Friday 30th was the date for my next visit to see my Herbalist for a treatment assessment/review and my weigh in, so I was up nice and early and relieved to see that the weather was going to be kind for my latest excursion.
When Jan had brought her previous client through into reception she asked me to go through to Room 3 - my favourite room, as it's the Reiki room. I also get to sit in a big comfy leather armchair in there. LOL
Once the previous client had gone Jan came through and immediately wanted to know what had happened on the lead up to and during my hospital stay, so I told her all about it. She asked what they had done for me..... well, pain relief. She was appalled that they hadn't actually given me any kind of treatment or done any other investigations other than the x-ray, ultra-sound scan and blood tests - she'd thought they would have done more. As I told her, I was a bit annoyed with myself soon after getting home: I'd realised that all I had were the Consultant's assertion that the cyst was benign, rather than any confirmed facts/results; I'd totally fallen for the carrot of being allowed home; what I realised I should have done was to refuse to go anywhere until those blood test results were back and I'd seen them; if I'd done that and the results were dodgy then they would have had to get on with everything straightaway, so there wouldn't have been this 5 week wait for definite answers. Five weeks can make an awful lot of difference. Ain't hindsight a bugger? Well, I can't change what happened now, so there's no use letting it get to me. She said that when I saw the Consultant on the 11th I was to insist on some answers and, if I'm told that the blood test was inconclusive I was to insist that they do more testing - apparently our hospital is very lax at doing testing (as Jan has discovered from several seriously ill cancer patients she is currently treating) resulting in long delays in diagnosis and then treatment. which doesn't bode well for the long term outlook/survival rates. I promised that if it was bad news I would speak to Jan before starting any treatments that are offered.
I mentioned that I'd also been to my GP's for a smear test a little earlier in the week. The results are currently taking 6 weeks to come through (more bloody delays: that could be life or death for some poor women, for goodness sakes!). I'd asked the nurse if there was any way of getting it fast tracked, so that the result could be with Mr Roberts (Gynae Consultant) for the 11th, so he'd have the full details on my downstairs department. She couldn't promise anything but made a note on the card that I had an ovarian cyst and was at the hospital on the 11th and to send the results to Mr Roberts' Clinic and hoped that would make a difference. I'm wondering about phoning his Clinic receptionist and telling them about this to see if they can pull any strings that end - selfish I know, when there are so many other women waiting, but surely it's best to have everything ready for this appointment, saving the NHS time and money from me having to have yet another appointment if (Goddess forbid!) something dodgy shows up on the smear?
Jan then asked how I felt the Candida treatment was going - did I feel like it was a problem anymore? Well, apart from a bit of a tortilla chip addiction that has recently got worse - Eureka moment here: it's probably comfort eating - none of the original food problems are a bother and if you discount the glitch from the recent health issues I'm the healthiest I've been in a very long while. OK then, Jan felt it was pointless my spending money on further Candida fungus treatment as I'd been doing it long enough for it to have been sorted, so what she proposed was
some preventative cancer treatments "just in case" because of the family history and, in her own words: I'm not going to have anything happen to you. She's taking it personally.
The gallstones were mentioned too. She didn't recommend gallbladder removal, unless it's a last resort, as it doesn't deal with the underlying problems that actually caused the stones to form in the first place, the result being that stones go on to form elsewhere in the body instead. There's something called a Gallbladder Flush that can be done - not pleasant, as it involves lots of castor oil, but what it does is soften up the stones so they can be more easily passed from the body with minimal, if any, pain. I'm up for that but not at the moment, as I feel I've enough on my plate right now: I can't think beyond the 11th and want the cyst problem sorting first. We did feel that genetics had a role to play with the stones though: my Dad had had stomach problems for years while I was growing up and there are some similarities in symptoms - he went on to have a major stones flare up that resulted in him being operated on very quickly. My grandad (his dad) had also suffered stomach problems. Jan thought it suggested an over production of bile. She would sort out a special diet for me and will email it to me next week, though I am also to continue to keep the sugars to a minimum and avoid yeast etc.
