Make sure the house is well cleaned
before you return.
Must have good support from
family for looking after you. It is vital to have someone
with you constantly for the first few months, and preferably
until you are well enough to do everything for youself.
Your carer(s) will need to do
everything for you including the shopping, cooking,
changing of bed linen and all usual household chores.
Force yourself to eat as much
as you can. That may not be alot but at this point,
you will have lost some taste and eating will not hold
the pleasure it once used to. This is the only way you'll
get better.
Do a little exercise. The sooner
you start to walk the better you'll eventually feel.
You'll find that in the first few days of leaving hospital
you are more fatigued than you've ever been in your
life. That's normal, but once again you have to try
and push yourself, and even have your carer push you
to do some exercise. One my first day home, I walked
for 5 mins and felt like collapsing. Don't over exceed
your limits. You'll quickly find that your stamina improves
and your general energy levels increase as you build
up your walks.
Get vitamin and mineral supplements.
Your body has been hammered by the treatment, and you'll
need extra neutritional suppliments especially as you
won't be eating much. Get multi minerals and vitamins.
Someone recommended Aloe Vera tablets for the digestive
system, as the gut is especially vulnerable to all the
chemo and radio-therapy. I have found them to work really
well, and haven't experienced abnormal stomach upsets.
Have seperate kitchen towels,
hand towels. make sure you use only hand and tea towels
for your self so there's less risk of catching something
off another person. It may be considered over the top,
but you need to give yourself every opportunity to stay
away from germs.
Wash your hands regularly and
avoid touching your mouth and picking your nose. Your
hands pick up much dirt and grim easily and you can
subconsiously tranfer that to your face if not careful,
and get an infection.
Change towel and bed linen every
other day for the first few weeks or until your bloods
increase a little more. Decrease this to twice a week
and then once a week.
Avoid crowds. Your doctor will
have given you instructions, but for every appointment
for the first three months I even work a mask at hospital.
You never know who has a cold, and it's safer to look
silly than to catch a cold, and return to hospital.
Avoid the sun like the plague,
and use the strongest sun block on exposed skin when
in the sun.
Try some basic yoga or stretching
in addition to the walking. The radiotherapy and time
spent in bed means you'll be quite stiff, and a bit
of stretching every night makes a big difference.
Continue with postitive thinking.
Spend some time occaisionally visualising your body
healing.
Continue the massages by asking
your carer or friends to help out.
Set yourself mini goals as you'll
have a lot of time to yourself. This will help break
up the days and give you somethings to focus on. Also
you'll get alot of satisfaction when you succeed. The
goals can be a simple as driving the car, or cooking
your own meal, or making something. Suddenly ordinary
everyday tasks become really fun and help to feel more
normal.
Keep writing your diary.
Stay away from anyone who has
had cold or flu for atleast 2-3 days after they've recovered,
otherwise you're risking your own health.
None must be allowed into the
house with illness and if the carer or member of the
family become ill, send them to a friend or relative
so they don't infact you. It's for your own benefit.
My brother caught the flu a month after I came home,
and he wasn't allowed back for five days until he had
recovered.
