So so very true…
Thinking of Poppet especially today.
Feeling so sad.
Wx
Me too, Claire is in my thoughts all the time. Breast cancer is a demon disease and doesnt follow its own rules.
Vickie, 2 lovely and sad poems. Elizabethtracey, I like your resilient poem.
This one is meant to be hopeful. It’s a story, so if you’re sitting comfortably…
The Future
You’re 85 and just back from your latest cruise,
Your family come round to hear about it and share their news.
Everyone goes into the garden after tea
But your 8 year old granddaughter comes to sit on your knee.
She looks very solemn, you ask her why,
You’re a little surprised by her reply.
“Granny, I saw a photo where you had a scarf on your head,
It was because you had no hair, is what daddy said.
He said you had a nasty disease,
Tell me about it, granny please.”
“Oh” you say, “that was so long ago,
I never think of it now, you know.”
You search the corners of your mind,
As the buried memory you try to find.
“I remember there were knives and chemicals and radiotherapy too,
But we were the last generation before the breakthrough.
Cancer went the way of polio, diptheria and lockjaw,
They found a vaccine and the disease was no more.
The oncologists and radiographers all had to retrain,
Those skills were never needed again.
That illness now seems an insignificant chapter,
In a life otherwise filled with laughter.
When I look back I remember sun filled days by the sea,
And weddings and parties with the family.
The memory of bad days got crowded out,
By all the fun times I think about."
Oh i absolutely love your poem! I really really really enjoyed it. Thanks for writing such an upbeat thoughtful poem. Loved it.
Great poem NG xx
Fabulous poem Nottsgal. I love it.
Debx
lovely poem NG,i pray one day it will be true xxx
just dropped in to catch up should post a new poem maybe later. Chris
Thank you one and all for all your fantastic poetry.
Having never managed to get it together where rhyming is concerned, I’m a delicate shade of green at your wondrous efforts.
Much love to you all
xxHelenxx
Just been for what I was hoping was relaxing spa day it did not start well…
Nirvana Spa -
After 4 nasty FEC
And one Taxing TAX
Thought I would book
A spa day to relax !
Told them on Chemo
Can’t do flotation
Booked a back massage
Excited expectation !
Booked in at reception
only to find
They cancelled it
Which was rather unkind !
Toxins were mentioned,
What would you like instead ?
Then the lady suggested
They could massage my head!
I would not be happy
Taking off my hat
And it is shiny enough
Without all of that!
Offered a free product
To make me go away
Decided to relax
Try to enjoy the day!
Spoke to the manager
on the way out.
Your policy needs updating
There is no doubt !
Massage right now
is just what I need.
Not discrimination
She kinda agreed !
I’ve also been in
your hydrotherapy pools.
For an “all over massage”
Same place different rules!
We are not insured,
A decision we took.
If that is the case
Why let me book !
Bertha sorry your moment was spoilt but try your macmillan centre you are entitled to at least 2 complementary treatments which includes massage and if you can book for Look Good Feel Better you get a load of great freebies and advice on how to use it. Chris
Thanks for the tip re LGFB .
I have booked a LGFB sessions but there is a 3 and a half month wait. Will have finished Chemo by then. Hope I can still attend after op and radiotherapy.
Have been offered a massage in local hospice via my BC nurse. Looking forward to it in October.
Thanks again…
BerthaB
BerthaB, I didn’t attend a LGFB session until after I’d finished chemo/rads as there was a big waiting list, also I didn’t know about it. Quite a few of us had our hair back by then, it was a mix of ladies still in treatment, some who had finished and some like me who were on Herceptin. I hope you can go as it really does do what it says on the tin and the freebies they give you are truly fab.
A couple of my friends were so impressed by the boost it gave me that they now donate every year to help other ladies.
Hi Berthab and all you lovely ladies
Went off to the Centre
To Look good feel better
Met some incredible Ladies
Who all had THE letter
The one that invites you
to come and be pampered
With hair or without it
You,ll not be hampered!!
Out came the goody bags
Oh what a treat
Estee lauder and Clarins
Right up my street…
We dabbled and painted
and were shown how to do it
16 glamorous Ladies
Yes didnt we know it 
Its a brilliant couple of hours and all the work that goes into collecting items for the goody bags has to be commended…I was like a schoolgirl opening her xmas presents and I felt a million dollars… might not have looked it as i,d just finished R/therapy but oh what a boost.
And just to add a note… bit naughty but it made me FEEL BETTER!
My ex,s partner was seving the coffee and tea, normally she does,nt acknowledge me… which is no big deal but that day she had too! HA HA!! Enjoy your day when it finally comes xxxxxx
I’ve missed 2 LGFB sessions due to being admitted for infections.
I’ve decided to wait until the end of chemo and try and get there then.
Think I’ll deserve it more after all the hassle of going through this lot. Then again, I cannot really be bothered at the mo’ Chemo lethargy has kicked-in.
June
Love this thread, on this disease that fills us with dread,
Bold and brave in the hope that we will be saved,
Trust the Doc and take stock of life and loves,
Question not the why? Only to realise it is I, the person once was whole and now feels like Alice in a rabbit hole.
Gooseberry girl Loved it short and succinct. X Chris
My Mummy is a Chemo Bitch
Right now she’s busy shedding
She drops her skin around the house
It’s really quite upsetting.
It blebs on soles and toes and heels
On feet that’s newly showered
Then hangs like tattered lacey nets
Til dropped in snowy showers.
The Chemo staff with wisdom say
She must research on 'Puta
And search for farming thick cow cream
By name it’s known as ‘Udder’.
Just in case anyone else is suffering from skin loss on their feet. I’ve been told to search for ‘Udder Cream’ to help.
I expected a bit on the heels from previous posts, but that is nothing to the soles and toes. It’s not sore. yet, but if it keeps going at this rate I might have problems walking.
Going shopping today for moisterising sock and a really thick moisteriser from Boots (might give the ‘cow cream’ a miss)
(Edited) Maybe I will go for the cow cream. It’s only £4.62 and free p&p.
June
Gypsylady inspired me as did many of the poems on here which made me cry. I wrote this describing my discovery of my breast cancer after watching my daughter in a fencing competition.
I am standing
Watching my daughter fight
My heart thumps
My mouth is dry
Her opponent is quick and they are evenly matched
The points go too and fro
Nerves on a knife edge
Until the battle is lost
Tears shine but are not shed
A silver medal around her neck
I am worried
The lump sits there accusingly under my hand
So small, so inconsequential
I seek reassurance and find it
I can breathe, just a referral
Just a few tests
Nothing to fret about
I am weeping
The lump so small is cancer
I am on my own and now I have to tell my family
My husband
My children
I hear the sound of glass shattering
Lives are altered, questions unanswered
I am fighting
My family are watching
Their hearts thump
Their mouths are dry
My opponent is sly and secretive
But I have weapons and they are unleashed
Nerves are on a knife edge
Until the battle is concluded
Tears shine but are not shed
I do not want silver, I need gold
I want to live, I want to grow old
Squirrel, that poem is bl**dy brilliant. Well done you, and thanks for posting it too. Hope things are alright with you
x