I am 5 weeks post op today and although I still have some pain I can't believe how much better I feel now. I am still waiting for my first chemo date, they had hoped to get me started tomorrow but the day ward is at capacity so am waiting to hear if there is a last minute place - what a business makes me feel like I am on standby at Heathrow or something!
Interesting dilemma looking forward to starting chemo but as I have some lung lesions I feel the sooner the better, I have been spending my feeling better time having lunch or afternoon tea with friends who have delighted in taking time off work to see me and have had so many laughs it has probably upset my internal stitches.
On Friday I went for my hair appointment, my CNS and I don't like the word wig it sounds so wiggy, perhaps we should run a competition for alternative names, syrup does not cut the mustard. Anyway I am now the proud owner of Tia ( yes she has a name!) and although when she sat on my dressing table looking like a combination between a Yorkshire terrier and a hamster on my head I was pleased to note that on my head and on the stand she looks rather glamorous. Three of my friends arrived on Friday afternoon laden with cupcakes, flowers and magazines for fun frolics and introductions to Tia. They were rather impressed and a little bit jealous....mind you I would rather be them than me but hey ho fate has delivered and if I can provide them with some envy at such a weird time then in the words of Craig Reville- H Fabulous darlings!
Last night hubby and I went out (yes out) to a Strictly come dancing night with a few close friends, I even had the strength to do dessert and consequently am still sitting here drinking tea and writing this in my dressing gown at 11.30! It will be another day when hubby will come home and ask me what I have been up to all day and I will wonder what exactly.....
Anyway just wanted to say hello and thank you for all your words of wisdom before I met my onc for the first time, and got distracted updating on much more fun things. Onc appointment was very positive and CNS lovely - I am under no illusions about my possible prognosis but funnily enough have a strong feeling all will be well and spend my time as I drift off at night imagining all sorts of wars upon those cancer cells. They don't stand a chance!
Happy days xx
Written by
Madz
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It is good to know you are bright and breezy...thank you for the uplifting post.......even the analogy of Heathrow was uplifting haha (thoughts of a holiday) best wishes love x G x
Holiday would be lovely right now wouldn't it! By way of compensation for lack of same I have lit a fire and decanted some pineapple juice ice cubes into a box, piña colada comes to mind. I do have a couple of palm trees in my garden so I will suck my ice cube and look at them while being warmed by the fire, not quite the same as the Seychelles but will have to do!
This is my second attempt writing this I finished the first one and when to post it and it disappeared. Well good luck with your chemo I am 8 weeks post op and I finished my chemo on the 22nd November but I did have 4 chemos prior to my op.
Re the wigs I have two Torie and Victoria. They are called Nana`s hair. This is because when I am at home I tend to wear cotton hats rather than my wig when my granddaughters come round they go in my bedroom to play with my makeup and say there's Nana`s Hair.
The wigs nowadays are great when I fist wore mine to work nobody had a clue it was a wig they all just thought I had had my hair cut and high lighted. Must say it saves a great deal of time no washing drying and straightening everyday. My hair started coming out about two weeks after my first chemo so after about a month I asked my husband to shave it all off as it was everywhere in the house.
Re the chemo its not as bad as you think I was lucky I was able to work all through mine I just took a couple of days off each time. I have been off for 8 weeks now due to my op but I'm going back to work on the 14th December.
Hi Babs Is it Torie or Victoria you're wearing in your photo. Mine is called Victoria light brown bob with fairly longish sides. Thw wig lady told me it was called after Victoria Beckham!!!!!!
My wig is a Tori as well, I thought yours looked the same as mine only a different colour...I have five wigs now but i only wear the Tori wig (and have two of them) I had a bob before I lost my hair (twice) love x G x
The one in the photo is Torie its very similar to Victoria Beckham but it has high lights. I call it my posh wig. I bought two wigs as working in a restaurant I feel I need to wash them regularly as the smell of the food lingers. I usually wear my Victoria to work and keep Torie for going out. I did get my Victoria cut at the sides as I found them too long. Maybe you can upload a photo of you in your wig.
Good for you enjoying yourself with your friends. Definitely the best preparation. I really loved my wig, it was close to my own hair but better. Quite a few people didn't realise at first that it wasn't mine. And as Babs says, it does save all the bother of washing drying and straightening. I would have preferred not to lose it of course, but it was a great energy saver.
Great attitude, Madz. I am wishing you lots of luck with the coming steps and hope your sense of humour and positivity bring you all the luck in the world
Loved your blog. Love your attitude. You're following me nearly 2 years down the line. I had an op first then started chemotherapy some weeks later after a very enjoyable 6 weeks recuperation.
I've been in remission - I like to think since they took out a load of the offending stuff back in May 2011 and that's not bad is it? I was just like you - imagining chemotherapy waging war on the blighters - and winning. For some reason chemotherapy gave me the runs instead of the opposite which is the norm and I always joked I was pooing the stuff out too.
You are a girl after my heart! My wig has only been on my head three times but currently sits on a shelf wearing a rather showy black cat mask, ears, and collar with the tail coiled round the stand! She looks much more glamorous than she ever did on me!
