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Post cycle 3 chemo - Day 6 We are half way through the chemotherapy - and when I say 'we' of course I mean Jane, who is as strong, amazing and more beautiful than ever.  With each session of drugs so far, it seems to take longer than last time to feel normal again, though of course real "normal" won't be for a while yet.  The drugs in the chemotherapy treatment so far are  f luorouracil  (also called 5FU) e pirubicin c yclophosphamide docetaxel  (also called  T axotere ®)    (FEC-T from the initials of the drugs name)   The side effects include risk of infection, bruising, feeling or being sick, diarrhoea, sore mouth, anaemia, loss of appetite, taste change, hair loss, sore eyes, skin changes and of course,desperate tiredness and aching bones.  This is what I am watching my daughter suffer, and this is why I feel useless. It's past the time of trite comments of "why her and not me ?"  and wishing that I could take i...

It happens to most of us at some point in our lives. We, or a family member or friend becomes ill and we begin to analyse our life style, desperately searching for an answer to how this could have happened and even more desperately hoping for a simple solution to the problem. There has to be an antidote to all the "bad" things that we have knowingly done to our bodies up to now and if we stop doing some things and begin doing others, all will be fine, we think. We sometimes conclude that it's "just one of those things" and we were unlucky to have this happen to us. It was no one's fault and nothing could have been done to prevent it. Fortunately, many of us recover from the illness with no lasting side effects. Whether this was from the medical intervention we received or the changes we made in our diet and lifestyle - it is likely to be a combination of both - doesn't concern us too much. The illness that blighted our life has gone and we are tha...

Two days before assaulting a BBC producer, Jeremy Clarkson was told by a doctor that he might have cancer and that being given the warning was one of the most stressful experiences of his life.   He has attempted to explain his state of mind at the time of the attack by saying  "Two days before the “fracas”, I had been told, sternly, by my doctor that the lump on my tongue was probably cancer and that I must get it checked out immediately. But I couldn’t do that.  We were in the middle of a Top Gear series. And Top Gear always came first.’ Clarkson said he had now been given the all-clear, but wrote in his column in The Sunday Times : ‘That was the most stressful day I have ever had in 27 years at the BBC. It was beyond-belief stressful, everything was gong wrong, and then you know... there you go. But everyone has stressful days, and they manage to cope better than I had."   The Sunday Times Well, yes. We do all have stressful days and we all have dif...

Today, 21st March is World Poetry Day  To mark World Poetry Day, over 1000 coffee shops around the world will use poetry as currency today. Julius Merinl, a coffee roasting company is marking Unesco's World Poetry Day with a promotion in 1100 cafes, bars and restaurants across 23 countries. Most of these are in Europe but theres 5 around London and 1 near Winchester UK. Watch video here :      World Poetry Day - Julius Merini     As there aren't any participating places  near me, I will donate the cost of a cup of  coffee  for  every poem that's  sent to me to  Cancer Research UK      and I will publish them on this blog.  Either post as a comment on the blog, or email to brendagunning15@hotmail.com It's also the first day of Spring today, so that may inspire you, but any form and any theme is fine. Get writing and sending now !  Look forward to receiving your p...