Hi Greeners
Please read the posts above for other people’s ideas. I still stick to my regime which, although not perfect, seems to work. I have prunes and other fruits with fruit and fibre for breakfast. Followed by movicol with orange juice and then a large glass of prune juice. The prune juice is what does the trick. No prune juice, no go! I’m…[Read more]

I have suffered really badly in the past with constipation but I have found the best is Sunsweet Californian prune juice, available in Tescos. As a matter of fact I’m drinking a glass now, it really does work. You need a decent glass of juice first thing in the morning, if that doesn’t work after a couple of hours try another glass but don’t…[Read more]

Hi
I had the first Hickman line fitted which quickly became infected and was removed. The site cleared up quickly with no problems. I had a second line fitted in the same place and this worked perfectly all the way through my last chemo session and stem cell harvesting and stem cell replacement. It was removed on the ward by a junior doctor and to…[Read more]

Hi
It’s now 10.00 Tuesday 8th April. I have had diarrhoea, not too bad, and a sore throat / gullet. Maybe it’s early days! But I will give another update in a couple of days.
John

Lying in my hospital bed right now! Saturday at nine in the evening. I didn’t have any side effects from the Melphalan. Nor the Velcade the next day. No sickness, no sore mouth, didn’t need ice cubes or lollies. As a matter of fact I needed plenty of prune juice as I was constipated!
Hopefully everything else goes this easy.

John

I’m marking the days off on a board, trying to get home for the 19th, our anniversary. Apparently my white blood cells and platelets are dropping and that’s why I’m fatigued. Still eating ok at the moment though.
Thank you all for your replies and support.
John

Hi Keith
I’m in Southampton General, I wasn’t given the option of staying at home. Apart from feeling really tired and pain from the neuropathy I’m not too bad. The doctors said I can expect diareah but I am still suffering from my constipation! Let’s see how it goes over the next few days.
Best of luck
John

My wife and I both have iPads so we are using FaceTime, works brilliant and it’s free!
John

Hi
Had the stem cells yesterday, it’s now Thursday 3rd April, it took 7 bags! Very interesting to watch, the bags get wheeled in in a big flask with liquid nitrogen, they then take them one bag at a time and put them in a small ‘bain Marie’ from there allow them to gravity feed into my Hickman line.
Took a while because of the number of bags,…[Read more]

Hi
It’s Tuesday evening, I’ve had the Melphalan yesterday, seem OK today eating OK. Had a drip all day and Velcade injected into the line about midday. The drip has stopped so I am now free to hobble around the room.
Tomorrow about mid-morning I get the stem cells back. I will let you know how it goes!
John

Hi
It’s Monday now, admitted to Southampton General Sunday as promised. Had a saline drip all night and til 11am today then given the Melphalan, now I feel really rough, stomach pains, generally rough. My peripheral neuropathy is really bad. Tomorrow it’s Velcade and Wednesday stem cells. I’m being hydrated with saline and potassium.
John

Hi Again

Just phoned the hospital, as instructed, it appears a room is ready and I spoke to the Doctor who told me she has prescribed the drugs ready. I am to phone the ward at 11 am on Sunday just as a final check but it looks all set.
We already keep a bag ready for admissions but we will spend tomorrow checking and getting ready. Judith and I…[Read more]

Hi Rebecca and Carol

Hi
Our local specialist unit is in the Fernhurst Unit at St Richards Hospital which is in Chichester where we live, 5 minutes drive away. Southampton General where the SCT is taking place is 1 to 2 hours away depending on the traffic, so a long drive each way for my wife Judith.
We are talking about her visiting every other…[Read more]

Thanks Sal
We must have both been typing at the same time!
John

Just a bit more to add the above. I asked about the pain in my legs and feet and the tingling and numbness in my hands and the feeling of cold in my hands and feet. He told me this this was due to the Velcade given to me weeks ago. Apparently the effects of the Velcade ‘kicks in’ after a couple of weeks and that’s what I’m experiencing now.
He…[Read more]

Good Morning
An update!
Went to Southampton General this Tuesday, had blood tests and a bone marrow biopsy. Had the appointment with the consultant, spent a whole hour with him and went through everything with him. We had typed out a list of questions and my wife, a Judith, took notes during the appointment. I am being admitted this Sunday, as…[Read more]

Brilliant answers, just what I was looking for, thanks Carol and Rebecca.
I had a Hickman line fitted but it got infected so our local hospital St Richards removed it and kept me in while they hit me with antibiotics. Tuesday I had another line fitted in Southampton General, then straight up for 5 hours on the harvesting machine and we managed to…[Read more]

I know this subject has been done before but I’m hoping a bit of advice directly related to what I am experiencing will help. I have for some time had really bad tingling, shakes and cold in my hands which stops be writing, doing up buttons etc. Also my feet are the same but are swollen and up my ankles. Also, and I can only put this down to…[Read more]