This last week has gone extremely well. I have been cooking almost all our meals, and have even been able to cook what I think of as normal food. That includes all the sorts of food that were totally off limits three weeks ago. For example, yesterday we went out to one of our favourite […]
By Gillian I found yesterday to be a very hard day, as we had an appointment booked with our solicitors to start putting Christopher’s affairs in order for when/if he becomes too ill to look after them himself. Although we hope that is still a long way off, it made me realise in a visceral […]
Sally was my mother. Today would have been her 68th birthday, but she died in July 1992 of complications from cancer. She hated the cold, and loved the warmth of Kenya. I was reminded quite how much she liked the heat when my father sent me some snaps he had of the time when we […]
The following is the text of a letter I sent to the editor of the Independent newspaper, responding to a letter in today’s paper in which an oncologist deprecated the use of the word “fight” in relation to a cancer patient’s management of his or her cancer. Sir, Dr Bruce Sizer takes issue with the […]
By Gillian It’s very difficult to plan ahead at the moment, as Chris feels so different from one day to the next. For the last few days he’s been having a run of feeling remarkably well, and has picked up some of his favourite hobbies (photography, Librivox) again. I suppose we got over-confident, thinking that […]
In April 2008 Simon Singh published an article in the Guardian in which he explored the use of Chiropractic to treat, amongst other things, childhood asthma. The British Chiropractic Association (BCA) took issue with the article, and refused to be satisfied with an offer to print a counter to it. Instead, citing a “substantial evidence […]
purdah, n, esp. formerly, in Hindu and Muslim communities, the seclusion of women from the sight of strangers. [Chambers] Chemotherapy drugs are very powerful. Not only do they attack the cancer, which is good, but they also attack the entire body, including the immune system. The doctors told us that it’s very important to keep […]
When I had my CT scan before Christmas I asked whether it would be possible to have copies of the images. I was very pleased to find that, yes, it was possible, although it might take a couple of weeks to get it onto a CD. The original plan was to hand the CD to […]
By Gillian Right from the initial diagnosis, we’ve been told by all the healthcare professionals (consultants, specialist nurses, dietician) that it’s vitally important for Chris to avoid losing more weight than he can possibly help. Essentially, we need to take normal dieting rules, and invert them – so he needs snacks between meals, desserts, no […]
I’m becoming concerned that I may have given the misleading impression that dealing with cancer is a bed of roses. While I have been able to find a lot to be positive about, there are some things that are simply unpleasant and have to be borne. Regular vomiting is probably my number one bugbear at […]
