Lobe Yourself

I am filled with joy to be writing that my suspected Astrocytoma is 6 months stable! With every scan and result I can feel myself becoming more brave and more trusting in my body. I am more confident than ever that I will be able to heal myself through my positive attitude, alternative treatments and faith. Watch this space! By 2020 I am aiming to have raised £5000 for The Brain Tumour Charity to help #FindACureSooner and ensure continued support and readily available resources for patients and families of those who have Brain Tumours. Please click on the link and donate, if all of my readers donated £1 I would have met my target already! https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/moneyforbrains

Seeing loved ones go through cancer: At the age of seven, I watched both my Nan and Granddad end their battles with cancer just a year apart from each other. I didn’t anticipate watching any other loved ones go through the same.   In the June of 2014, a couple of days before sitting my A-Level exams, it felt as though my world came crashing down. My dad was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer. I cannot even begin to underpin a single emotion I was feeling but it was an amalgamation of sadness, fear and anger. I remember asking my dad how he was feeling after he had been diagnosed and I was taken aback when he responded with “ok”. He said that receiving a diagnosis was much better than not knowing what was wrong, despite me feeling like this was the worst possible scenario.     My dad’s strength throughout his chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery is definitely the reason why he is still with us today. I believe that his positive mental attitud...

Helpful Nutrition for Cancer & Tumours:  Over the past year, I’ve found it very difficult to find genuine and helpful nutrition tips without reading that I have to completely change both my diet and lifestyle. Some people preach that a miracle cure lies within a particular diet, but most of these have very strict rules with limited food groups to adhere to - which makes for a very restrictive life. I simply don't want this. Some of you will recognise the titles: Ketogenic, Alkaline, Juicing etc …these have their short term benefits and can definitely aid weight loss but isn’t having cancer already hard enough? What happened to just eating healthily and doing the best you can? So me days the basic tasks can seem impossible so doing a weeks’ worth of food prep or going out to the shop for fresh veg is simply not going to happen. I’ve tried a lot of these diets for a few weeks at a time and quite frankly they really lower my quality of life.  Some da...

Today I had my first ever Vitamin IV at Get A Drip  in London where I live. There is a whole menu of great stuff to choose from but I went for the Immunity Boosting drip which comprimises of: Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B4 and B6. Three doses of Vitamin C (3000mg) which is known to have positive effects on tumour shrinkage. Rehydration solution which contains all of the fabulous electrolytes your body needs to replenish itself including potassium and glucose. A booster Vitamin B12 IM shot for energy and again, immunity. One of the main problems we, as Brain Tumour patients have is that there is a distinct lack of new studies or evidence to help us with our treatment choices and options. There is literally nothing. However, there is a lot of recent stuff out there that basic vitamins such as C & B at really high levels can attack our cancer and tumour cells to prevent any growth: Cancer researchers have homed in on how high-dose vitamin C kills cancer cells. Vitamin C...

Having been a competitive dancer before I started my degree I had always disregarded the idea of starting regular Yoga classes because I'd managed to retain my flexiblility and core strength. At the end of the day- that's what Yoga was all about anyway right? - wrong! A few weeks ago I came to realise my perception of Yoga, what it was and who it's for, came mostly from what I see on Instagram and glossy magazines- young, supple athletes contorting themselves into strange positions in a variety of picturesque settings. What I also came to realise was that for whatever reason I was going through a period of stress which was starting to give me physical pain. A few friends, the Internet and a good new-joiner offer on my local studio pointed me in the direction of taking up 5 weeks of Gentle Yoga. My studio specifically offers a 'Gentle’class which is for everybody including beginners and experts. I chose this class because it focuses on the power of Breath, med...

I remember feeling so isolated when I was first diagnosed, it was as though I was the only person going through this, and nobody could possibly understand how I felt. I was given a leaflet about my treatment course by my Clinical Nurse Specialist, Mary, who recommended I look up The Brain Tumour Charity, when I was ready to do so- AKA after the big tantrum I was about to have.   After a simple Google I was presented with everything I needed on the easy-to-use website. I downloaded my Information Pack for those who are newly diagnosed which you can find here . In this is all the information you need about your diagnosis, your rights as a patient and how the charity works with you and for you . It turns out there's a huge community of people willing to show their support to you even if they do not have a Brain Tumour. There's also a phenomenal amount of people in my exact shoes who I've been so lucky to be connected with. I truly have never needed to go anywh...

The consultation always comes and goes quicker than we expect. Sometimes that's because you've focused on some tumour changes, maybe it's because you're stable or maybe it's simply because your neurosurgeon isn't great at freely offering information. I don't know about you but I always come away and remember 1000 questions that I wanted to ask and will now have to wait until next time to. Whether you're on ' watch and wait ' like myself, an intensive treatment plan or its your first ever appointment, below is a snippet of a checklist devised by the Brain Tumour Charity so that you get the most information possible out of your appointment: Who is my Clinical Nurse Specialist and how do I get hold of them? A CNS is a very experienced Nurse who is your number one point of contact for questions, concerns and everything else to do with your care. They have the ability to refer you to other services such as a Councillor or a Epilepsy Clinic...