With Anna and the grandchildren

With Anna and the grandchildren

Monday, 4 May 2015

The first blog!

Well today is Monday 4th May 2015 and it is a Bank Holiday.  I got up early - as usual and have been busy around the house.  Mornings are the best time for me.

I have been inspired to start writing a blog after reading Tamsyn's blog which she has just started, chronicling her illness.  She says that feels she needs to be able to step outside the minutiae of every day challenges and get a perspective from the outside.  Are things actually as bad as they feel?  Could she do things differently?   I feel this is something that might help me too.  Also there are people who know me, my family and friends, who have been so kind to me and so many different ways, who would be interested to know how I am coping.

Well, so where to start?  Well, as I said, mornings are the best time of day for me.  I usually wake up at about 5.00am and this is because my stomach is aching and won't go away.  So the best things is to get up, go downstairs.  The first pill to take is Lansoprazol which lines my stomach and stops any excess production of stomach bile.  I can then eat after 30-60 minutes of taking this.  I usually wake up ready to eat (always have).  At the moment I am on a diet of fluids and soft food as my colon has lots of lumps and bumps - a combination of adhesions from previous surgery and the cancer roaming around my torso region.  The result is digestion does not take place very easily.  My appetite is small (I now weigh 54kgs) and I am never sure how my stomach is going to react after I have eaten something.  Also opening my bowels is a painful and often abortive process.

The second lot of pills I take is Oxycodone which I take twice a day.  It is a background morphine-based painkiller and works really well.  After eating some breakfast I then take  Dexamethasone which is a steroid to strengthen me and Docusatel which is a gentle laxative.  I also take paracetemol every 6 hours.

For breakfast at the moment I am having stewed apples and yogurt and Nestle Mocha Cafe Menu where you just boiling water and stir.  Mmmm.. what a treat!  I like that.  Food for the rest of the day is a series of trial and error and nibbles or this, nibbles of that.  If I feel hungry then scrambled eggs are good.

8 comments:

  1. Hope this comment works. The first one I did isn't showing up, don't know why.
    I noticed in your first bit of writing that you said that you would have no sugar. The Nescafe instant cappuccino has quite a lot of sugar in it although you can get it in "unsweetened taste" what ever that means! Just checked, it does have sugar.
    You could try hot milk with a bit of coffee in it. More like a real latte.

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    1. Hi Lindy just to let you know that I have received your comments. Good idea about the latte! I am afraid those lovely cappuccinos are now off the menu!

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  2. Ok, the first comment I made was to question your spelling of potato. I know, who would have thought that the worst speller in the world would have noticed.
    It just looked a bit weird ......

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    1. Yes I did wonder about potatoe - but you are right - no e.

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  3. Hi Sal, good to see you are starting up the blog again. Just a note on the coffee, when I was on my diet I discovered Beanies cinder toffee flavoured instant coffee. It has no sugar, it's just infused with flavour so it tastes like a flavoured coffee without the syrup, they do other flavours but the toffee was my favourite. You could get a milk frother and make your own lattes. Don't buy the dowe and egberts flavoured coffees - they taste horrible. Xxx

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    1. Thanks for that advice on the coffee Jessie - sounds great. Will get some Beanies cinder toffee flavoured instant coffee and also a milk frother. Would be a good investment!

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  4. Can only say we hope things get better soon for you. Love from Ros & Mike G

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    1. Thanks very much Mike. Hope Ros is OK. Love to you both. xx

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