The Official "You Go CathyMoran" thread!

CathyMoran

Am totally amazed to the response to this thread, I can not thank everyone enough. Shane told me about it in ICU when I was really ill. I am speachless. Thanks for all of the support - it feels great to be alive. My parents let it slip that my heart had stopped twice (during the cardiac problems) so it really is a miracle that I am alive. Thanks again, will be back to normal posting shortly.

Aoife (Aoife-Cait)

Mrs_Doyle

CathyMoran wrote:

Am totally amazed to the response to this thread, I can not thank everyone enough. Shane told me about it in ICU when I was really ill. I am speachless. Thanks for all of the support - it feels great to be alive. My parents let it slip that my heart had stopped twice (during the cardiac problems) so it really is a miracle that I am alive. Thanks again, will be back to normal posting shortly.

Aoife (Aoife-Cait)

Welcome Back Lil Lady

ARGINITE

Delighted to see your back, Boards wouldnt be the same without you.

BrianCalgary

Hey Cathy
Great to see you back.

What a great and wonderful God we serve.

Brian

koneko

Great to have you back Cathy

CathyMoran

Just being a bit cheeky, I wanted to thank Shane here for being so amazing, he has been the most amazing husband, when I was in ICU he was getting up at 4am and going into me.

This thread filled in some of the blanks, ICU was horrible, am glad that I got through it, there were some really tough days and I remember being in a lot of pain and the lung thing was horrible...yuck. The staff in St Vincents were amazing in helping get me better, you would be suprised how hard it was to walk after over 2 weeks of not walking, still finding stairs tough, was only out to the shops once today and that made me tired but I will get stronger. When I saw the surgeon the other day I asked him when I could swim again (he said 6 weeks), am really looking forward to that, before the surgery I started swimming every second day with Shane and fell in love with it (is very addictive).

I have a 2 year wait to get the all clear, want to eat as healthily as possible to make sure that it does not come back so will be eating more fruit and veg, everything healthy as I have so much to live for. Sorry for my ramble and thanks again for all your messages of support, I know that they really helped Shane also through what has been a very tough time for us.

simu

Welcome back

tinkerbell

Welcome back

kensutz

Welcome back Cathy good to see you back on the site and many thanks Shane once again for all the updates.

Drift

Fantastic to see you back in action Cathy, you're an inspiration to us all.

Kolodny

Good to see you back girl!

Ruu_Old

Good to see you back. You were missed.

Beelzebub

Welcome back Cathy, best news I've heard in a long time.:)

CathyMoran

Here is a photo of me today, the hair is growing back nicely, sorry that it is sideways, on Shane's computer and can not rotate it. You can two scars on my neck, the bigger one is where the join from what remains of my oesophagus is (all 2cm of it).

tbh

wow. There's a lot of strength in that picture.

CathyMoran

tbh wrote:

wow. There's a lot of strength in that picture.

Heh, heh, heh, I look like bride of Frankenstein, you should see the other scars, I deffinitly have a shark bite on my back. It took a lot to get through it. The hair is growing back nicely though

nesf

CathyMoran wrote:

Am totally amazed to the response to this thread, I can not thank everyone enough. Shane told me about it in ICU when I was really ill. I am speachless. Thanks for all of the support - it feels great to be alive. My parents let it slip that my heart had stopped twice (during the cardiac problems) so it really is a miracle that I am alive. Thanks again, will be back to normal posting shortly.

Aoife (Aoife-Cait)

Welcome back.

tbh

you should get a tattoo near the shark-bite scar saying "I fight back".

Wibbs

tbh wrote:

you should get a tattoo near the shark-bite scar saying "I fight back".

Or a tattoo saying "You should see the state of the other guy":D

Very very glad this is going so well for the pair of you. Really great result and an uplifting thing to hear.

mike65

Great to see you up and sideways.

I've heard it said that the hair that grows back after is better, thicker, lusher than what was there before.

Mike.

free2fly

Got a little tear in my eye when I saw that you are back! You have been missed. And I'm so happy that you are doing well enough to post here again. You look fabulous!

dame

I don't know you but I've been reading Shane's reports of your progress (you found a star there!) and am so glad to see you back Cathy. Best wishes for a speedy recouperation!

mr_angry

Welcome back! Time to catch up on all that modding you missed while skiving off young lady!

Bob the Builder

Glad to see your better... As you can see, you had the support of all Boards on top of you, and your back, so you can start now, by looking at all the billions of threads you missed while you were gone :P, glad to have you back!

Diogenes

Cathy Shane, we don't know each other. We've never met. But I've watched this thread with fear and then growing hope with each post, I'm so proud and pleased for you. And glad that Dr Octkor is the first doctor you saw outside hospital.

Beruthiel

Cathy, your mental strength is inspiring!
Welcome back

misswex

Great to see you back Cathy, you are a true inspiration and that picture you just posted show true strength.

You guys are fantastic and you really found a gem in your hubby Cathy

All the best and your in my thoughts

holly_johnson

Welcome back, you were missed.
Great news that you're much better. Now you can get on and enjoy married life!

morgana

As another one of those who followed the thread silently, I am so relieved you are on the road to recovery. You & Shane show incredible strength and resolve, keep it going
It's great to see you back and posting

Ickle Magoo

Great to have you back Aoife! I can't imagine what you have been through. Hope life is all fun & games from here on-in!

sweet-rasmus

glad to see you're back brilliant news!

