Having Fun After Cancer
WHY WRITE THIS?
Cancer treatment in hospital does come to an end! As a patient , I suddenly found there is light at the end of the tunnel. With daily visits for radiotherapy finished, I could start planning fun things again.
Believe it or not, for every ‘nasty’ that cancer can throw at you, there is probably a gorgeous treatment or super product that helps with side effects – and makes life easier and more fun.
Every cancer patient I speak to says they have side effects. Most feel they can’t bother busy staff to find solutions; others can’t stand side effects and make the decision to stop the drugs that cause the problem.
DON’T DROP THE DRUGS
Statistics prove if we take these pills for the duration of the course (usually around five years) we have a far better chance of living longer. And recent research by Cancer Research UK (see under Cancer in the News – Side Effects) say the nastier side effects may prove the drugs are working better.
That was when I discovered that all the nice therapies that can be offered us are not just for fun – but serve a very practical purpose. They can help us stay on the drugs. Hormonal drugs, such as Tamoxifen, Aromasin, Arimidex, etc. are very strong. But using specially-developed products and therapies such as massage, skincare, etc. not only helps with side effects, but help you stay on these life-extending drugs, and give you a ‘feel good’ boost.
So I set up this website to give some ideas for zapping side effects. Hope they might work for you. But before you try them out, ask advice from your medical team.
Tamoxifen
I was given the hormonal drug Tamoxifen and told, “take these pills for the next five years”. One week after starting, I woke up blind in one eye. “I’ve never seen this before”, said Dr. 30 Second (my oncologist). “Er – shouldn’t I go and see someone?” IF you want to – he told me – so first stop was to find treatment, and if this happens to you look under ‘EYES’ under categories listed on the right hand side.
Sometimes Doctors don’t have time to help, and you can be made to feel ungrateful if you ask questions. Teenagers feel they must ‘get on with it’; older people are told “it’s your age”.
Phooey!
Statistics say 95% of us will have side effects. Often doctors and nurses are just too busy to deal with these, especially as everyone is different. They don’t have time to give individual attention to you – so you have to work things out for yourself. I found a French Consultant, who was reassuringly helpful, listened to me and sorted things out after testing my eyes for possible Tamoxifen poisoning. His verdict was my sight would return within two months – and it did.
A week later I developed bloody skin lesions all over my body. This time I tackled Disappearing Oncology Nurse to ask what I could do. Peeling a few more layers off, she couldn’t give me any help either. This time it was a Professor of Dermatology who said to me, “it’s your age”. When I challenged him, he swept out of the consulting room.
So back to France, where doctors knew these lesions were a side effect of Tamoxifen, and what to do. Because they take time to help with side effects, I am sure that is why they have some of the best post cancer survival rates in the world.
On this website I mention lots of lovely things I was given in French cancer centres, and also in Germany, and information I found from American and Australian cancer hospitals, and how the same treatments and products are now becoming available all over the world.
Why bother?
The trick is to take time and ask around to find solutions for clearing up or making side effects tolerable; I found plenty, and they were fun. Using my brain cells (even though some doctors seem to think we lose them with cancer) and lots of research here and in cancer centres abroad, I found lovely products and therapies, particularly for skin problems. And most had been clinically trialled or where recommended by the hospitals – so they weren’t untested.
HAVING FUN AFTER CANCER was the name I called my quest for treatments helping me stay on the drugs. Who could object to having massage to relieve fatigue, or being handed a jar of a gorgeous skin cream and being told “use this twice a day for your skin”? Not me!
I was treated for Breast Cancer, but talking to others I find that although we all have different side effects, for anyone taking drugs there are many similar problems. Since starting this website I have heard from others in 118 countries, on medicinal drugs – and experiencing side effects too.
So I hope this website is helpful, whatever medicinal drugs you are on.
I am NOT medically qualified, so relied on others to tell me what was
- Clinically trialled in France, USA, etc.
- Approved by FDA (Food and Drug Agencies) of Australia, USA and Europe
- Recommended by charities such as Macmillan etc.
- Or can be prescribed on NHS
However, before trying anything, ask advice of your doctor, oncologist or nurse.
Solutions
Choose a catergory (on right side of page), click on your ‘problem area’ category and find advice and possible solutions for problems with:
- Body Skin (arms, body and legs)
- Face Facts (what to do when drugs make us look old as the hills)
- Hands, Feet and Hair
- Products (yes, they make money, but in return they really help)
Coming off the drugs
Don’t come off them – treat your side effects as a way of finding out happy solutions for the problem. Don’t follow the advice given me by my Oncologist, who offered “do you want to come off the drug?”
