Monthly Archives: September 2017

‘LET FOOD BE THY MEDICINE AND MEDICINE BE THY FOOD’ Hippocrates

When I heard last April that the Macmillan Horizon Centre was offering a short cookery course for cancer patients, I immediately decided to enrol, together with Joan, also a C-Side member.

‘We are what we eat’: Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, understood this 2,500 years ago!

Today, we all know the importance of eating a balanced diet, but this is especially crucial, without a doubt, following a debilitating operation or whilst undergoing medical treatment, not forgetting the stress that being diagnosed whit cancer can also create in the first place. A healthy diet, with the right vitamins and minerals can make such a difference to our well-being and recovery, both physically and mentally. Anxiety and depression can actually, on occasions, be linked to a poor diet. So, apart of course from medical treatment, seriously paying attention to what we are eating, at a time when we may feel the least like doing so, can give us the best chance to recover from this illness, especially as a positive mental attitude is so important for the healing process to take place effectively.

The course we attended last April was divided into 4 sessions of 2 1/2 hours each, over a period of 4 weeks, described as: ‘Eat a rainbow’, ‘Breakfast boost’, ‘Protein positive’ and ‘Quick and easy meals’. The aim of the course was to help us achieve a well-balanced diet, according to our needs, from breakfast to main meal, by putting together a collection of reasonably simple recipes that we could realistically be able to prepare in our own home, bearing in mind that when you are not feeling well, you may not feel like cooking, especially if it involves preparing a complicated dish! Tiredness and not feeling like eating at all can also be an issue, so the recipes were light but delicious and nutritious, and fun to prepare.

The course also provided an amazing opportunity to ask any questions from an expert nutritionist in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. This is so important for anyone recovering from any form of cancer, but especially from bowel cancer.

It was organized by Emma, the Cafe Manager at the Horizon Centre and Mhairi, a registered dietitian, not forgetting the Centre’s volunteer staff, always on hand to help with anything else needed.

The first half of each session was spent preparing the food. All the ingredients (all fresh and of top quality!) were kindly provided by the Centre. We were all given several choices of recipes, according to our preferences. We were also handed various very informative food fact sheets (e.g. ‘A closer look at red meat’ and ‘fruit & vegetables – how to get five-a-day), and we were also introduced to ‘mindful eating’.

The second half was spent eating together the food we had just prepared. This was a great social aspect of the course. There is nothing more powerful and uplifting than to share a meal with someone who has gone through the same life changing experience as yourself, whatever this may be.

Furthermore, the first floor room at the Horizon Centre is so bright and spacious, it was really pleasurable to have a leisurely meal in such an environment. Everything is brand new, the kitchen and cooking utensils all shiny and immaculate… all conducive to give you a sense of normality and really help you start enjoy life to the full again.

In conclusion, I would strongly recommend this course to anyone, but especially someone recovering from bowel cancer. We are so blessed, in spite of our health problems, to now have a place like the Macmillan Horizon Centre on our door step, offering us all these facilities. I am personally very grateful to everyone at the Centre for their help and dedication. This course, along with C-Side of course, has definitely played a part in my recovery. I am glad I did not let this great opportunity pass me by. (Nicole Pendlebury, September 2017)

Below, an example of a very easy, but delicious recipe, a high protein meal with healthy fats from an avocado:-

Tuna, avocado & quinoa salad:- (prep: 5 mins / cook: 20 mins)

INGREDIENTS:-

100g quinoa,
3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil,
Juice 1 lemon,
1/2 tbsp. white wine vinegar,
120g can tuna drained,
1 avocado stoned, peeled and cut into chunks,
200g cherry tomatoes on the vine, halved,
50g feta crumbled,
50g baby spinach,
2 tbsp. mixed seeds, toasted 

METHOD:-

  1. Rinse the quinoa under cold water. Tip into a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 mins until the grains have swollen but still have some bite. Drain, then transfer to a bowl to cool slightly.
  2. Meanwhile, in a jug, combine the oil, lemon juice and vinegar with some seasoning.
  3. Once the quinoa has cooled, mix with the dressing and all the remaining ingredients and season. Ready to serve!

