeding season and is done this way because normally there are too many babies to christen in one go so when the name is read out they all yell the babies names it can take an hour for everyones names to be yelled out. then there is a mass baby pen where all the little ones are placed in to socialise and meet each other - the probalem with this is at the end of the party the parents often have problems finidng their own babies at the end and it has been heard of that they can take someone elses home having to return the next day. I believe the event is planned for this weekend when the wether is supposed to get better. 

the birds were squabbling on the fat square yesterday they were so funny i took some photos - a family of starlings were making a huge racket at one point. by the end of the day the whole new fat square had gone so i will need to replace today. It was lovely seeing the blue *** back again though they are probably one of my favourite little birds. so pretty. 

well cuppa time then no more prograstinations !!! 

keep smiling x

Morning 

Well the weather is supposed to get a bit better hurrah!!!! at the moment it is still dull but like the rest of our lives we have hope! 

so pleased got tax done and also hubbys blue badge renewal both turned out easier than anticipated so huge relief. always good when these neccessary jobs are done. off to chemist this morning to collect our hundreds of prescriptions lol.

might even attempt to bathe the dog if the weather gets better!! that will be a feet and a half and will proably involve me getting wetter than the dog. so will clip him first then bather him .

have a gorgeous jackdaw on my fence so handsome! they have this amazing silvery neck and jet balck top of head its very handsome. they nest in my redundant chimney and have done for years. i have been very lucky over the last few days with the birds visiting. 

keep smiling x

Hi all

Sorry its been so long had a bit of a rollercoaster with the treatment, the chemo made me really ill the first week just slept couldn't eat cause felt sick all the time had the anti sickness tablets changed which helped but then my ulcerative colitis flared so then had chronic diarrhoea that was bloody so was admitted to hospital for 5 days to get it under control and had a colonoscopy to check there were no other problems thankfully not, on steroids and lots of medication so feeling better but have blisters in mouth and throats very sore but that's to be expected, after today's treatment I'm halfway through doctor said that its probably to damaging to have any more chemo but the tumours shrunk so the radiation should be enough so fingers crossed, hope you are all well 

Take care Alli x

HI Alli 

Sorry to hear about your journey so far you are very brave and sounds like you are doing well glad tumours have shrunk that is good news so hopefully as you said the radiation will do the job. Wow you have been through the mill but so pleased you are feeling better. We are here for you all the way through if we can xxx Half way through thats good that means the light is getting bigger at the end of the tunnel xx 

stay strong as AL says and keep smiling xx

how are the birds on your table?