Mimic This.....

I'm sure that most of you are aware of the ice bucket challenge that is taking social media by storm at the moment. I personally think that this is a great thing as it is raising awareness and funds for charities such as ALS and Macmillan. People should probably be reminded to mention this fact along with their donations in their posts or else it just becomes a video of folks tipping buckets of water over their heads. 

I have mentioned both ALS and Macmillan in this blog but there is an ongoing debate as to where the ice bucket craze originated. Macmillan are saying that they started the campaign in early July and that ALS joined in the fun towards the end of July. I'm pleased that both charities are benefitting. 

What I want to focus on in this blog however, is about a tweet that I saw earlier today. The tweet was about the purpose of the ice challenge. It claims that the dumping of ice water while your feet are submerged is to mimic the effects of chemotherapy treatments. It goes on to explain that being drenched is "exactly" what chemo patients feel. 

Somebody who tweets on behalf of Macmillan seems to agree with this statement. I can only assume it's somebody on work experience. They have clearly never gone through chemo. 

Now, I understand that every chemo patient has a different experience but I think it's safe to say that tipping a bucket of water over your head is not "exactly" what one who has cancer that goes through chemotherapy feels like. In fact I know so because I've been there and done it. 

To say that a bucket of cold water mimics the side effects associated with chemo offends me, deeply and since posting my thoughts on the subject on twitter I can see that it also offends many other chemo patients too. 

Chemo nearly killed me, not once, but three times. I'm not happy about that fact being trivialised by somebody who clearly doesn't have a clue what they are talking about. 

Here is a list of my side effects. There are many more. This is just what I endured. 

* Hair loss

* Insomnia ....like ALL NIGHT LONG

* Nausea/Sickness

* Sweating....cold, damp, clammy sweats

* Hot Flushes...and I mean HOT!!! 

* Stiff painful veins

* Bone Pain....I can only describe this as hardcore flu after being hit by a car

* Migraines

* Hallucinations....that pink clown....shudders

* Yellow diarrhoea....like rocket fuel. Just laying in the bath and letting it flow because I was too weak to sit on the loo.

* Mouth ulcers...to the point where the inside of my mouth actually started peeling away. So painful. 

*Fatigue....not being able to leave my bed  for weeks on end.

* Numbness in hands....a symptom that still troubles me one year on

* Weakness...crawling to the bathroom and taking 20 minutes to recover just to have a wee

* Palpitations....WOW!! 

* Finger nails falling off

* High Temperature

* Infections...Chest, Throat, Pneumonia, Shingles

* Sepsis (Neutropenic) 

* Anaemia...needed blood transfusion

* Low blood platelets...covered in bruises

* Low potassium...needed potassium infusions

* Bleeding gums 

* Tooth extraction

So as you can see every treatment does not feel "exactly" what the people who accepted the ice bucket challenge feels. 

Please stop sharing such utter fucking nonsense but please continue to have fun and don't forget to donate. 

To donate to ALS text "ICED55" with your donation to 70077

To donate £3 to Macmillan text "ICE" to 70550

Peace, love and chocolate cake x