Looking for tips - various cancers and treatments

Hi all,

I have recently purchased the domain cancer.je (.je being the domain for the island of Jersey).  My aim is to create a basic hub that gives links to all the various services available to cancer patients in Jersey i.e. the charities, information on the accommodation set-up for treatment in England, government pages on benefits, mobility etc.

Currently there is nowhere like this and you need to know, or be told, what is available in Jersey to enable you to go look up exactly what they offer.  I cannot stress enough that this site will not give medical advice of any sort; I will not get any money from doing it; nor will it make recommendations, it is just a hub (or a list if you will).  I am keen to do it properly so have contacted the big cancer charities in Jersey to speak with them, ensure I'm not treading on toes, duplicating work etc. and I won't list any organisation without their written permission.

That said, I did think it useful to have a little page with some useful tips for the newly diagnosed, tips that are useful for most cancers and treatments (things like getting plenty of fluids, taking care of your skin, seeing your dentist, things you might want to keep in a 'go bag' etc.)  Really basic stuff that cannot harm anyone.

My experience is only of breast cancer and chemotherapy (thus far) so I would love to hear from people with a variety of different cancers and that have gone through different treatments as to what their very basic, common tips are.

Thanks in advance for any tips people give, please do specify what cancer type and treatment it's for.

Cheers, LJxx

  • Hi Twin

    What a neat idea and good luck.

    I was diagnosed with Tonsil/Throat cancer last summer and went through a whole bunch of treatments and am still in recovery mode.

    I kept a blog from the get go and more or less keep it up to date. Whole section dedicated to helpful tips within there. It's helped a lot of people as has a thread I started on here Radiotherapy for Throat Cancer.

    Happy if you wanted to post a link to my blog if you found it helpful under Radiotherapy for Throat Cancer or similar heading on your domain.

    radiotherapythroat.home.blog.

    regards

    ian

  • Hi twintwo i was going to put something about prostate cancer but when i thought about it there's that much variation depending on cancer count, and spread of the cancer, I'm still thinking about it but not sure it can be condensed enough not to take up to much room,. Billy

    P.s I'll try writing it out first 

  • Hi LJ

    What a good idea! I would have found something like this so useful on diagnosis.  I have cervical cancer so my advice is based on my experience of pelvic radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

    Follow a low fibre diet while undergoing radio. That seems counter intuitive when we think of a “healthy” diet, but pelvic radiotherapy can have horrible effects on your bowels, resulting in constant diarrhoea-eating white bread, pasta, and limiting fruit and veg intake can help.

    Tell your team immediately about any unpleasant side effects so they can prescribe appropriate medication for things like diarrhoea and heartburn.

    Drink loads of water every day to flush the chemo from your system-it’s hard on the kidneys. Add a splash of juice if you get fed up of water. Try different flavours-eg elderflower cordial to mix it up. 

    Cystitis is another nasty effect of pelvic radiotherapy. Drink cranberry juice every day in addition to water. When you go to the loo, wipe first with aqueous cream, and then after weeing wipe again with the cream to soothe the area.

    Keep a bag packed with useful items for hospital trips and bring things to occupy yourself during chemo:for cervical cancer the chemo session will last 6-7 hours. Take snacks and some sweets to suck in case of getting that chemo metallic taste. 

    Take the anti nausea meds prescribed at chemo even if you don’t feel sick. It’s easier to prevent nausea than try and get rid of it once it gets hold. 

    I’ll have a think about more things-this is just off the top of my head on reading your post, but there may well be more! x