I’m watching France vs Italy at the moment. C’mon Scotland for tomorrow.

Scotland will need all their luck if they are to pull off anything against England, but you never know.
I’ve just realised that it’s less than 48 hours in which I’ll have some news – hopefully good – about my condition. In the hospital I watched some of the Winter Olympics and forgot how much I enjoy sports, even those somewhat arcane and wintery.

Well Scotland certainly beat England for the Calcutta cup – didn’t see that one coming but well done, they deserved it.

Bad news, I’m afraid – the Hodgkins Lymphoma I had has metastasised into non Hodgkins Lymphoma which is a far more serious cancer.

Basically my cancer is incurable yet treatable. In the coming week I face a bone Marrow procedure, ECG Echo then, starting next Tuesday lots more Chemo for the tumour round my spinal chord. I’m on effective pain relief, though, and my course of steroids has ended (they made me ravenous plus a little wired).

Seems so unfair from just a short while ago when I was in remission; now, I’ll never be in remission again. Still, people can live for some years with this condition so I remain hopeful. I’ve been unable to concentrate more than 15 minutes at a time which has played havoc with my normal enjoyment of reading, browsing forums, playing podcasts etc.

But I remain hopeful: I’m looking forward to eating properly again (cancer plays havoc with your diet) and still being around in some form or other. That last part sounds nebulous but I mean I’ll still be alive.

Double Post

So very sorry to hear that D9.

Thank you for taking the time to keeps us informed. Your strength and outlook in this is humbling to say the absolute least.

trav.

Well it affects millions of people, so I’ve never asked, "why me?" It’s simply a matter of doing everything the folk at the hospital tell me to do. Easier said than done as I’ve always gone against the rules a bit. But today, to have my G.P. come out to see me in a blizzzard with some better pain medication, and the opportunity to talk directly with her (she’s been my G.P. for 8 years) was truly good. In hospitals there are so many different people involved in your care that it can seem a bit impersonal.

I’ve had a good day, and I greatly enjoyed Morf’s podcasts about Z, there is still a lot for me to be doing with my life; it’ll just be shortened a little.

I listened to morf’s podcast as well but I fell asleep. Been trying to get over this flu and my blood sugars have been lower than usual so I’ve been ‘dozing’ off. Not because the podcast was boring lol.

Podcasts are the new radio for me – lots of specialised information. If one keeps to an hour or under (in a series, even) it usually holds my attention and I don’t doze off.

Best of luck getting over that flu – nasty business.

I got diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma after biopsies and surgery in early June.
The prognosis is good; I’ve had 3 sessions of chemo and have another 9 which will take me up to December. I’ll lose my hair, even my eyebrows, but I’m not that vain at 50 to be bothered much. I had my 50th Birthday in hospital instead of the Greek restaurant I had planned, but it wasn’t so bad.

I was in hospital for 2 months and got out last Friday which was a huge relief – just getting back into the swing of things. There’s quite a sophisticated after-care plan in place; I must take my temperature 4 times daily and a case-worker or nurse phones me every morning at 8 to see how I am.

Concentration is still a bit off as I had a few infections in hospital, sepsis and delirium. Let me tell you: delirium is not nice.

But I’ve been catching up with things on the news and sports, olympics (yay, Andy Murray!) and tidying up my house, keeping away from large crowds of people because my immune system is weak and I don’t want another infection.

I feel fine except for missing the Summer – can’t believe the nights are now dark as opposed to 11pm in June.

I am very sorry to hear about your ailment, several of my family and friends have had to battle cancer, and I admire their strength and resilience in enduring through such a difficult ordeal, and no doubt, even though I don’t know you, it’s probably safe to assume that you are just as strong as resilient.

I know this might sound like an inappropriate suggestion, but believe me it is made with the best intentions, but have you ever considered cannabis? It can really do some amazing things in regards to stimulation of appetite, reduction of nausea and pain, and general quality of life.

For some reason I feel like this is not quite the appropriate place to mention controversial cancer treatments, but the research below is damned interesting none the less.

