Having Fun After Cancer
HAVING FUN AFTER CANCER
Treatment finished - Dr. 30 Second tells me I don’t have to attend hospital for the next three months.
So why am I so ungrateful, feeling alone and unloved as I clutch my packet of pills? I should be kicking my red Ferragamo heels (put on to give me courage in case news was bad) , but don’t feel like doing this. Probably just as well as it would startle the solemn cleaners pushing cloths in the corridors. So I try to find out “why are you are feeding me hormonal drugs for the next five years,? My body doesn’t like the cancer drug side effects?”.
DON’T DESPAIR.
Most of us will be handed these little packets of innocent looking pills, and told we will be on them for around five years. With any luck you’ll be one of those who don’t have problems with side effects from cancer hormonal drugs. But if you do, there are wonderful things out there to help us - we just need to find them. Eventually I had a marvellous time digging out super treatments; and really did Have Fun After Cancer! Treatments were not ‘airy fairy’ treatments either, but things that, if we were French, American, etc. our doctors would offer us without thinking twice. So read on and enjoy!
Cancer Side Effects
There are vague hints that you ‘might’ have side effects from cancer drugs, but Doctors try to brush them aside on the principle that if they say nothing you will think you are the only one making a fuss. You are no longer part of the hospital system, so can’t ask fellow patients, and no-one seems to have time to help.
I turned into Grumpy Old Patient as I woke up blind in one eye, and my eminent radiologist said he had never heard of this happening with Tamoxifen. So it was left to me to try and fnd someond to help. (See under Eyes if that happens to you).
Then a week later as I changed blood-soaked sheets from skin blisters that had errupted overnight, I wondered - were these ‘normal’ cancer side effects from Tamoxifen - was cancer returning - or what? This time Dermatology professor at Chelsea and Westminster tried to tell me “it’s your age”. But he picked the wrong person to tell that to - I write about skincare! (See skin section).
Cancer treatment is hard work, and when you no longer have to be cheerful and positive, your body turns round and says “now it’s ME time”. What you both need is a bit of fun and pampering - very good for the soul and body.
And that’s what this website is all about - Having Fun After Cancer whilst you seek treatment for cancer drug side effects.
Helplines
So I tried to get back into system and find Elusive Oncology nurse. EO is busy with the latest batch of patients and I can’t make contact. Told “ask your GP”: he/she tells you they have no idea about cancer; “you seem to know more than I do”. Then you find out just how low down the pecking order Oncology is in the NHS, whatever politicians may say. For many chronic conditions, your GP’s surgery will receive extra payments for treating these. Cancer = zero.
When Cheerful Voice on the cancer helpline tells me “you seem to know more than I do”, I think she is calling me a know-all. Then realise yes, I did know an awful lot. Having been a journalist, I knew where to dig to find information. And decided that this website could short-cut the process for others.
Finding help
For every side effect, there are companies and contacts out there who provide lovely products and helpful advice - it’s just a question of finding them. And as Mary Poppins would say; a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, but then I often think doctors would never agree to her home-spun advice, particularly when it comes to post cancer treatment.
If you feel the medical profession is fobbing you off as a troublemaker, go to the section on “What’s it all about?” with statistics and information on how our treatment lags behind Europe. And how the NHS is increasing administration posts, rather than investing in better post cancer care. Talking about my website when I found myself in Accident and Emergency, the doctor looked thoughful. “We need more patients like you, who can put your problems in an articulate way - and we need to listen”.
So don’t think you are being a nuisance; if we highlight the problems, the NHS is going to have to address them, and then fewer people will decide to come off the drugs because they can’t handle side effects.
Vested Interests
Grumpy - now Puzzled Patient - wonders why don’t we do more in Britain to help with side effects? We are told hormonal drugs like Tamoxifen, Herceptin, Arimidex, Aromasin, etc. will help us live longer. But if we decide to chuck the pills down the drain, the drug companies lose guaranteed income of thousands over the five years, and the NHS is going to have to deal with more returning with further cancer. This seems like a no-brainer - no one wins.
There is a story told by every Consultant “Doctor, have you changed my medication?”
“No - why?”
“Because when I flush the pills down the loo they don’t disappear any more - they float.”
They think it funny. Grumpy Patient thinks why not deal with this and save the NHS money?
Dealing with Side Effects
Spoil yourself! It’s time for ME time. Tell family and friends you need to sort yourself out. You MAY get things like hot flushes, nausea, and very dry skin - so think about a strategy for coping.
Doctors and nurses seem scared of dealing with skin problems. Men and Women patients feel complaining about skin marks them down as being vain.
Writing about skincare was my speciality, and after cancer I had great fun trying out all sorts of lovely creams and potions, and discovering there was a great big community out there who did know what to do about dry skin, and were incredibly helpful. Yes, they are making money out of providing the products - so do the drug companies. Both have their part to play, and it is wrong of medical staff to say smuggly “we can’t recommend anything from a commercial company”. Drugs aren’t commercial?
Put yourself in the hands of a beauty consultant for a good skincare company at your local major store or chemist. Enjoy testing samples. Men too - if you haven’t been reading the lads magazines, you would be surprised at what is available - and used by Trendy Males - especially footballers.
Take advantage of Consultants in major stores and big chemists who support Look Good Feel Better. Make an appointment with any Consultant who takes part in this programme. Explain you are having cancer treatment and want to discuss what can help, and you will be surprised how helpful people are.
Warning!
As I write about skincare I realise that not all chemicals are bad, and not all so-called ‘pure’ products are that. But anything I mention has either
- been Clinically trialled,
- or can be prescribed on the NHS,
- as far as I know is genuine about being pure or even organic,
- and/or has passed the US Food and Drug Administration tests (or similar ones in places like Australia, where they have excellent post-cancer care).
Before you try anything, do read the mini-article on ‘Before you Start’. I am NOT medically-qualified, and although I have been very careful only to mention products and treatments that have been approved in some fashion, you never know. A product that works extremely well for others, might give contra-indications if you are on a cocktail of drugs. And always ask skincare Consultants to give you a patch test.
Then try the products, therapies and treatments - AND HAVE FUN!