Tom Dunne

CathyMoran wrote:

The hair is growing back nicely though

Just remember, you have more hair than all of us on the BG/RH forum combined. In fact, you may just qualify as an honorary member.

Welcome back, you are an inspiration to us all.

Stargal

Welcome back Aoife

iguana

Welcome back Aoife, it's great to hear that you are doing so well.:D

jos28

Great to see you back. Its onwards and upwards from here. Take each day as it comes. You are on the road to recovery and you will know that you are truly better when people stop asking how you are. Here's to it !:D

Puck

It's great to have you back CM! We have the same hairstyle.

Mr Magnolia

Great to see you back , you've both been inspirations

Trinity

Jeez turn my back on the thread for a minute and your out and posting!

Welcome back CathyMoran, really really pleased you are okay

CathyMoran

It has been great to be back home though my progress seems slow - walking up stairs still makes me very tired and I can barely walk down to the local shop 5 minutes away (walking around the zoo had me incredibly tired)...maybe I am trying too much too soon. My stomach is still getting used to the fact that it is also an oesophagus so I still get bad stomach pain after eating and still get sick after food, but it is learning. I would still be in a lot of pain from my scars and take my painkillers when I can but they are improving. I also have irritation of my windpipe and my vocal tract as the join in my oesophagus is closed to my windpipe and they operated close to my voice box so it has been brusied.

It all sounds worse than it is - seeing my husbands face, being free, spending time with family, having and planning my future again, surfing the web, being outside, shopping, seeing children playing make it all worth it and I am very greatful to be alive, I do not want to waste my life and am living every second.

nesf

Just remember to take things easy and give your body a chance to heal. I found it hard to do after pneumonia, I can't even begin to comprehend what it must be like for you at the moment but forcing yourself to do too much too quickly just isn't a great idea and will have you feeling like crap. That said, at least you have the internet to distract you!

Hagar

CathyMoran wrote:

I am very greatful to be alive, I do not want to waste my life and am living every second.

Wise words well spoken. We could all learn from you. You are an inspiration.

CathyMoran

It is just great to have the potential to have a future again, sure there is a chance that it will come back (30%) but that is far better odds than what I had before. Living in the moment for the past few months was actually a lot of fun, I was very conscious though of trying to have great memories for Shane just in case...I did a lot of fun things and learnt not to put fun things off and am still doing that...now that I have a future though I can plan. Is great having Shane around, we are newlyweds and are very much in the honeymoon phase, have a nearly constant smile on my face because he is around. Being bold and getting a camcorder so that we can film our lives going forward, will be getting a fair bit back from the VHI for expenses from last year so can almost justify it.

Everyone thinks that cancer is scary, sure, when you first hear the word it is but I have found it to be positive in so many ways, do not get me the wrong way, I would far rather that I never had it, but there is life during and after cancer. I hope that this may help anyone who has a relative going through cancer or who has just been diagnosed.

ARGINITE

Great to see that your geting your life back on track again after the op.

Asiaprod

Welcome back Cathy, take it easy and do not try to do too much to quick. The healing process needs time:)

gyppo

Hi Aoife,

Been following your story and this thread for a long time now, and all I can say is you're one amazing lady, and an inspiration to us all. Likewise, your other half deserves serious respect.

Great to see you back at home, and back on your feet. God bless to you both.

NextSteps

How're you doing now?

CathyMoran

Kind of feel like a bit of a let down. The pain that I was experiencing was not being managed by my pain meds, this came to a head on Sunday when my nerves in my chest where the flesh had been pealed back decided to wake up again, causing me to cry all day and my husband had to get me to see an emergency doctor. I ended up having to use codine derivatives again, something that I vowed not to do as I get bad side effects but they are the only painkillers that are strong enough. Am still not eating enough, I get bad pain after I eat so it is hard to eat, am still loosing weight but that is common after the surgery. Would not be walking enough. I also still vomit all the time, am tired and my breathing is still laboured.

I did get an emergency appointment with my consultant tomorrow who will hopefully be able to assist me. Shane has been wonderful but there is very little (no) assistance in the community and you need help so have been a bit swamped.

I know from survivors of my illness that this time has been described as "a year in hell".

On a positive note - I got to my 33rd birthday last week, something that was touch and go for so long. I have 4,500 words written of my book so far, have barely touched most issues so there is a lot more in it, if nothing else it will be something for our future kids to read when they are old enough. I also got my gorgeous lap top. Am thinking of spoiling myself my getting a camcorder so that we can record memories but then I saw a gorgeous telescope so will be getting a cheapo camcorder. The VHI should be coughing up money for expenses last year so will be spending some of that on this (but do not plan on spending that much).

Ah! Happy belated birthday!

ARGINITE

Belated happy birthday++;
Good luck with the book, Im sure it would make a very interesting read.

CathyMoran

Feeling a lot more reassured today - saw the surgeon again who adjusted my pain meds and let me know that recovery from my surgery normally takes a long time (months). I think that it is just hard to accept that this part of my recovery will take so long. I am still very greatful that I am alive and to all the people who helped me along the way. My husband is as ever being wonderful - marrying him in the middle of this was the one sensible thing that I did. Sorry that I was having a bad day the last time I posted.