No – no – no. I was looking for help with handling side effects. Not to throw away pills that would help prolong my life. Writing about skincare, I knew there had to be solutions to help me to stay on the drugs. It should be possible to get rid of the side effects they caused, let the drugs do their work and help me live longer.
On this site you will find lots of possible solutions to many side effects, used in different hospitals and cancer centres in France, Germany, Australia and the USA. Some can be accessed on the NHS, or from organisations like Macmillan.
I am not medically-qualified, but asked and asked questions of those who were – and found some wonderful products to use, and fun things to do.
What helps
Often the leaflets that come with the drugs will list possible side effects, then say “Ask your GP/doctor for advice on dealing with this”. I suspect our doctors are too busy with running a general practice, and don’t have the time that is given to these side effects abroad. However, French, German, American and Australian clinical trials are producing fantastic creams and lotions to help patients, and their superior survival rates prove staying on drugs is one way to live longer.
According to the World Health Organisation, NHS, The Lancet, etc., France comes tops in the post cancer survival league. Britain has one of the worst post-cancer survival rates in Europe – on a par with those at the bottom (best statistics show us between 13th – 17th, depending on the cancer).
But Europeans expect their doctors to deal with skin and other problem (sometimes British patients are too meek!) So have fun trying out the products prescribed by their doctors, which are available around the world. I also say what worked for me may not work for you – but hey! even if something I tried didn’t work for me, it was fun trying it out!
As I write about skincare, I knew there had to be solutions to help me to stay on the drugs. It should be possible to get rid of the side effects they caused, let the drugs do their work and help me live longer.
Dept. Health
Yet when I asked our Dept. of Health what plans they had to study what was happening in Europe, they replied “Nothing.”
This shows the sheer arrogance that we put up with in Britain, and when eminent medics say patients’ concerns must be addressed, they should be listened to.
So I followed Kylie Minogue, Marianne Faithfull and wives of eminent NHS surgeons and went to France and Germany to find out what could be done about cancer side effect problems. And the answer is: LOTS!
This website is all about dealing with side effects, or as I found out: Having Fun with the lovely treatments and products that European women are given as part of their recovery path.
Everything I mention on this site has
- been clinically trialled in France, USA, Australia or countries where post cancer treatment is superior to ours
- Or been approved by FDA (Food and drug agencies) of the above countries
- Or recommended as a treatment by charities such as Cancer Research UK, Macmillan etc. and offered as normal treatment to Europeans by their doctors
- Or available on NHS prescription
And the next medic who smugly says “we are not allowed to recommend commercial products” (even though they are recommended by doctors in Europe) might make me guilty of assault. What are the drugs they recommend we take, if not commercial?
My side effects
95% of us suffer from side effects. I was blind in one eye (for two months), and had bloody, peeling skin lesions all over my body,but had fun finding out what could be done. I was lucky. As a journalist I knew whom to ask for advice, and where to go.
So – if you have dry, itchy skin, peeling nails, straw hair, brillo pad face skin, cracked feet or any other skin problem from the drugs, don’t come off them – copy others abroad – see the details on this website!
Many of the products recommended to French and American cancer patients are now coming into chemists in Britain. We have to pay for them, but they work wonders on skin. Now my sight is restored, and Nurses say “you do have lovely skin”; no thanks to the NHS though.
NASTY, not NICE
And NICE had better watch out. Last year it was Patricia Hewitt who was hated and loathed across the NHS. This year it is NICE; researching drugs and products which have already been clinically trialled and approved in USA, France etc.
This I cannot understand. We are in the EU, so why not take advantage of their research? Don’t re-invent the wheel, but copy what has been discovered. Then approval for drugs would be up to Europe’s time scale, and their skincare products could be prescribed in Britain, without the need for expensive, duplicate clinical trials here. Most skincare companies are reluctant to spend millions on just getting clinical approval in Britain, when their products are already clinically trialled in other countries. When La Roche Posay launched in Britain, they knew that thousands of British women were already going on their website to order their products – so why bother about NICE when there was a ready market?
A recent Daily Mail front page spilt the beans, saying NICE spent more on PR than on researching new drugs. What NICE spend on PR would have paid for 200 kidney patients to receive the drugs they are currently denied.
Our doctors and nurses are overworked. It’s not their fault if they don’t have time to read up on all the new advances in Cancer treatment. But if we get nasty side effects from hormonal drugs (those we are on for five years), the way to survive is not to come off them – but learn how to deal with them as they do in other countries. That way we survive longer.
So this website is for those of you who are fed up with doctors saying they can’t help and don’t know what to do about side effects. Become an ‘Expert Patient’ and tell them!
And HAVE FUN AFTER CANCER!
If you want to contact me email me at veriteatgreenbee.net
The contents of this website are not intended to replace professional medical advice. If you are ill, have a medical problem or question, please consult a doctor or physician..