Do enjoy every moment and continue to give two fingers to the OC! Good luck with the chemo! If you feel at all sick try ginger & lemon tea and a dry digestive biscuit before you get up. Small bowls of small helpings of tasty treats always to hand will help too!
Margaret's giving great advice here. I wasn't sick. Apparently it's linked to whether or not you were prone to morning sickness. I wasn't hungry and used that rather positively to lose some weight.
If you do feel poorly I'd go straight to the oncology unit to see if they can change your medication. Please don't suffer in silence.
I wasn't sick with my first line chemo either....(and never suffered morning sickness when pregnant) ...but was violently sick on my second line chemo even though it was the exact same chemo so my guess is it reacts differently not only to different people but at different times...so there really is no rhyme or reason you can never tell ...love x G x
The cat mask!!!! I spat coffee out all over the bed sheets, thank you very much!
I think as well as hat gallery we will need a wig abuse gallery too now!
You are so bubbly and positive it's brilliant! I went totally off the wig idea when someone on the ward told me the lady from "appliances" would be bringing me samples to try on! Never saw the thing the same after and have never worn it. Sure I put this somewhere else but not even buying it pink and purple hair extensions made me any more fond of it. It sits on a portrait bust of Nelson Mandela as a talking point now! Suits him more than me, IMHO.
Keep your that bad ass / never surrender attitude firmly front of mind the next few weeks -- I know when I restarted chemo after op recently feeling so much better, it was a wee bit of a crash back to reality when I started feeling crappy again. But somehow feeling like its the home stretch, cleanup stage, wipe up the sneaky buggers that are harder to spot does help keep one positive -mostly! Good luck with it all Madz!
I love the "appliaces" made me think of trusses in fetching shades of salmon pink "flesh" colour!
Sounds a bit like the instructions on coping with the stoma including the offer of a "waist band" for covering the "equipment" at those"intimate moments". Put me in mind of my grandma and the "spirella lady". I have now moved on to "caps" which are really little bags, with a valve for the gas, which look like large elastoplasts and, if necessary could be covered by a dressing and passed off as minor surgery! All in time for a bit of man hunting over Christmas, mind you there might be something good on the telly and I don't exactly feel very 'cougarish' still, one never can tell!
As for the wig! I was given a voucher and sent to a wig shop. The girl was very nice and it is quite a nice wig but I still hated it!
Just plucking up courage to get up and brave the frost!
I had the a similar wig experience as you Margaret. I was given a Wigger List for Cardiff and a voucher for £120. I tried the one nearest to my home and had a terrible experience. The wigs all made me look like some 70s barmaid - and I was close to desperation. I then tried a second shop which was owned by the wig manufacturer and they had hundreds to choose from.
My hair has always been rather an unusual colour and a bit unruly. There was no way I'd ever find anything similar but I did find something I felt I could venture out in. I never had to wear it in the end as I only had carbo-platin but have been assured by the oncologist that I shall have Taxol too next time. I think I'm more of a beany girl myself but it's something you have to experience really to have an opinion on.
Lovely blog, made Me smile . I couldn't get on with my wig, I kept imagining myself as the little old lady with the shopping trolley, whose wig is falling off on the side of her head! I went for the hats and scarfs, I still have my wig- called rover, defo a yorkie!
Good luck with chemo, let us know what's happening.
Ahh that's me a little old lady with a shopping trolley and my wig. I even wear thermal vests. When I knew I was going to have my op my husband bought me a shopping trolley so I could walk to our local shops. I must say for the past four weeks I have used my shopping trolley most days and love it. Although I can drive now I still don't have a car, my daughter borrowed it 5 weeks ago as hers broke down and her other half is still repairing it.
I think once I get my car back I will still use my shopping trolley to pop to the shops it save trying to find somewhere to park which is always hard in Swanley.
PS I do used wig tape so mine does not slip to one side.
Confession time - I have a shopping trolley too - and I really like it. Saves wasting energy lugging stuff home from the shops at the corner, and I like shopping there because I can stop and have a natter with the shopkeepers or neighbours. Much better than a supermarket sweep. xxxx
So pleased you are feeling good after your op. I felt really good at your stage
after op ....having chemo was a different thing though. It made me really poorly
but there is a phone no to ring the chemo nurses for advice, I had a really
strong dose of chemo so I think that was the reason I felt so poorly. Towards the end of treatment when my dose was reduced that was when I felt much better.
I still managed to go out with friends on my good week and have a good time.
We have lots of tips and advice so any problems with chemo..we will have the
Loved your blog, made me smile as I also have, or rather, had, Tia, but she kept shifting in funny directions upwards when i was trying her out and I ended up looking like an alien so sent her back!! I obviously have the wrong shape head !!!! Very disappointed as when she stayed still I rather liked her.
Resorted to hats and scarves for the time being but still trying to find the perfect headwear!!
Good luck with your chemo, you sound really positive so keep it up.
Thought I was the only mad woman to name my wig. She was known as Doris.......not sure why. The name came into my head as soon as I was in possession of her. Now residing in a small make up case. Got my own hair back, but haven't had the heart to dispose of her.
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Have you had chemo via cannula?
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Having a wobble!
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I have an answer to my problems - partially blocked bowel by a hernia.
