Nice … maybe if you know the date of your next scan, you can ask them to start nearer the top! Jacqui.
Hi Bright,
if you’re interested in quirky hidden bits of London, hunt out film artist Andrew Kotting’s film “La Bas”. Shot in the tunnel, and refers to the opening of the Eurotunnel in the same year. Not to be missed. Or Ian Sinclair’s work (personally I don’t like him as a writer, but that’s just me). Or Peter Ackroyd.
Or get yourself treated at Bart’s, hospital there since 1153, approach though Smithfield meat market, past the memorial to William Wallace who was dismembered there in 1305, the memorial to the Protestant martyrs who were burned alive in fifteen something or other, and down a lane called Little Britain…
St Bartholomew himself was flayed alive, apparently, and is often represented as a bloke who carries his own skin over his arm.
Now that’s what I call a hospital!
L.
I haven’t even mentioned the secret Hogarth murals…
Hi
Bright- I never stopped eating out whilst on chemo,in fact i probably ate out more because i didnt have the energy to cook.I never caught a tummy bug or cold…Lucky.I did get my Morphine prescription and i never even had to see the doctor.!!!
caron- Hope you managed to have a good nights sleep,i have been sleeping on and off all day, must be the Morphine.
I have had a headache from hell these last few days,my head feels full of pressure. Maybe its the Morphine SE…
Still no date for my op,i might ring them today …
Love
Shell
xxxxxxxxx
Hi people,
Oh how I wish i could meet you all for a cup of tea and a cake…or perhaps just pop around to Caron’s house for her yummy food.
Did warn you all. I had a bit of a dip yesterday. Steroids seem to lift me abit too high and then dump me!! Had my nails done which was fun, but won’t last of course. Got a bit into a “will my life ever come back again…how do I live with this” My hubbie keeps talking about holidays and I just can’t imagine feeling happy enough to go!!! But…not sleeping well at the moment…so not helping.
Day 4/5 of Tax/Herceptin week…aches starting…sore throat… taste buds dipping. BUT no nausea…relief!!!
I haven’t mastered the split screen yet…so can’t remember who said what!!
Re: wigs. I have a range of pretty hats and caps to wear with mine - it makes it easier to go out in them for the first time. had my fringe trimmed at hairdressers yesterday too which helped. But Bright’s does sound excellent. My real hair is really thin and I don’t know whether to just shave it off to let new stuff grow eventually or just see what happens. Will I have 2 types of hair?? Trouble is mine grows so so slowly.
I am now careful about eating on chemo. Cos of my immunity problem over Christmas …will just avoid certain things. I have eaten out, but avoid salad etc etc… Careful about takeaways too. Cake of course can not be avoided!!! Staple part of my diet.
Bright - yes we do overlap. Started off as a Librarian…much researching and teaching people to use databases … moved more into training and development and then lecturing adults. I miss it lots, but just couldn’t keep going. Wish I still had it though to tak emy mind off the c word. Just want to think about other stuff for a change. Be normal??? What’s that???
Love, Gailxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi girls
Bright When I say I gave up eating out while on chemo I meant cooked meals. I don’t eat red meat anyway which normally means I have chicken in some shape or other and I am nervous of chicken cooked and maybe kept warm in restaurants. Also shellfish can be a problem - OH had food poisoning from scallops which we ate at a really high class place last year. Bear in mind that as I have said before I am a born worrier - I know I am taking many more precautions than necessary. I just wanted to get to the end of chemo on the scheduled date with as few hiccups as possible. It is totally impossible to give up cake - but then I have never heard of getting upset tummies from cake.( or chocolate)
Shell Give the hospital a ring - they won’t mind. I would imagine that you have some sort of priority because of your situation.
Gail Sounds like you are coping just fine on the tax. Have they given you injections to be done at home to help with the blood levels.
Caron You sound like a really good cook. I read what you are having and then look at what we are having and feel totally boring. We seem to have got into a bit of a culinary rut since this Beastly Cancer surfaced in our lives. When its all over I really must invest in a better cookbook.
Love to everyone
Andie xx
Gail , thats what I say can’t think of nothing else ! even in my dreams I dream I’m either dying or Steve’ is telling people " Oh she died " ! not nice.
Anyway I did go to bed early but never went to sleep as I was reading dippykate’s blog ( very moving & I am now up to April 2007 ) if anyone is intereasted google dippykate . ( It was Bright who told me ).
I have hung the washing out ( I hope it dries ?? ) and have washed up I am making liver & onions with mashbo peas& carrots today I don’t much like the liver but I like the gravy, It was Steve’s idea as I think he thinks I look too white ???