So the change in treatment has resulted in both the Candigest and Chromium tablets being dropped and an alteration to my medicine to include more cancer busting herbs - not a great change because some of them were in the mix anyway, though for a different reason. I now have to take: 1 L-Glutamine and 2 digestive tablets half an hour before each meal (no change - the L-G acts as a barrier, making it harder for cancerous cells to migrate elsewhere); 7mls of medicine just before each meal; 1 Turmeric (curcumin in turmeric has been found to kill certain cancer cells, as well as having other health benefits) and 1 Reservatol (also fights cancer.... as well as having anti-ageing properties) capsule at breakfast; 1 Green Tea (does something to cancer cells or the proteins in them - also an appetite suppressant, which is why dieters like them, so they should help with the diet and that tortilla chip addiction LOL) capsule 15 minutes before dinner and tea; 1 Garlic (does something to the cells again - also good for the heart and aids bad cholesterol reduction, both of which are needed too) and 1 Osteoguard (need to continue with this due to the dairy intolerance) with tea and continue taking an Acidophilus capsule before bed. If I thought I'd rattle before....... I definitely will now. ROFL
With that it was time to have the weigh in. Last month I was at 11stone 11lbs......... this month the scales read........... 11stone 9lbs. Not a huge loss but a loss nonetheless and I'm happy about it (though not so happy about how: I wouldn't want to go through that pain again to achieve a similar loss, thank you! LOL). It's not much more to go to make it into another half stone loss. Yay! Start working Green Tea capsules! LOL
With that I headed to reception with Jan's notebook and a few other things in hand whilst Jan went to mix my new batch of medicine. Shortly after her next client arrived, so it was obvious there wouldn't be any time for a natter about other things. The bill this month was on the large side but I knew DH wouldn't mind - you can't put a price on good health and, though he doesn't say much, he's also concerned about the results..... I can tell because he's suddenly getting on with laying the flooring in my Craft Room again........ without being nagged. LOL I made my next appointment for 2 weeks time (2 days after I see Mr Roberts, to discuss the findings and see what we need to do treatment-wise), thanked Jan and headed back out onto the street.
I must admit that talking about it all made me face up to the worry that I had, mostly, quite happily managed to ignore for much of the time up until then. Not a nice reality check! Though it is good to feel more pro-active, rather than the "in limbo" this waiting has made me feel. I decided to go with the distraction technique and headed for my favourite place on the High Street, the Hospice Bookshop. Looking in the window at the Halloween display I immediately spotted a book that was a must have for my esoteric collection, so I headed on in and promptly found a second one:
I'm not a Wiccan as I rarely work spells (my take: why try and force things when the Universe will ensure that what is truly needed is given when the time is right?) but I am interested in all aspects of belief/faith and aim to be as widely read as possible: knowledge, and thus wisdom, can be gleaned from many places. :0)
After paying for the books I headed for my second favourite shop, Sew Easie. I found quite a few lovelies in there again:
Can you tell by this selection that Halloween and Yule were very much on my mind? LOL After that I headed to Tesco Express to get a few food items, then home.
