Ok, I go to Charing Cross Hospital (ace place) from Ealing.
In the earlier days, that was a quick & easy bus & tube journey ...
things have changed & I no longer feel up to it so it's a mini-cab now.
That's not changing anytime soon, is what I think.
That's just the public transport aspect ... how about home?
Do you live in a flat, as I do? Not too sure what difference that makes, except that ours is on the 1st floor.
It takes ages nowadays to walk around the flat; in the early days, no problem: now, breathless!
M can Kiss Mobility Good-Bye, for a while at least, until the effectiveness of the chemo course is proven ...
Saturday 24 December 2011
Sleep & what M misses
What does M miss? SLEEP, that's what.
He's been diagnosed with lung cancer since November 1st 2011 .. latterly, M gets little to NO sleep.
No fun: maybe 2 periods of 1/2 an hour, going to bed at 21:00, rising (with relief) at 05:00.
Well, 'going to bed' - that's an overstatement: what M does is 'go to chair.'
There's no 'bed' option. Why? Because lying down gives access to coughing & that interrupts sleep, uses lots of energy & is pretty uncomfortable.
So, M uses an armchair where he sits practically vertically. M need a good solid doubled-up blanket round his lower regions to keep warm and a light but fluffy smaller blanket for his chest area: this combo works well. It's also good to have a small 'curtain' hanging down from the seat of the chair, to prevent draughts around the calves & feet.
Recently, J bought M a memory-blanket (no trade-names here): it's very firm & protects his sore bottom ... when you have one & can laugh, go ahead! :-) Sore bottoms' causes comes up later.
Anyway, M spends a long time in that chair ... but then, he doesn't; because it's sooo tedious and the clock hardly moves, so it's up & into the kitchen to watch Sky news or BBC news or ate night poker or read a book or - well anything but sitting there quietly, although that is possible.
Because of the ingredients of M's chemo, he can't add in any alternative medicines, else he'd probably try for some kind of sleeping aid. He's tried a prescription-based set of Sleeping Tablets but after a gruesome first night, they're banned (stumbling around half asleep half awake and wondering where the hell he was didn't suit M at all!)
So, Sleep that knits the ravelled sleeve of Time? Where are you, pray? Nowhere that M knows of, except in 'normal' life, which is now rather distant.
What effect does the lack of Sleep have? TOO MUCH!
M has to try to remember he loves & admires J, else the lousy mood-effects of Sleep being absent are too, too bad for her to have to put up with.
He's been diagnosed with lung cancer since November 1st 2011 .. latterly, M gets little to NO sleep.
No fun: maybe 2 periods of 1/2 an hour, going to bed at 21:00, rising (with relief) at 05:00.
Well, 'going to bed' - that's an overstatement: what M does is 'go to chair.'
There's no 'bed' option. Why? Because lying down gives access to coughing & that interrupts sleep, uses lots of energy & is pretty uncomfortable.
So, M uses an armchair where he sits practically vertically. M need a good solid doubled-up blanket round his lower regions to keep warm and a light but fluffy smaller blanket for his chest area: this combo works well. It's also good to have a small 'curtain' hanging down from the seat of the chair, to prevent draughts around the calves & feet.
Recently, J bought M a memory-blanket (no trade-names here): it's very firm & protects his sore bottom ... when you have one & can laugh, go ahead! :-) Sore bottoms' causes comes up later.
Anyway, M spends a long time in that chair ... but then, he doesn't; because it's sooo tedious and the clock hardly moves, so it's up & into the kitchen to watch Sky news or BBC news or ate night poker or read a book or - well anything but sitting there quietly, although that is possible.
Because of the ingredients of M's chemo, he can't add in any alternative medicines, else he'd probably try for some kind of sleeping aid. He's tried a prescription-based set of Sleeping Tablets but after a gruesome first night, they're banned (stumbling around half asleep half awake and wondering where the hell he was didn't suit M at all!)
So, Sleep that knits the ravelled sleeve of Time? Where are you, pray? Nowhere that M knows of, except in 'normal' life, which is now rather distant.
What effect does the lack of Sleep have? TOO MUCH!
M has to try to remember he loves & admires J, else the lousy mood-effects of Sleep being absent are too, too bad for her to have to put up with.
Friday 23 December 2011
What's coming up .. according to M.
Although my acquaintance with lung cancer is short so far (with no guarantees of it getting very old either!), I thought I'd pass on some useful info for people who have even less & this is what I'll try to help with initially:
Mobility
Sleep
Appetite, constipation, diving in
Interest
Travel
Ablutions (bath-time)
Disability Discrimination
MacMillan
Alcohol
Sex
Time dragging
Links
Type of lung cancer
E-Cigarettes.
Seems enough for now ... some more will crop up, of course and there may be questions too.
What do you think?
Mobility
Sleep
Appetite, constipation, diving in
Interest
Travel
Ablutions (bath-time)
Disability Discrimination
MacMillan
Alcohol
Sex
Time dragging
Links
Type of lung cancer
E-Cigarettes.
Seems enough for now ... some more will crop up, of course and there may be questions too.
What do you think?
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