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A Little Support Group
Linked to my facebook page you will now find a linked group called “A Little Support Group”. It’s going to be a female only group focussing on women’s health in all aspects. So please, feel free to join us if you’re going through something right now and you could really do with some like-minded individuals to chat with then click here!
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Chronic Pain & Me
In December 2017 I was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer for the first time. I didn’t know what “having cancer” would entail and I never expected the level of pain that it would cause me both physically and emotionally. Although I managed to find myself in remission from the cancer itself, it left me with a stark reminder of it: constant pain. We flew through the basic pain killers going from paracetamol to morphine to fentanyl pretty quickly as well as drugs like Gabapentin to try and control the neuropathy that formed in my feet initially due to the chemotherapy. By the time I finished treatment the neuropathy began to spread…
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Gear
Here I am spun out on gearWill tomorrow be less full of fear? Don’t worry it’s all legal,Free too, for those that are frugal. Each prescription goes, if you think I’m a drain,To fight the good fight – the war on pain.Because the nerves won’t listen anymore,They have panic attacks no matter the score. Adhesions don’t know how to healLeaving me unsure how to feelUnable to trust my own two feet on the floorDid you think I was joking when I said it’s a war? Like my body is on a spreeDesperately seeking a space to be freeTrying to find a moment of peace for my mindOverwhelmed by all my…
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Two Years On
Two years ago today I attended my first colposcopy appointment. I was 29 years old and I had just had my second baby. I was pretty much exuding happiness, tired happiness, but happiness nonetheless. Cancer. It’s a word none of us want to hear, ever. Not for ourselves or for those around us. It’s deceitful, it’s cunning and sly. It hides and it eludes is. It puts those who are diagnosed with it through hell (and that’s putting it mildly). It’s the word I heard by the end of that first appointment. As time goes by I become increasingly aware that I’m able to examine this memory from different angles.…
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The Thing about pain management…
Pain management is a really tricky thing. It’s a like trying to walk through a whirlwind to find the middle of the storm, a place of sanctuary and peace. Once you climb up the opioid ladder there aren’t many places left to go, and it becomes less about medications and more about exploring alternative avenues of pain relief. Acupuncture is highly recommended to help with neuropathic pain (nerve pain from broken or damaged nerves) and also to help with the hot flashes from the menopause. But it IS hard to find an acupuncturist who has the relevant experience of dealing with a cancer patient with damaged nerves, but I’m still…
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Remission
Remission;Feels like a lie by omission,This is just an intermission,A fire awaiting its ignition, It seems like I am waiting,For a little cell to begin tainting,While I spend every minute hating,This disease that spends no time wasting, Corrupting my flesh, my blood, my mindMy existence here is timedI’ve never felt so blindMy future already signed When it comes I shall fight,I will not lose the light,I will struggle with all my might,For those who shine so bright, Remission;Feels like a lie of omission,This is just an intermission,A fire awaiting its ignition.
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A long overdue update
Oh goodness, it’s been such a long time since I did a proper update. Things have been hard in so many ways. Now I’m just trying to think of where to begin to really update you. I guess a while back in July seems a good place to start, when I first heard the term “long term prospects” and was told that palliative care would be starting to had over to the pain clinic. This was amazing news but with the end of my radiotherapy came the beginning of my neuropathy. Neuropathic pain is notoriously hard to manage. There are drugs available to help but they often aren’t the loan…
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Little Messages
Little messages travel down to nerves, That shouldn’t be. Little messages travel down to nerves, Medication to fight that caused so much harm I wonder why it was so important that I won, Destroyed all the receptors it could find Leaving me broken Little messages send pain through my body That shouldn’t be. Little messages send pain through my body They shouldn’t be Contorted, I try to fight. But my skin is aflame, My organs are gone, lost to the fire. Even breathing seems to be hard, All because Little messages carry the flames throughout That shouldn’t be. Little messages carry the flames throughout They shouldn’t be I need to…
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Ovarian Cancer
My really good friend Stephie Langford endured the hell of Ovarian Cancer when she was in her early 20’s. She managed to beat the odds and smash stage three Ovarian cancer. She is one hell of a woman for managing to take on and beat her cancer. Lots of love to you Stephie xx The aim of this post is to hopefully help empower you guys to know what to look out for, to understand what it is and how it might affect your body. Ovarian cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in women. It occurs in the ovaries which are located low down in the tummy,…
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Vaginal Cancer
This a cancer that was realtively new to me to be honest, I knew that cervical cancer could spread down into the vagina but this is all about cancer that begins in the vagina. The NHS says it’s rare, especially in women under 40 but I still think it’s well worth knowing about it, and how to look out for it. Symptoms of Vaginal Cancer include: Vaginal bleeding after the menopause Bleeding after sex or pain during sex Smelly or bloodstained vaginal discharge Bleeding between periods A lump or itch in your vagina that won’t go away Pain when peeing, or needing to pee a lot. If you have these symptoms…