I did some moaning yesterday !!! we have been broken into ( I do class it as broken into as my garden is very secure with 3 massive locks now & my fence & gate are now 10 foot tall ) numerous times now and Steve chased a gang of 10 and he ended up being threatened with a knife ( not a dinner knife either ! ) anyway I have been to numerous meetings about getting alley gates these have been promised but to no avail !!! we were first told they would be errected in 2007 then it went back a year then it was August 2008 then September / November ect ! so I did my moaning yesterday and the woman who is sorting it out sent me a sarcastic email !!!
charming she gets paid for it ( I don’t ) anyway she more or less said sorry in the end after Steve sent her mail saying it was her who said she had the funding for it !!
I can’t feel my original lump now , well I can but much further down , so hopefully good news when I go a week Tuesday? Then Wednesday for chemo number 3 , ah while I remember I said I would post my chemo dates ( if all goes to plan ? ) for Bright 28th Jan ( 3 ) 18th Feb (4 halfway ! ) 11th March ( 1st TAX GULP ) 1st April (6)
22nd April (7) AND LAST ONE YIPEE YI YAAA 13TH May (8th ). oh I will be soooo glad when I finish chemo !
Bright yours should be 23/1 (1) 13/2 (2) 6/3/(3) 27/3 (4) 17/4 (5) 15/5 (6)
So you were right then ( you can sing the I’m right song ! ) I finish 2 days before you, if everything goes to plan ??? I am hoping that if I have enough shrinkage the would it be possible for them to give me 3x3 instead of 4x4 ??? WHAT DO YOU THINK ?? can they change their mind ???
Probably wishful thinking ??? glad evryone is alright I think it is Bright then who has the next lot of chemo ?? is anyone else first? I know Jo has it more or less same time as me , and Shelly is having surgery now .
Right I am off Love Caron xx
ps to Bright did you eat any wild mushrooms then ?? ( I wouldn’t dare I’d probably pick the death cap ! )
Andie
I love cooking I am good at both cooking & baking ( talk about blowing your own trumpet ! ) you want to try my strawberry cake it is to die for !!!
I had a recipe for devils food cake ( chocolate ) and I changed some ingredients around I changed the coffee & cocoa for Strawberry flavoured nesquick and also changed the milk chocolate topping for white chocolate , everybody has a chioce when it is their birthday either a bought birthday cake or either my chocolate cake
or the Strawberry cake THE STRAWBERRY CAKE WINS EVERY TIME APART FROM WHEN IT IS STEVE’S BIRTHDAY Nov ( same as Shelly’s ! ) he wants the devils food cake as it’s exactley a week after Owen’s so we have just had the Strawberry cake !!! yum yum yum ( I’m surprised I don’t weigh more ! ) lol
Hi Caron
To just add a tiny bit of info to all the chemo dates for the next few months. I have my last one (tax) on the 23/1. Then move onto surgery late February/early March. I can still feel my lump even after 7 chemos but it has shrunk a lot. My consultant says that as the inflamation has gone the lump may still be cancer or it may be scar tissue left from the shrinkage and that will be OK he can operate.
Now if only I lived near you I could have one of your cakes for my birthday ( 2 weeks Time) but as it is I have asked that my birthday gets postponed for a few weeks because there is no fun in eating cake that tastes all wrong. Birthday is a few days after chemo and taste will have gone.
LOL Andie xx
Good evening ladies…
Lanterna - so pleased to read from you here. I replied to Jacqui recently to say that when I was first diagnosed I joined about three strands and quickly realised I was repeating what I was writing - and know we tend to look at the other strands, thought we’d all catch up eventually. I know Peter Ackroyd’s book and the hospitals as one of my favourite hobbies is going on London walks. I like to go from St Barts, then on to the small medieval passage way nearby (I think there is a church through the arch) - and then on to Smithfields… I have never heard about the film though ‘La Bas’ so will be sure to watch that - and the Hogarth murals… you need to tell me more. Do they depict asylums like much of his work??
All this writing about eating out leaves me with some hope. The idea of not even being able to have a cup of tea or coffee at a street cafe for 18 weeks was making feel quite depressed. Now I know that if I am sensible, possibly sticking to cooked vegetarian foods in a place that looks very clean…mean I should be fine. And as you write - it would be so difficult to give up cake. Writing about cake - Caron - can you share the exact recipe for the strawberry cake here … I want to make it as soon as possible - sounds amazing…
Also, thanks for working out my dates - this has cheered me up as realise I will be finished by late spring and hoping to avoid the hot flushes one of the side effects I was reading about in the summer months. We should all be through chemo by then I think, just as well, as this year is meant to be another heatwave. The blog is very moving isn’t it - and so sad, but a reality check as it reflects what could happen to anyone who suffers from BC.
