Happy to hear you received a good prognosis Dreamnine. No doubt a difficult time for you.

Something like 85% survive after 5 years and it is one cancer which can be cured. So if I had to get cancer, it’s one of the better ones. I remain cheerful and active but am wary of large crowds – shopping malls etc. and we have the Edinburgh festival on at the moment, the city population jumps from 500 000 to a million, so I’m happy on my own except for the medical appointments I must keep and going to the pharmacy weekly for my meds.

I can chat with friends on the phone.

And here!

Wishing you a speedy and long term recovery Dreamnine

Wishing the best Dreamnine.nine! Take good care of your self, and get better. Get some sunshine and Vit. D3.

Zincerely, Zam*

It’s strange, but I wasn’t surprised when cancer was diagnosed.

Last Autumn I weighed 187 pounds which was a bit overweight for my 5"11 but slight frame. So I bought a Fitbit and changed my diet to mostly healthy food. By April I was down to 148 pounds and feeling great, I was managing 15 to 18 thousand steps a day.

Then a badly sprained thigh muscle put an end to my fitness regime so I had to stop with the steps. Trouble was, my weight kept falling, down to 140 by late May which is underweight. I visited my doctor for a persistently sore stomach; blood was taken and the results showed I had a low white cell count. I had an episode of Delirium then and couldn’t remember anything until I awoke in hospital. I think I was too zealous with my fitness which may be the cause but it could be anything – life gives you cancer. My mother got breast cancer, also at age 49, in 1975 and they did a partial mastecomy – oncology then wasn’t what it is today – and she turned 90 this April.

But I’m glad they got it early. The news didn’t shock me but I try and live in and enjoy the moment more like right now. As I write this I’m listening to Paul Simon’s American Tune on a particularly good (and expensive) set of ‘phones.

I have plans for the rest of the day, just gone 9am here, but beyond that, nothing much except to follow the recovery plan diligently. There are very good doctors in Edinburgh.

Wow D9. Sorry to hear that but glad to hear it’s being tackled and you are taking it in your stride, so to speak. Hope all continues to go well.

trav.

Sorry to hear this Dreamnine. We are all in your corner!

Hello, everyone – well, I am on the road to recovery.

My PET/CT scan last Monday was clear – effectively I’m in remission – and I have been feeling much better on both the physical and mental health side of things.

I still must take my temperature 4 times a day to make sure I don’t have a fever; also have blood taken weekly; and I must complete the chemo course until it finishes on December 18th. But I’ve had meetings with both the Consultant Hemotologist and Consultant Psychiatrist who couldn’t be more pleased with my progress.

My weight has gone up and I’m now eating and sleeping well. The chemo isn’t nice but it’s only fortnightly, and I’ve tailored it such that I take an anti-emetic drug and don’t eat beforehand (2nd time I was sick).

Large chunks of the Summer are a mystery to me because I had delirium, and the things I do remember aren’t good; but the psychiatrist said that my memory test scores are now better than the average person in the street who didn’t have cancer + delirium. My mind is sharp and I can now enjoy films, music and books again instead of flitting from one thing to another through a lack of concentration.

It seems it is a cancer that can be cured, but I intend to take nothing for granted, follow through with all my appointments, take my meds and do everything the professionals tell me to.

That is great news!

Wonderful news! Keep healing Dreamnine.nine!
Get some sunshine too & up
Your Vit D3!
Zam*

Sunshine is in short supply here in Scotland.

I’ve been eating a balanced and more calorific diet as I recover. I never used to eat sugar but now enjoy my morning toast with marmalade and things like pizza and vanilla yogurt. My weight has stayed around the same – not unusual during chemotherapy I am told, fine as long as I’m not losing weight.

I haven’t lost my hair yet – some people don’t but my nasal hair has gone (weird). I’m pretty much back to my normal self before cancer and am starting to enjoy life again, binge-watching Netflix and reading books again – it’s good to have my concentration and curiosity about the world back once more.

I had a minor scare last Tuesday when my thermometer read 38C/100f several times so I ‘phoned the hemotology department of the hospital and they asked if I had any physical signs of fever; luckily, I didn’t, I felt fine. So I bought another thermometer – the type that goes in your ear and gives an instant reading – much more accurate and my temperatures are normal. The previous thermometer was of the older type which goes under your tongue or armpit and takes a full minute or so. Somehow it became defective.

The nights are getting colder and longer which gives me a chance to mess around with my smartphone controlled LED lighting – it’s fun and I’m a bit of a tech geek but the different colours help lift my mood.

Simply an update: I’m continuing to do well although the chemo is beginning to take it’s toll; I feel a bit lethargic and run down. But my weekly blood tests have all been fine and I only have 2 more sessions of chemo left, the last being on December 16th.

Then I will have to continue with the cancer drugs for a while, have another scan in mid January and meet the Consultant in charge of my case on January 31st.

Afterwards, I imagine I would have six-monthly or yearly checks but I appear to be beating the disease. I try and get out each day although sunrise is after 8 and sunset before 4 here – it’s also been unusually cold recently, pavements iced over all day, so I’ve had to make sure I don’t trip up!

I’m eating well, (I’m addicted to nougat – the candy, not the OS) sleeping fine, watching Netflix and reading books to while away the time…haven’t really been online much – so much of the news is depressing.

Hope everyone on here is fine.

Thanks for the update D9,

It’s going according to plan by the sounds of it. Good to hear and despite the toll it’s taken but you’ll get back to yourself.

It’s cold here too, no surprise, and I’ve noticed it getting icy underfoot as well. Best to stay in, watch movies and avoid the news.

trav.