Hi LB

Good girl!! wish we had had one of you. That you are so on top of everything and treatment hasn't even started yet, puts you well ahead of the game.

My thoughts re the needles is to get the port. One thinks "ah yes, it will just be a couple of IVs on chemo days - not so bad" turns into "what, you need another blood test?". Alex and I did it both ways after his PICC (same as a port) failed after chemotherapy and he elected to go without for the rest of the treatment which was all the chemoradiation. We spent the entire 7 weeks telling each other that it was "just one more" and every week there was another reason to stick him with a needle. If your Mum's veins aren't that crash hot in the first place, this might be even more reason to do it. It also cuts treatment time down a bit as you don't have to wait for a nurse to insert the IV, you won't stuff around with the inevitable day when the nurse can't find a vein or the vein she DID find collapses. In my opinion, it is just one less stress that your mum needs to deal with.

The questions often come just AFTER you have walked out of the doctors rooms, so I would suggest you carry a book, or some other device to record your thinking. This way, whatever you thought of can be immediately written down and asked either via email or at the following appointment. My book was small enough to live in my handbag and had a little pocket to stick the inevitable loose notes that are collected.

I had a couple of sections: One to write down what the doctor said at the appointment and sometimes for them to draw pictures if I didn't understand; one to write down questions as I thought of them and one for appointments and things ToDo.

I also had a big piece of paper with the names of all the drugs and the doses broken into squares for morning, lunch, evening and before bed and Alex would put his drugs on top of the paper to make sure he had them all before he took them. Alex got very confused during his chemo and I was not always around to supervise.

I also found that writing a sort of journal helped as it kept my head straight and when I needed to tell the doctor which pain killer Alex had last week, I was able to name it AND tell the doctor my interpretation of why it was prescribed.

It also came in handy when I went into battle with the hospital but I'm sure this won't happen to you

Regarding informing family and friends: elect someone you trust to tell, and then let them organise the logistics of how to get the information out to those who need to know. I told 4 people what was going on - my boss who shared with those who needed to know at work; Alex's mother who shared with family and friends in New Zealand; my mother who shared with friends and family in Newcastle and one of Alex's scaly mates from the pub who put the word out around the local traps. I also wrote very long emails to a friend in Melbourne, but that was more to vent than share information

Now that I am a facebooker (:)) I would probably recommend that updates be put on a private group there too.