Bon appetit,

Nicole

Keep a look out on this site for details on the next ‘EAT WELL, FEEL BETTER’ course at the Macmillan Horizon.

Denise’s Story

I have survived four cancer operations, spaced every 2-3 years since 2010.  The likelihood of a recurrence is considerable so I have learned to live with this.  Each operation involved a resection to my large bowel, although the cancer was in my peritoneum (the area inside the abdomen but outside the bowel).

More accurately, I have cancer of the appendix – Pseudo Myxoma Peritonea or PMP for short.  It is rare and starts at the end of the appendix.  When the tumour burst in 2010, cells were sprayed all over the peritoneum and they lurk there for years, hence my acceptance of a probable recurrence. 

It was almost impossible to diagnose as initially the tumour didn’t show up on a CT scan and of course a colonoscopy didn’t detect anything outside the bowel.  My first operation was as a result of an elected appendectomy – I knew something was wrong and for a year or more was told it was probably a grumbling appendix.  The tumour at the end of the appendix had penetrated the bowel, but not the lymph nodes, so it was a Dukes B diagnosis.

The tumour was removed, and I experienced 6 months of chemotherapy which virtually wiped out half a year of my life.  I was unable to do anything. I was totally without energy and with painful neuropathic symptoms in my mouth, hands, lower legs and feet.  The tumour returned in 2012 and I underwent a second operation, again at Brighton RSH.  But in 2014 yet another tumour developed and I was referred to Basingstoke, one of two specialist hospitals in the country that deals with peritoneal malignancy.  There I had what is called a cytoreduction – the removal of several bits inside the peritoneum including ovaries, womb and greater omentum, a resection of some of the small bowel and the removal of the abdomen wall on the RH side.  This was replaced with a mesh.   I feel like Bionic Woman!  The operation lasted 13 hours.

Although I was flushed out with hot chemotherapy and told that all visible cancer cells were removed, a tumour again returned in November 2016.  I was eventually operated on in March 2017.  My bowel had totally seized up and I didn’t eat for 10 days.  I was given palliative advice and planned my funeral.  The family gathered at my bedside and we said our farewells. At the last moment and when I was preparing myself for my demise, I was again accepted into Basingstoke as an emergency patient.  They performed an absolute miracle, wading through all of the scar tissue, removing the tumour (which had not only pressed on and stopped the bowel from working, it had wrapped itself round the femoral artery – I could have lost my right leg) and they saved my life.  The fact that I am left with a permanent stoma is merely a small inconvenience.

To say I am grateful to the NHS is an understatement! I owe my life several times over to both Brighton and Basingstoke hospitals and have nothing but praise for the clinical and nursing staff for all of their help, support and expertise.

But, I have learned several lessons since that first pain in my abdomen:

  • As soon as you feel any discomfort in the abdomen, ask for a referral to a consultant and for a CT scan. I hoped it would go away and as I felt ok I wasn’t too worried.  I left it for at least 18 months.  I should have insisted on a referral.
  • Brighton hospital (level 9) is amazing, but they don’t do cancer operations outside the bowel. There are too many essential organs and arteries in the peritoneum.  They knew that my cancer was on the appendix, but only referred me to Basingstoke for operations 3 and 4.  This might have been for financial reasons.  I don’t know.
  • Urge your oncologist to revise your chemotherapy prescription if you are unhappy with it. Mine was the highest dose as I am very tall.  This seems so arbitrary and my dose was almost halved at a stroke.  This was after 3 months.  Again, I wasn’t one to complain!  Even the half dose wiped me out.  As a result the MDT have agreed not to put me on chemotherapy following my last 3 operations. 
  • Always go to an oncologist’s and consultant’s meeting armed with questions and take someone with you as it is so easy to forget what is said. Ensure that they explain blood test results and CT or other scan results in simple, non-medical terms.
  • C-Side has given me so much confidence, information and friendship. I wish I knew then what I now know when I started off on my cancer journey.  I have learned the best way to find out what I need to know; what is worth worrying about and what value a shared experience with other cancer patients can do for my confidence and outlook on life.

    Denise
    Seaford
    8th September 2017