Health update... not Hodgkin’s lymphoma a little worse..

[Loopylooloo]

Tinkerbell, I am so sorry to hear your news, but I love your feisty fighting spirit and loved the nickname! I am sure other dibbers will have good advice re the chemo, but meantime am sending a really big warm hug. I will be thinking of you x

[JAF]

Sorry to hear your news and hope they are able to locate the primary and get rid of Scarlet Pimpernel. Sending buckets of pixie dust your way.

[MarBell]

Hi Tinkerbell, so sorry to hear this news for you. Having been through chemo myself, it affected my mouth quite a lot so I used fresh pineapple juice ( not from concentrate) and ate Papaya, this is to help the cells renew quicker apparently as cells in your mouth seem to take a bit of a beating. Also be kind to yourself, lots of hand cream and moisturiser and rest when you need to. I wish you well stay positive I'm sure that helps too. Good luck sweetheart you are in my thoughts.x

[Pumpkin Pie]

I also had a horrible taste in my mouth with chemo. I found fresh pineapple cubes and ice lollies helped. What I didn’t realise when I had my first chemo session (had eight in total) was although I wasn’t well the first week I would then start to feel better and by the third week (before next treatment) I felt normal. I worked throughout chemo (2 weeks out of 3) and radiotherapy so it’s not always as bad as you may imagine.

Hope they locate the primary soon.

[THE WIZARD]

Sorry to hear this TB but your a 'Kick Ass' person so without doubt you can beat this ####### !
The main thing is if your Team says, we can find and sort this, then they will find and sort it !
Chemo can be crap but it has a job to do so stick with it. Its possible side effects are different for everyone, so be prepared for anything or possibly nothing.
The DIBB & Pixie Dust can do absolute wonders so sending a quick bucket full for you to be going on with lovely.
Stay positive, even on crap days we will all fight along with you XXX

[Princesses 3]

Sorry to hear your news but I love your positive and practical attitude. Lots have mentioned food and taste. There is a cookbook from a fab local lad which is specifically written for those going through chemo and I’ve tried some of the food - lovely for everyone. The book is Life Kitchen and it might be worth a look.
Take care and sending you lots of luck and pixie dust 😊

[Floridatilly]

Please do keep us dated when feel up to it. My dad had a rough time through chemo, his team expressed that he needed to listen to his body and sleep when tired, eat when hungry and not be tied to a routine (sleep at bedtime, eat at meal times). He would sip drink, little and often and nibble on things as he couldn’t face a meal.
It actually helped when he gave in and slept during the day.

Good luck with your treatment and I really hope the find SP very soon! Sending my love x x x

[Sandra & co]

Sending Love, keep fighting and get better soon xxx ❤️

[ROBBOTOO]

Tinkerbell so sorry to hear your update. I hope they find hiding SP soon for you, so your treatment can be specific and isolated to what you need.

Everyone's chemo will be different and affect people differently.

My taste was massively affected. A lot of food and drink just tasted awful. I couldn't tolerate anything citrus. Sometimes my mouth was so sore it was like eating shards of metal. I lived on yoghurts and Weetabix a lot. I got very tired towards the end of chemo, but I had 8 rounds.

Take all the tablets they give you when they say you should. I was lucky, never felt sick at all.

Get a thermometer to keep a check on your temperature. Infections during chemo can be very dangerous.

Raise any concerns you have about side effects with your oncologist. They always tried to help with any I had.

Take plenty of things to do during treatment. I did loads of crosswords and watched loads of stuff downloaded on my iPad.

Do what your body says you can do. Rest or sleep a lot when you feel you need to.

It's not easy treatment, but there's a reason for that as it needs to kill it off.

Stay positive and count each treatment as one down and out of the way. My DH got me a beautiful Pandora bracelet and then a beautiful charm for each time I had a round of chemo. Something nice to look forward to each time.

Stay off Google, it's usually out of date and full of wrong information. Macmillan is a good forum for all types of cancer and with people who can help or just be there as a bit of support.

If I can help any more at all, please feel free to contact me.

It is hard but doable. My oncologist always said keep smiling.

[windsor_hills]

So sorry to hear your news. Whilst I can’t offer any meaningful advice, I just wanted to let you know I am thinking of you and to send you a massive virtual hug x