A Long Night

Got into a lovely hot bath which was a relief on aching limbs at about 6 pm although because of day light saving it seemed earlier. My tongue was humming a bit like when you have eaten shurbot. Helene brought Henry back from playschool and Kim and Mark and Maddison brought Henry's birthday present. We had talked about chinese takeaways and other food so when they left Jaime and Henry went to get me a chinese takeaway I was desperate to eat it but had to wait for them to return so retreated to the bath. I ate a couple of packets of crisps whilst I waited for them to return. I gorged the food on it's arrival and felt a total pig but I was desperate to eat!! At the moment I feel like I am pregnant because I crave food and smells are very intense. Women who have been pregnant understand. Afterwards took more pills for the aches and slight pregnancy sickness feeling and settled down to a mixture of watching tv and falling asleep and feeling really hot due to hot sweats (is there a nicer way to put it - no not really!!) All night I was up and down needing to eat the odd banana, pills and water and going to the bathroom - so glad when 6.30 am came and daylight came. How dramatic does this sound - never mind!! I will go and have another bath now Henry has just been picked up. I hope these hot sweats go!!

26 March 2007 - Suntanned and Bloated

Thought I better show how good I can look!! The day is glorious sunshine and I want to get outside and make the most of the day. It is four days into my sixth chemo - I have gained a suntan, feel bloated and tired with a sore neck but I am determined to have a good day although I still feel rather grumpy. Needed to take anti-sickness last night together with some pain relief for my neck. Raspberries, a banana, jam sandwiches and copious amounts of water helped me get an okay nights sleep.

Henry as usual has been very good and he awaits getting a lift to playschool at around lunchtime. A nice bath is just what I need and when Andrea comes later I know I will feel a lot better for the company!!

25 March 2007 - Sunday

Last night came off my steroids which usually keeps me going. Today I started feeling more tired and slightly grumpy. The clocks were put forward but made the most of having a lie in anyway - telling Henry that it was too early to wake up - he still decided to get up at the normal time and play in his bedroom. The weather looked good but we had some chores to do which I did from my bedside as I had decided to stay in bed at least until after lunch. Didn't need any anti-sickness tablets - the new resime is a lot better for less side effects. Accept for being more grumpy, hot sweats and now towards the end of the evening getting a sore neck - everything is alot easier!! Not eating too much yet except for the odd snickers bar and Sunday roast!! We went for a Sunday drive around 4 pm I was being a bit grumpy (not all my doing!!) but loving getting out in the sunshine and fresh air and daffodils. It is now 9 pm and time to retire - night night!! Will have to take my mid-night snack and pints of water.

Phil's Quick Macaroni Cheese - 24 March 2007

Ingredients - 400 g of dried macaroni, 250 g grated mature cheddar, 1 pint of milk, 2 heaped desert spoons of plain flour, 1 ounce of flora/butter, salt, pepper and dash of worcester sauce, (salad to accompany)

Empty dry macaroni into pan of boiling water and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes until al dente (firm to the tooth!!). Whilst pasta is cooking melt the flora in a pan then add the 2 desert spoonfuls of flour. Gently whisk the flour and flora as it simmers until it starts to form a ball (2 to 3 minutes) then gradually add milk whilst whisking continually to ensure no lumps form. Gently bring to the boil continuing to whisk. Sauce should start to thicken and then remove from heat. Whisk in three quarters of the grated cheese and return to the heat whisking gently. Season with salt and pepper and a couple of dashes of worcester sauce. When pasta is cooked drain and rinse with boilling water to remove any remaining starch and put into pyrex dish. Pour cheese sauce over pasta and sprinkle remaining cheese over the top and place under a hot grill for 3 to 4 minutes until cheese turns golden brown!!

Serve with crisp leaf salad and a beverage of your choice!!

Chemo Nurses with Iciles from Cold Cap

This photo was taken yes just before my 6th and last chemo 23 March 2007. Pauline and I cladded in our bright outfits and Sally and Angela my lovely chemo nurses. Below photo of icicles after having cold cap on.

After talking to the chemo nurses about their experience with people having Herceptin they seemed quite positive about at least starting it as they monitor you regularly for any bad side effects. You have to be in the hospital for about 9 hours the first time you have it and after that for about an hour and a half. Bad side effects on your heart are the worst but they assured me that they weren't very common and that the side effects got less as you have the injections (once every 3 weeks for one year). So now deliberating whether to go ahead with the Herceptin or not as Oncologist has not encouraged it. He did say that the best time to beat breast cancer was the first time. My computer percentage of breast cancer is very high 96% (with the chemo) and the Herceptin would make it 98% that the cancer would not return within 10 years. Because Herceptin is relatively newly known about (approximately 5 years) it is a hard decision to make.

Anyway Yippy my last chemo has been done and I will let you know on a daily basis any side effects that I may have and how I am feeling!! Thanks again for all your support and time and thoughts!!

Andrea's Organic Vegibox Curry made with Nicki's chucked out spices 17 March 2007!

Serves 2 plenty for the freezer.Oil, 2 tablespoonsOnions, 2 largeMustard seedsCurry powder, 4 heaped teaspoon fullsGarlic, 3 large clovesVegetables - whatever is handy (see below for what we used today).Tin of chopped tomatoesGood squeeze of tomato pureeSwiss Vegetable Bouillon (instead of salt)Cook oil until hot, add 2 teasponfuls of mustard seeds and 2 large onions. Cook onions until soft then add spices and 3 cloves of chopped garlic.(If you have cardomon seeds, star anise and cloves, these can be added at this stage. This will make the curry aromatic ... and very yummy. The whole spices should be removed at the end of cooking, because there is nothing worse than crunching into a cardomon seed. Count what you put in so you know what you need to take out. I would recommend, for a curry of this size, 2 x star anise, 6 cardomon, 4 cloves and 4 peppercorns.)Cook out spices and add water when it dries. Make sure you don't burn the spices. Keep cooking until spices lose that raw smell. Then add whatever vegetables you want to.Today we used:potatoes, 4, cubedparsnip, 2, large, cubedcarrot, 1, large, cubedmushrooms, 12, quarteredpurple sprout broccolli, bag of, chopped so that stalks are about the same size.Stagger the cooking of vegetables. Start with the hardest vegetable and cook it until it is the same consistency as the next hardest vegetable. Eg. cook potatoe until they resemble the consistency of a parsnip, add parsnip, and cook until it resembles consistency of brocolli. THE TRICK IS TO KEEP TESTING! Add more water if it begins to dry out.Remember to use lots of different colours of vegetables. Each colour has a different mineral/vitamin.Add tin of tomatoes and a squirt of tomatoe puree for RED!You can also add all sorts of pulses (chick peas, kidney beans, adzuki beans ... whatever.) Make sure they have been pre-soaked (or are in cans) before you add them in at the vegetable stage.Add water if you want it the sauce to be thinner.Add 3 heaped teaspoons of Bouillon, instead of salt. Taste to check you have added enough!Serve in a big bowl with a blob of Greek Yoghurt, or Tzatziki like we did!Enjoy with Su and Helene!Bye bye now - back to get the kids from school.xxx
Posted by Su at 06:06 19 March 2007

Red Nose Day - 16 March 2007

Henry is really getting into Red Nose Day as you can see! Mum and Dad have come to stay and we have just finished having fish and chips. All my side effects seem to have gone and am back to some normality until my next and last chemo next Friday - yippy! The weather has been good to us so we have been out for a pleasant walk around Postwick this morning. Got a call from my Oncologist today giving me my last appointment with him and seeming quite positive which made me feel good.