all change

Jan 13, 2008 10:58

thank you to those of you who got in touch regarding my nephew, be it by comment or phone ( Read more... )

james and the cancer

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Comments 13

gillywoo January 13 2008, 12:02:10 UTC
So sorry to hear about your nephew, I really hope things go well for him.

If he's undergoing chemo he'll probably be exhausted a lot of the time, so it's best to bring things which will occupy him but won't be too taxing. If he likes comics, that's probably a good idea.

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mamfa January 13 2008, 14:07:43 UTC
yeah - thats why we thought of audiobooks in case real ones were too much for him... hadn't thought of comics though - and who do i live with?!

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mamfa January 13 2008, 14:15:51 UTC
and thanks :)

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attack_monkey January 13 2008, 13:35:00 UTC
How long the chemo takes will largely depend on the dose and the drugs involved. Some are just tablets, it's the drips that can last a while. Mine was 4 drugs and took about 2 - 3 hours on average. There's a lot of sitting around and waiting though, it can get very boring!

I read an awful lot of books, I ended up buying myself a DS, which I got a lot of use out of. The audio books are a good idea too, as the chemo can really take it out of you, making concentrating on reading hard.

I hope it all goes ok for him!

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mamfa January 13 2008, 14:12:41 UTC
from what i can gather he's going to have a shunt put in his neck/ collarbone area. he's already freaked out about radioactive wee from the scans poor mite.

he got a ds for christmas but was getting tired pretty quick, although even normally he has the same stupidly short attention span his mother had when she was a kid!

glad we're on the right track with the audiobooks - turns out him and his little bro are closet dr who fans and there's a load of audiobooks for that :)

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attack_monkey January 14 2008, 09:23:16 UTC
Ahhhhhhh, they're putting in a port, makes sense, it'll make the chemo easier to administer, and it'll mean it'll be a lot less unpleasant (because the port goes into a large vein, it negates the problems of the chemo burning up the veins on your hands/arms, somethng I had problems with). It's a really quick process to have it put in and it's normally done under sedation sohe won't feel a thing!

:)

Good idea on the Who audio books, there are indeed an awful lot of those out there!

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mamfa January 14 2008, 13:27:03 UTC
anything that makes it easier on him is a blessing! shame they didn't do it for you if it has such nasty effects on the hand/arm veins...

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viktoria33 January 13 2008, 13:39:30 UTC
mp3 player/CD/cassette player, comics, books, colouring books/drawing books & colouring pens/pencils/crayons; Gameboy & games; encourage his school friends to send in letters for him to read & reply to so that he doesn't feel out of touch with them...

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mamfa January 13 2008, 14:15:34 UTC
he's normally got a short attention span (inherited from my sister cos she couldnt occupy herself for long either!) so all of the above are fab, although we were concerned about escapee items (eg pencils) that could trip others in the ward...

turns out his school are pioneers of lessons by satellite in that area - so he'll get to be at school without actually being at school! but i'll speak to my sis about the letter suggestions cos it's a nice personal touch :)

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viktoria33 January 13 2008, 16:39:27 UTC
In that case I'd suggest getting one of those colouring crayon pens that contain all the colours - you pop each mini crayon into the end of the pen to get the new colour. I'm sure you must know the type I mean?

It's good that he won't miss out on his schooling - anything that keeps life feeling 'normal' for him is good.

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mamfa January 13 2008, 14:16:22 UTC
thanks for the suggestions :)

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rocktapper January 13 2008, 15:12:43 UTC
I hope he's alright. It sounds like its been a hell of a week. I'll catch up more when I see you.

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