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I'm Carole, living in London, happily married and mum to two amazing boys.I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Rectal Cancer in April 2010. Surgery took place in November 2010 and I now have a permanent colostomy...Spinal mets were then diagnosed in October 2011...In January 2012 I was told of further spread to the hip area (multiple lesions)..My life expectancy is now 6-9 months. Walk alongside me on the last part of my experience with this..

Thursday 30 September 2010

Reading Material ...

Starting to get my bag organised for my 'trip' next week (trip - sounds better than operation eh)...

I thought I'd just quickly share with you all my reading material for my time in hospital...

I'm taking three books with me in the hope that I'll be comfortable enough to just relax and read in-between attempting to walk up and down every so often...

My books are:

My Shit Life so Far - Frankie Boyle
Shit My Dad Says - Justin Halpern
It's not Over till the Bag Lady Rings - Ian Spratley

Seeing any pattern here :-)))

I'm struggling to decide what I actually need in my 'trip' bag...packing for a holiday is much easier for some reason.

8 comments:

  1. Hi Carole
    Hope your cold is a bit better. What a bloomin nightmare ay?! Plenty Vit C, paracetamol etc...

    Re bag packing. I took an IPod in. It helped to drown out the 'noise' of the hospital and the bloody ticking clock on the wall. Might be worth getting a few books downloaded on there - the ones where people read you the story. Unfortunately, I only had 'My Naughty Little Sister' stories on mine because I'd borrowed it off the kids! - but I still ended up listening to them because I couldn't be bothered to read, and it was comforting having someone read me a story!
    xxxxxxxx

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  2. Good luck with your 'bag packing' attempts Carole. May be worthwhile thinking about magazines, or short stories, which I find are sometimes easier when attempts at concentration can be a problem.

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  3. Hi Carole,

    Just spoken with a nice young man called DJ who tells me you are in bed unwell! I do so hope and pray that you will be better, but much the same as the darn chemo if it isn't supposed to happen then it darn well wont.

    As for the list of things...well you and I have already discussed the daily bag swop so here is a list of absolute essentials. Some are not particulary homely and nice but then we are passed that for the moment :-)

    1. Wet wipes and not just for face and hands as sometimes you just cant get to the bathroom.

    2. A couple of tins of travel sweets, yes I know we shouldn't have sugar but sometimes when your mouth is dry, tastes like the bottom of a budgie cage and you cant drink water a boiled sweet is a luxury.

    3. A note book to write things down that you think about a) for your blog and b) as a sort of reminder, as those drugs and the uber major surgery will make you forget stuff

    4. Some sort of smelling oil...remember you are going to be in a bowel ward and when you are not feeling great with the sickness etc the last thing you want to smell is other peoples 'stuff'
    It's kinda funny as the nurses used to ask what I was up to then come over for a sniff sometimes poor things!

    5. Just a couple of quid for a news paper...to be honest it took me a good 4 weeks in hospital before I wanted to read a book or a paper as I felt so bloody ill, but once you start to feel better the routine of buying a paper and having a read of what's going on outside will help! You may also buy a different paper than the person in the next bed and do a swop :-)

    6. Your own headphones as the ones on the tele are used by loads of ill people (go figure) and the last thing you want is an ear infection.

    7. Pictures of family, always good in the middle of the night...

    8. Crystals, to hold on to and any kind that you feel drawn to...

    9. Mobile phone and charger as most hospitals allow it...

    10. Make-up, you will know when you are feeling better when you want to put some slap on!

    11. Tobacco, whisky and chocolate to bribe the guards!

    Defo the ipod and especially if you can get that CD downloaded...and most certainly short stories as like chez said concentration can be a pain!

    Much Love

    T xxx

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  4. Ear Plugs !!!!Emery boards,face cleansing wipes,pen and paper,change for newspaper,Manuka honey and loads of good wishes from everyone who knows you xxx
    Rose xxx

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  5. Thanks for all the suggestions so far - there's a few things there that I wouldn't have thought of...mind's all over the place :-)

    My hospital have said that they expect patients to get dressed into daytime clothes the first day after surgery - did that happen with you guys?

    I'm wondering how I'm going to be able to stand and walk, never mind actually get myself dressed at first.

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  6. Carole,

    Excuse the phrase but they are talking out of their arses! I was in the HDU for 3 days where you are told not to move if you can help it. I could not move for 24 hrs after I was back in the ward...This is major surgery and although you will push yourself (as I know you will) to get up and about, if you are hurting then don't do it...you know your body and they don't always know...

    Remember to do what they tell you most of the time but just sometimes they have to accept that you are a driven woman and not do it if it is not right...that point about knowing your own body is so true when I told them for 6 excruciatingly painful hours that my catheter was blocked!

    Thinking of you dear friend.

    Much Love and God's blessings

    Tony xxx

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  7. I will be keeping you in my prayers. For you cold to disappear and for your surgery to take place without having to wait a long time.

    I always throw in a couple gossip magazines, crossword or word search puzzles to keep my mind Lol "Sharp"
    Take good care my dear!!
    Love Alli......xx

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  8. Thank you Alli,
    I'm feeling like it's starting to ease up a little now. Few more days and I'll be as good as new once again :-)
    I'll add magazines & word searches to the bag tomorrow. Thank you xxx

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