Third line chemo started on 8th Mach with carboplatin/caelyx. Two wonderful weeks followed when i really thought I'd got away without side effects. Chickens counted.....chickens came home to roost. Appalling diarrhea set in with breathless exhaustion. The oncologist tried every test and couldn't account for it. After a couple of weeks poo started coming from my vagina ! Cancer had invaded my small bowel where it joins the ascending large bowel and it has fistulated to my vagina with more or less continuous and uncontrollable output, ulcerated fanny flaps and incontinence pads. A couple of weeks of this and hospital visits by way of A&E and a gynaecologist and finally rescue by my knight in shining armour the bowels man who got me fast tracked onto the operating slab where he removed the offending length od small bowel and found cancer in my rectum as well so out came a length of colon as well. I am now a bag lady (!!) and it is a lot better than what went before. Next step a urologist and a stent from kidney to bladder to overcome the pressure of the cancer mass on my ureta, but not for a while. The bowels man doesn't want "a urologist messing up my work". Anyway I am still pretty groggy.
Meanwhile my daughters and son are rallying around and I have the dearest, most caring carers in the world. And then...... Youngest daughter is diagnosed with a brain tumour. She goes into hospital on Monday. First though she and her long term partner decided to get married. That will happen on Wednesday with only half the family able to get there, but i am to make the "father of the bride" speech to be read out in my absence. Writing that has been a joyous interlude.
So there we are. Maybe it never rains but it pours but there are always silver linings to the rain clouds. Pray, all you wonderful people, pray for a benign tumour. The neurologists are hopeful and Wednesday is to be a happy day. I hope someone can make me a video.
Best wishes to you all. I have take a bit of time off but I still think of you. Liz
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Lizneild
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Can someone live stream it for you through their phone? It's a possibility to send it direct to a pc or your phone, maybe a Skype call or FaceTime through an iPad?
You sound an amazing woman, and what an awful lot you've been through and are going through. Wonderful that you keep a sense of humour, that can save us and get us through at times can't it
So pleased that your speech will be read out and that your daughter and her partner are getting married, I wish her all the best in her own journey.,
Her step mother will be there and she is a professional photographer. Maybe she can manage some form of sound for the vows. I have waited a long time for this day, old fashioned or what?
Well blooming heck, you have been through the ringer. Puts into perspective lots of things
I admire your attitude, it's the best to have
Good luck to your daughter and yourself xx
Dawn
Gosh you have been through the mill, and I admire your courage. Yes it never rains but it pours at times. I am glad the tummy issues have been sorted but of course you are too unwell to attend the wedding. Maybe they can arrange to live stream it to you, My son got married recently and they streamed the wedding to a friend in Australia. So it can be done. I hope your younger daughter gets on okay, they will probably do the op, she will have recovery and then depending on the biopsy maybe treatment. I just want to wish you and your family the best for the next few weeks. Do let us know how you are getting on and how the wedding goes. We are always here to answer questions. Sending you a huge hug
My daughter says that if you want Service with a capital S from the NHS get something on the brain. Such activity, rallying round, fast tracking you never saw.
Reading your story Liz I never cease to be amazed at the strength of the human spirit to deal with the sometimes awful things life throws at it. Your spirit and strength shine through your writing. Enjoy the wedding (of course you will) and wishing both you and your daughter all the very best xx
All the women on here are on a rocky road. All of us are coping by way of laughter and panic, friendship and anger and all the rest. Here there is always that common understanding and I, for one, am grateful.
Oh Liz, what a lot you've been through - and now your Daughter's problem!! I hope things settle down quickly for you - you sound so brave. I really admire your attitude. I hope the wedding goes well and somehow you will be able to be part of it, remotely. I should think it will be a day of very mixed emotions. Fingers crossed that the brain tumour can be fully dealt with.
It will be a wonderful day, the better for being a bit home made without all the planning. a sister is scouring her garden for a bouquet, roses and love-in-a-mist. Dresses are being tried on. Rings bought. And my speech is all typed out. All you need is love.
Sending you massive hugs. How on earth do we deal with all this stuff?! I suspect the worst thing in all this for you is your daughter's diagnosis. I really hope her rumour is operable and you both recover well to spend quality family time together later this year. 💜 xxx
My cousin was unable to get to her granddaughter's wedding due to ill health with her cancer, and she was able to see the ceremony on Skype. Is this a possibility for you?
I am truly humbled by your courage and it will certainly give me a reality check any time I start to feel sorry for myself. You have faced all this and still retain your sense of humour. I will pray for you and your daughter that there is a good outcome for both of you. I hope the wedding day is full of joy that will sustain you through the days ahead .
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