When DH got home I told him all that had transpired at the Clinic (and handed over the receipt - after warning him!). We decided that a good night out was called for (yes, more distraction technique) so we had tea early, got ready and headed for the theatre. Whilst we were at the theatre for The Shellseekers I'd had a look at the forthcoming performances programme and spotted that the Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers were there for a one-night show and had mentioned to DH that it was one I wouldn't mind seeing...... so he treated me, the lovely man. So glad he did, as it was an amazing performance - thoroughly enjoyed it, as did all the other folks in the very close to sell-out audience. In fact we enjoyed it so much we bought a CD afterwards and I asked one of the performers if they would be coming back next year, as it was the first time we'd seen them and would love to do so again. They were only just beginning to finalise the dates for 2010 but they were hoping to, as they found it a great venue. Something to look forward to! :0)
The next appointment I have is Reiki on Saturday, so it will be good to discuss things with Aureen and receive a much needed treatment. :0)
When Jan had brought her previous client through into reception she asked me to go through to Room 3 - my favourite room, as it's the Reiki room. I also get to sit in a big comfy leather armchair in there. LOL
Once the previous client had gone Jan came through and immediately wanted to know what had happened on the lead up to and during my hospital stay, so I told her all about it. She asked what they had done for me..... well, pain relief. She was appalled that they hadn't actually given me any kind of treatment or done any other investigations other than the x-ray, ultra-sound scan and blood tests - she'd thought they would have done more. As I told her, I was a bit annoyed with myself soon after getting home: I'd realised that all I had were the Consultant's assertion that the cyst was benign, rather than any confirmed facts/results; I'd totally fallen for the carrot of being allowed home; what I realised I should have done was to refuse to go anywhere until those blood test results were back and I'd seen them; if I'd done that and the results were dodgy then they would have had to get on with everything straightaway, so there wouldn't have been this 5 week wait for definite answers. Five weeks can make an awful lot of difference. Ain't hindsight a bugger? Well, I can't change what happened now, so there's no use letting it get to me. She said that when I saw the Consultant on the 11th I was to insist on some answers and, if I'm told that the blood test was inconclusive I was to insist that they do more testing - apparently our hospital is very lax at doing testing (as Jan has discovered from several seriously ill cancer patients she is currently treating) resulting in long delays in diagnosis and then treatment. which doesn't bode well for the long term outlook/survival rates. I promised that if it was bad news I would speak to Jan before starting any treatments that are offered.
I mentioned that I'd also been to my GP's for a smear test a little earlier in the week. The results are currently taking 6 weeks to come through (more bloody delays: that could be life or death for some poor women, for goodness sakes!). I'd asked the nurse if there was any way of getting it fast tracked, so that the result could be with Mr Roberts (Gynae Consultant) for the 11th, so he'd have the full details on my downstairs department. She couldn't promise anything but made a note on the card that I had an ovarian cyst and was at the hospital on the 11th and to send the results to Mr Roberts' Clinic and hoped that would make a difference. I'm wondering about phoning his Clinic receptionist and telling them about this to see if they can pull any strings that end - selfish I know, when there are so many other women waiting, but surely it's best to have everything ready for this appointment, saving the NHS time and money from me having to have yet another appointment if (Goddess forbid!) something dodgy shows up on the smear?
Jan then asked how I felt the Candida treatment was going - did I feel like it was a problem anymore? Well, apart from a bit of a tortilla chip addiction that has recently got worse - Eureka moment here: it's probably comfort eating - none of the original food problems are a bother and if you discount the glitch from the recent health issues I'm the healthiest I've been in a very long while. OK then, Jan felt it was pointless my spending money on further Candida fungus treatment as I'd been doing it long enough for it to have been sorted, so what she proposed was
some preventative cancer treatments "just in case" because of the family history and, in her own words: I'm not going to have anything happen to you. She's taking it personally.
The gallstones were mentioned too. She didn't recommend gallbladder removal, unless it's a last resort, as it doesn't deal with the underlying problems that actually caused the stones to form in the first place, the result being that stones go on to form elsewhere in the body instead. There's something called a Gallbladder Flush that can be done - not pleasant, as it involves lots of castor oil, but what it does is soften up the stones so they can be more easily passed from the body with minimal, if any, pain. I'm up for that but not at the moment, as I feel I've enough on my plate right now: I can't think beyond the 11th and want the cyst problem sorting first. We did feel that genetics had a role to play with the stones though: my Dad had had stomach problems for years while I was growing up and there are some similarities in symptoms - he went on to have a major stones flare up that resulted in him being operated on very quickly. My grandad (his dad) had also suffered stomach problems. Jan thought it suggested an over production of bile. She would sort out a special diet for me and will email it to me next week, though I am also to continue to keep the sugars to a minimum and avoid yeast etc.
