Chemotherapy

Mom had so many problems with her chemotherapy over the course of her treatment I don't know where to begin.she became allergic to the first batch of drugs which caused her an emergency stay in HDU...she ended up getting a dose of that MRSA and not to mention the sickness she endured after she had it... Today I am going to include an excerpt from her diary which deals with one of these little mishaps..

"Went back Mon 17th August for Chemo on the 18th Anne had arranged for Maura to bring me and Sharon to Collect me.  When I arrived for the Chemo it transpired that I hadn't been given the medication to take beforehand.  I was absolutely devastated and frustrated...I gave out hell to the nurse.  Anyway went back the next day and received it on Wednesday 19th.  It went OK.    Here I am back down in Wexford, I sit on the caravan steps as I write this in glorious sunshine".

Basically what she was saying in this was on the 17th she went to the hospital and they told her she was having chemo the next day...that would have been fine if they had of given her the pre-chemo drugs she was supposed to have 24 hours prior to having the chemo...she had mentally physicked herself out for chemo..its something she used to do.  It took so much out of her that she totally had to prepare herself for it so when she arrived to have  chemo and they had forgotten to give her the medication she was supposed to have she was totally pissed.

Todays Quote:                         Nature has given us one tongue and two ears.
                                      That we may hear from others twice as much as we speak.
                                                                                          Epictelus

Day Three After Surgery - My Mom's Diary Entry

This is an excerpt from my mom's diary, only she can explain how this felt:

"Well I have had the tests, I've even had the op.  Ovarian Cancer.  I don't know if I can even spell it right.  It's invaded my body and I'm not sure how to spell it correctly.  For two days I've planned my funeral in my head.  It looks pretty gloomy.

I've a malignant Tumor on one overy, a growth on the other.  the cancer has spread to some fatty tissues that runs across the stomach. they will remove the overy and the fallopian tubes and the womb.  The problem may be that the Tumor is stuck to the bowel.  After the op I feel fine.  I don't feel as though they have taken much.  They haven't...not even one overy.

I'm to have eight sessions of chemo in-between they will try to operate again.

Todays Quote:

This is the true joy of life

Being used for a purpose

Recognised by yourself 

As a mighty one

Being a force of nature

Instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances

Complaining that the world will devote itself to making you happy

Betty Byrne / McDonnell a total legend!

Firstly I would like to thank you for reading, be patient, this blog is not about me really, but about someone far more important....My mom. 

My mothers birthday is soon upon me and for many reasons it seems important to share our experiences of dealing with Cancer with other Cancer patients, survivors and family members of these couragous and stong people.  I say 'our' experiences because although my mother lost her battle with the disease she kept a diary of almost every emotion she experienced right until the end and I would like to share these with others along with some of my own.

I was, for the last year of her life, my mothers full time carer.  This time was the most rewarding time of my life.  It was tough at times, but not always.  It is always there, in the back of your head, that they might be going somewhere but you just have to push that all to the back of your head and embrace every opportunity to share, to laugh, to love and to remember all those wonderful times you have shared with each other.

My mother was one of the most amazing women I have ever met....and I'm not being biased.  She was an amazing woman.  Her whole life was about her children.  She spent every day telling us how amazing we were, how beautiful we were and how talanted we were. 

Now, I could have been the dullest, most unattractive and useless loser that ever walked the planet but due to her total bias, and total sincerity I believed every word of it.

I am an avid Eastenders fan and was total appaled by the Tanya storyline, not because its about Cancer, I think it's an important storyline but because of the way they are dealing with it.  I know, I know, its 'Eastenders', a soap, its supposed to be far fetched but for the love of God. 

I'm not going to go on about what exactly I found dreadfull as this is not a blog about 'Eastenders' its a blog about dealing with Cancer and being the child of a perent with cancer.  Every person who deals with this disease has a different experience.  Not all of these experiences are bad. 

There are many different types of Cancer and who am I to say what one would or wouldn't do in any circumstance or how treatment effects different people, I can only write about what I know.

My mother was officially diagnosed on the 31st June 1996.  I was 19 years old and the eldest of three. She had been complaining for months about being totally swollen and feeling pregnant, but this was impossible as she had been seperated from my father for years and the only people she cared about was us, her kids.

I was a really independant young woman and had moved out the year before.  I remember getting a call in the middle of the night prior to her being diagnosed and she was screaming in pain.  I immediately drove to her and  I took her to the emergency room.  We spent hours in A&E, some 12 year old doctor saw us and x-rayed her and told her it was a kidney infection and sent us on our way.

I had a feeling that night something wasn't right, but who was I to argue with a young doctor.  This soon changed after she was diagnosed, I argued with a lot of them.  Anyway, I dont want to start this blog with a random string of thoughts that go nowhere but I will leave you with this, it's a quote, one of the first in my moms diary:

Feeling sorry for yourself and your present condition is not only a waste

of energy but the worst habit you could possibly have.

                                                                              Dale Carnegie