Today has been another work one at work for me - with a few meetings to keep me amused. Most people I work with now know I am ill and have been so kind and understanding … asking me if there is anything they can do to help, and my boss has suggested I look again at my ‘demanding objectives/targets’ and revise them to equally demanding ones but realistic in the light of bc. This is good as our pay awards/rises are tied in with our annual performance assessment and being able to revise my targets means that I will not be disadvantaged. When it got to 4pm I was beginning to feel tired so instead of trying to work through it, I turned my computer off - ordered a taxi (I paid)- and enjoyed a lovely ride through London on my journey home. The Houses of Parliament were all lit up and looked quite spectacular against the darkening sky.
Have any of you been to Greenwich Village, New York City? Think tall brownstone buildings with metal fire escapes reaching all the way down to the ground, and small cafes and stores with individual yummy cakes in the windows. The part of the village I like best has some very beautiful old houses with shutters, sycamore trees growing up through the pavements that drop their leaves in the fall… and the longest serving fringe theatre in the city. It is called the Cherry Lane theatre - and has a red awning. It was featured in the press recently because an eccentric reclusive actress of the black and white days who had lived above the theatre, died. Her name, not familiar perhaps - was Kim Hunter - and in 1943 she starred in a scary atmospheric film called ‘The Seventh Victim’ (one of my avourite films). The Cherry Lane Theatre was founded in 1924 - by the poet Edna St Vincent Millay - I like her work and one of her sonnet’s is below. Apart from her poetry Millay’s other claim to fame was the house she lived in opposite the theatre - which bears a plaque with her name. The house is the smallest, thinnest house in New York City - and I always marvel just how anyone could live there as it is so narrow.
What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply,
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
For unremembered lads that not again
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.
Thus in winter stands the lonely tree,
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:
I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.
I wish you all restful evenings.
Love Bright xx
Gail,
Just wondered - if you still have hair - is that because you are using the cold cap? If you still have hair wouldn’t it be better to keep it so that your hair will thicken up more quickly…
Bright x
Hi all am I allowed to put a recipe on here? ahh well we’ll soon find out ! maybe the monitors will use it ??? lol
I said to Steve ohh no they want my secret recipe !! but Steve said well let them have it cos they all need cheering up !!! lol
Devils chocolate foodcake first 180 g butter
1 &3/4 cups castor sugar ( granulated will do just as well )
3 eggs
1 & 1/2 cups self raisin flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
2/3 cup cocoa
3 teaspoons dry instant coffee
1/2 teaspoon red food colouring
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
RICH CHOCOLATE FROSTING ( 4 TOPPING )
60g dark chocolate
60g unsalted butter ( I don’t suppose salted will make much odds )
Grease 2 deep 20cm round cake tins line bases with grease paper beat butter & sugar in bowl until light & fluffy add eggs 1 at a time beating well between additions
foldin sifted flours soda & cocoa coffee & colouring water & milk bake in moderate oven = 180c = 350 f =gas mark 4 for 45 minutes
turn onto wire rack to cool
RICH FROSTING TOPPING combine chocolate & butter in heatproof bowl over pan of simmering water stir until smooth remove from heat leave until spreadable stir occasionally while cooling
cake can be made 2 days ahead uniced cake freezeable . ENJOY YUMMY CAKE
STRAWBERRY CAKE 180g butter
1 3/4 sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups self raisin flour
1/2 cup plain flour
3/4 cup strawberry nesquick
1/4 water
1/2 milk
TOPPING 1 block white chocolate
same method for cake & melt white choc for topping
I do find the white chocolate sets too hard so either you could cut the cake in slices while not fully set or you could try the same for the choc frosting ie butter & white chocolate as it’s not all choc it doesn’t set as hard enjoy it xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
sorry everyone for the double recipes ! ( silly me )
I have just shaved my head again of what little hair I had left as it was tingling and everytime I rubbed it it was coming out in my hands.
JO hows yours now ?? probably as abld as a coot now I suspect !
Has anyone got any tips on drawing eyebrows on ???
I am useless at it so I havn’t bothered ! please help tips please thanks love caron x
Hi all ,
I managed to draw my eyebrows today !!! they don’t look too bad apart from I used a black eyeliner so they are a bit dark ! oh well I am not going out .
I am still reading dippykate’s blog it’s taking me forever.
My brother brought me some flowers yesterday ( that’s the second lot he’s brought me ! )
The sun is shining today but it has been spitting also hope I can get my washing dry ??
Shelly let us know how your doing !!! love Caron x
Hi
Glad your lump is shrinking Caron.