In addition to the well-known palliative effects of cannabinoids on some cancer-associated symptoms, a large body of evidence shows that these molecules can decrease tumour growth in animal models of cancer. They do so by modulating key cell signalling pathways involved in the control of cancer cell proliferation and survival. In addition, cannabinoids inhibit angiogenesis and decrease metastasis in various tumour types in laboratory animals.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4791144/

The pharmacological importance of cannabinoids has been in study for several years. Cannabinoids comprise of (a) the active compounds of the Cannabis sativa plant, (b) endogenous as well as (c) synthetic cannabinoids. Though cannabinoids are clinically used for anti-palliative effects, recent studies open a promising possibility as anti-cancer agents. They have been shown to possess anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic effects in vitro as well as in vivo in different cancer models. Cannabinoids regulate key cell signaling pathways that are involved in cell survival, invasion, angiogenesis, metastasis, etc. There is more focus on CB1 and CB2, the two cannabinoid receptors which are activated by most of the cannabinoids. In this review article, we will focus on a broad range of cannabinoids, their receptor dependent and receptor independent functional roles against various cancer types with respect to growth, metastasis, energy metabolism, immune environment, stemness and future perspectives in exploring new possible therapeutic opportunities.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4171598/

I wish you the best. Satay strong.

You can get many years out of your life, and because you know what’s going on…you can make the best of it. LIVE every moment–do those things you’ve put off. Medicine is the best it’s ever been.

Now that my cancer isn’t curable yet is still treatable, I really put myself in the hands of the NHS. We have one of the world’s best cancer hospitals here in Edinburgh and I’m going to do exactly what they tell me. Not sure about cannabis; as long as I didn’t get high I think I would give it a go, but I believe it’s not a particularly nice drug (gave me panic attacks).

And thanks, Tahoe27, yours and others’ opinions and wishes for me mean a great deal.

Now that my cancer isn’t curable yet is still treatable, I really put myself in the hands of the NHS. We have one of the world’s best cancer hospitals here in Edinburgh and I’m going to do exactly what they tell me. Not sure about cannabis; as long as I didn’t get high I think I would give it a go, but I believe it’s not a particularly nice drug (gave me panic attacks).

And thanks, Tahoe27, yours and others’ opinions and wishes for me mean a great deal.

There are all sorts of types of cannabis nowadays, many of which do not cause panic attacks. I have that problem as well, and it’s somewhat overwhelming and confusing trying to find the type of cannabis to best suit an individual, but I highly recommend looking into it.

Now that my cancer isn’t curable yet is still treatable, I really put myself in the hands of the NHS. We have one of the world’s best cancer hospitals here in Edinburgh and I’m going to do exactly what they tell me. Not sure about cannabis; as long as I didn’t get high I think I would give it a go, but I believe it’s not a particularly nice drug (gave me panic attacks).

And thanks, Tahoe27, yours and others’ opinions and wishes for me mean a great deal.

I understand completely in regards to the cannabis, and as I said before I honestly hope the mention was not inappropriate.

You have two cannabinoid receptors:

·The cb1 which receptor, which is distributed primarily in the in the basal ganglia and in the limbic system, which includes the hippocampus, in short, they are concentrated in the brain.

And

·The Cb2 receptor, which is distributed peripherally throughout the immune system, with highest concentrations in the spleen. cb2 receptor agonists primarily affect the body without doing much to interfere psychologically.

So, while the situation is fairly complicated, we can think of cb1 receptor agonists as mental, and cb2 receptor agonists as physical.

There are cannabinoid compounds which affect predominantly the CB2 receptor site. These compounds may have the benefits of cannabis without the "high" from cannabis.

Though in all honesty I think the delta-9-THC is the crucial medicinal compound here, and while it can have some uncomfortable side effects such as anxiety or panic, with frequent use these side effects will diminish, also, while you are getting used to the medication and it’s effects it helps to avoid social situations or situations which might lead to discomfort. Though In most cases, if a person is so nauseous that they can’t eat or sleep, or do anything but feel pain, they will usually tough out the discomfort of the side effects of cannabis simply to get some relief from their suffering.

Its a complicated issue, and if you are not living in an area where cannabis is an accepted medication than it can often be far more trouble than it is worth.

I am really not trying to promote the compound, I simply like to let people who are potentially suffering know that it is an option. I have seen many people, who were not "druggies" or "party" types, they were simply people in a great deal of pain who did not have any prejudice against trying the plant, who have improved their quality of life by a million times just by incorporating this simple plant into their daily routine.

I understand that cannabis is not reasonable for everybody, some people do not like the idea of using an intoxicant, some people live in areas where cannabis is not a legal medicine, and others might not want the hassle or judgement from their families or communities, which is fine, there is nothing wrong with that, but if the suffering ever gets bad enough, and traditional options are failing, I would keep it in mind, it really can do wonders.

Any way, thank you for not taking offense and listening.

I hope you are doing well, and wish you the best in your fight against that awful stuff.