So the change in treatment has resulted in both the Candigest and Chromium tablets being dropped and an alteration to my medicine to include more cancer busting herbs - not a great change because some of them were in the mix anyway, though for a different reason. I now have to take: 1 L-Glutamine and 2 digestive tablets half an hour before each meal (no change - the L-G acts as a barrier, making it harder for cancerous cells to migrate elsewhere); 7mls of medicine just before each meal; 1 Turmeric (curcumin in turmeric has been found to kill certain cancer cells, as well as having other health benefits) and 1 Reservatol (also fights cancer.... as well as having anti-ageing properties) capsule at breakfast; 1 Green Tea (does something to cancer cells or the proteins in them - also an appetite suppressant, which is why dieters like them, so they should help with the diet and that tortilla chip addiction LOL) capsule 15 minutes before dinner and tea; 1 Garlic (does something to the cells again - also good for the heart and aids bad cholesterol reduction, both of which are needed too) and 1 Osteoguard (need to continue with this due to the dairy intolerance) with tea and continue taking an Acidophilus capsule before bed. If I thought I'd rattle before....... I definitely will now. ROFL
With that it was time to have the weigh in. Last month I was at 11stone 11lbs......... this month the scales read........... 11stone 9lbs. Not a huge loss but a loss nonetheless and I'm happy about it (though not so happy about how: I wouldn't want to go through that pain again to achieve a similar loss, thank you! LOL). It's not much more to go to make it into another half stone loss. Yay! Start working Green Tea capsules! LOL
With that I headed to reception with Jan's notebook and a few other things in hand whilst Jan went to mix my new batch of medicine. Shortly after her next client arrived, so it was obvious there wouldn't be any time for a natter about other things. The bill this month was on the large side but I knew DH wouldn't mind - you can't put a price on good health and, though he doesn't say much, he's also concerned about the results..... I can tell because he's suddenly getting on with laying the flooring in my Craft Room again........ without being nagged. LOL I made my next appointment for 2 weeks time (2 days after I see Mr Roberts, to discuss the findings and see what we need to do treatment-wise), thanked Jan and headed back out onto the street.
I must admit that talking about it all made me face up to the worry that I had, mostly, quite happily managed to ignore for much of the time up until then. Not a nice reality check! Though it is good to feel more pro-active, rather than the "in limbo" this waiting has made me feel. I decided to go with the distraction technique and headed for my favourite place on the High Street, the Hospice Bookshop. Looking in the window at the Halloween display I immediately spotted a book that was a must have for my esoteric collection, so I headed on in and promptly found a second one:
I'm not a Wiccan as I rarely work spells (my take: why try and force things when the Universe will ensure that what is truly needed is given when the time is right?) but I am interested in all aspects of belief/faith and aim to be as widely read as possible: knowledge, and thus wisdom, can be gleaned from many places. :0)
After paying for the books I headed for my second favourite shop, Sew Easie. I found quite a few lovelies in there again:
Can you tell by this selection that Halloween and Yule were very much on my mind? LOL After that I headed to Tesco Express to get a few food items, then home.
When DH got home I told him all that had transpired at the Clinic (and handed over the receipt - after warning him!). We decided that a good night out was called for (yes, more distraction technique) so we had tea early, got ready and headed for the theatre. Whilst we were at the theatre for The Shellseekers I'd had a look at the forthcoming performances programme and spotted that the Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers were there for a one-night show and had mentioned to DH that it was one I wouldn't mind seeing...... so he treated me, the lovely man. So glad he did, as it was an amazing performance - thoroughly enjoyed it, as did all the other folks in the very close to sell-out audience. In fact we enjoyed it so much we bought a CD afterwards and I asked one of the performers if they would be coming back next year, as it was the first time we'd seen them and would love to do so again. They were only just beginning to finalise the dates for 2010 but they were hoping to, as they found it a great venue. Something to look forward to! :0)
The next appointment I have is Reiki on Saturday, so it will be good to discuss things with Aureen and receive a much needed treatment. :0)
1 comment:
Nice ribbons and finishings.
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