I havnt felt too well over the last few days, my head feels like its in a vice being squashed and my eyes are so sore they dont want to open and every bone in my body aches…i was in the bath at 3am to try and relieve some of the aches and pains. I have stopped taking the Morphine now as the side effects were getting worse.
Im waiting for my hubby to set up our new Wii…we thought it would get us motivated…
Loved to you all.
Shell
xxx
Dear all,
Here’s an update from what was a few hours or so ago, a sunny winter day in South East London: SE27 to be precise. Woke up this morning with the sun streaming through the bedroom windows. Somehow we’ve never got around to re-hanging the curtains after the decorators came in a couple of years ago. We are not overlooked and the windows do not let in drafts… so as there was no urgency, like so many things that could be attended to in the house, the curtains remain in the laundry basket. The upside though of having no curtains in place means that we can a) easily watch firework displays thst brighten autumn nights b) spring out of bed to catch sight of the foxes that stalk the streets of South London on their nocturnal pursuits of raiding litter bins c) gain an immediate indictiaton of the weather early in the morning, and d) keep a look out for any splendid sunrises that happen to take place in our part of the world…
So this morning when it was clear that the day was going to be a lovely - I thought, what better than to try a first proper walk since being being discharged from hospital Tuesday before last.
We live in a modest terraced house on a hill, and our terrace was built on the site of older houses that were bombed in the war. As we turn out of our path to the left is a view in the remote distance of a wooded elevated area, where there seem to be two parrellel buildings with large towers and a narrow church steeple to the right. I often look at this spectacle, and wonder where it is exactly, and what the wooded area might be like. So today we decided to make reaching the elevated area the target of our walk. It felt like a nice goal to to aim for. I knew that if I started to flag or feel tired, then I only needed to keep going until I reached those parrellel buildings, and also how pleased I would be if I made it. Being ever the practical, Jason duly fetched one of his ten all weather compasses and worked out broadly the direction and coordinates we needed to walk. Well we made the trip which took us through streets of Edwardian houses with turrets, palms trees in the gardens and fancy curly wrought iron gates, Dulwich Park and eventually various streets in suburban East Dulwich. We found the buildings: up close ‘Dawson Heights’ were two large public housing apartment blocks resembling stepped pyramids or ziggurats. They were built in 1972 by a well known architect who designed them to look like ocean liners. Behind the apartments we found Dawson Hill - a large wild nature reserve. I have just been reading up about the space. Apparently it was the site of an iron-age fort; a resting place for Boddicea who camped nearby, and later Queen Elizabeth the first reputedly spent time on the hill resting under a cherry tree. We plan to go back to the area to explore it further.
When I came home it was a brief nap on the sofa and then we prepared roast chicken that I stuffed with pears and a lemon for flavour. I also drank a glass of strawberry flavoured nesquik - which I bought today to make Caron’s cake - which I hope to prepare in the morning (too tired tonight).
Shell - do hope you feel better soon. I think those symptoms may well be to do with the morphine as I remember feeling sick and suffering from a bad headache whilst taking it in the hospital.
Love Bright xx
Hi
Caron I really quick post this morning because if I don’t tackling the ironing soon OH will have no clean shirts for the rest of the week.
I lost my eyebrows completely very soon after I started on Tax. I use a brow pencil by Benefit called instant brow. I think they do it in 2 colours basically dark and light. I put it on in the morning and it stays in place until I remove it at night. With no brows to follow I find that by standing at a mirror slightly in shadow I can follow the shape of my eye socket quite well.
LOL Andie xx
Andie I am still rubbish at doing the brows !! mind you Steve said he didn’t notice my brows were drawn on ( I think he was just being nice ? ).
Sunday is always a busy day for us as it’s visiting day ( mother’s horrid coffee ! ) it wasn’t as bad this week I think it had a extra nuke from the microwave !.
Then there is all the dinner to do and get the school stuff ready , never have enough time on Sunday.
I was going to go to bed at 10pm but then Steve put a film on it was called 148 ( I think ? ) so then halfway through he say’s " we’d better go to bed or we will be tired tomorrow ! " I said well you shouldn’t have put this film on then , needless to say we stopped up & watched it, so another tired Monday !
Shelly can’t you get a medium with your morphine so your not in pain and have no headaches & stuff ? haven’t you heard anything yet ?
Andie & Bright are having chemo this Friday then .
Jo when is your next lot booked for the Monday or Wednesday ?
Hope everyone is alright today ? love Caron x
Hi Caron
Yes as long as bloods on wednesday are OK I will be having my LAST chemo this friday.
Andie
I would be out celebrating !!!
hope your bloods are ok then and your LAST chemo goes smoothly !
caronx