16 replies to this topic

[PhilB]

Hi all,

I hope everyone is well and happy and having fun.  As planned I've been ignoring my CML lately (apart from taking the daily pill) and am currently in Australia on my first overseas holiday in years.  Life is good.  One thing I have been noticing lately though is numbness / tingling in my fingers after swimming for a while, which seems to get worse the longer I'm in the water.  it starts with just the tips of my thumb and first two fingers, but after about an hour and a half of swimming and surfing today it was up to about the second knuckle and I had hardly any feeling.  it slowly wore off over about half an hour once I was out of the water.  Does this sound like a Glivec side effect or is this something I can't blame on the big G?

best wishes to all

Phil

[Trey]

It may be a matter of temperature.  But you would think this would also be noticed in cold weather if that is the problem.

Another issue is the absorption of water through the skin.  If swimming in the ocean, then  you also absorb salt from the water.  If in a pool, then chlorine.  These might change the way your peripheral synapses fire. 

TKI drugs can cause some to be more susceptible to such changes. 

Why do you take a vacation from thinking about CML, then write to us while on a vacation?

Tell Herodotus we said "G'day". 

[PhilB]

Thanks Trey.  I'll probably ask my GP about it when I get home.  As for why I'm writing now, it's traditional to send postcards to your (imaginary) friends when you go on holiday!

Reading a couple of the other threads, I'm sorry to see that so many people have been having health problems, PEs, etc.  I don't know, I turn my back for two minutes and everyone starts falling apart.  I clearly need to keep more of an eye on you all and send more positive waves.

[Marnie]

Hey, Phil. . .glad to hear that you are on vacation and enjoying yourself.  Also happy to hear that things are going well for you and that you have been able to get on with life and not have cml staring you in the face every day. 

Enjoy the rest of your holiday!

Marnie

[hannibellemo]

Well, I'm certainly glad I didn't go back to London with Pat this month! I would have been terribly disappointed to learn you were in Australia! Glad you all are having a great time! I wouldn't be too concerned about the tingling, just stay away from Australia in the future!

Found some great videos concerning Australian waters on www. sharkattack. com!    Surfing, indeed!

Love to you and the fam, too,

Pat

[GerryL]

If he heads to the northern part of Australia, he'll have to watch our for crocs and Irukandji http://www.health.ql...s/jellyfish.asp

[GerryL]

Hi Phil,

Hoping you are enjoying your holiday.

Don't forget to stay out of the midday sun. http://sniff.numachi.../tiMADDOGS.html

[PhilB]

Hi Pat,

I hope Pat II took her thermals!  The weather in the UK has been pretty horrid with plenty of snow.  Having said that, when the temperature here hit 37C a bit of snow sounded appealing!

We only had to get out of the sea once because of a shark sighting.  It's the spiders that worry me.  And the drop bears of course.

All the best

Phil

[PhilB]

Thanks Marnie.

Having a great time and so far I've got to stroke and/or eat kangaroos, wombats, koalas and alligator - but no moose!

Phil

[PhilB]

G'day Gerry,

I've been finding the best place to hide from the midday sun is underwater.  Unfortunately it looks like my last couple of days will be spent hiding from the midday rain.

Oz is a lovely country, but you really need to do something about your cheese and your sausages.  And don't even mention the "Cornish pasties". Thank heavens you have good wine and some nice wildlife to eat!

All the best

Phil

[hannibellemo]

Spiders! Don't even mention them, this is totally how I feel about spiders...

Try a little vegemite behind your ears to ward off the drop bears. I hear it works wonders!

Pat

[CallMeLucky]

For those of you who don't know what a Drop Bear is, I had to look it up.  This depiction below sums up Phil's concern.

Phil - if you replace your feather with something a bit sharper you may be able to fend them off.

Enjoy the rest of your trip - safe travels......

[PhilB]

Hi Pat

One of our friends was completely phobic about spiders, and when she had a son she was determined not to pass the fear on to him. She tried her best never to show any fear in front of him and she was therefore totally mortified when her distressed son came running in one day saying "Mummy, Mummy, I don't like spiders!"

She was frantically racking her brains for any occasion when she might have let slip her fears to him, when he continued "They taste funny!""

[PhilB]

Thanks for the diagram Lucky - and for the wish for safe travels.  The travel has me more worried than the bears at the moment given that I have a stopover in South Korea...

[GerryL]

Hi Phil,

I've eaten croc but not alligator - not sure where you found alligators, I thought they lived in Florida.  I've also eaten Kangaroo (which I like) and emu. But I warn you not to try camel, though perhaps it might appeal to the English taste buds, as it is very gamey.

It's 20 degrees at the moment in Brisbane, nearly time to get the winter woolies out. Good luck with your stop over in Korea.

[PhilB]

Hi Gerry,

I only stroked the alligator rather than eating it.  They have a nice little colony of them at the Australian Reptile park on the Central Coast.  I have eaten it before in the US (like eating a squash ball) and I've had croc before in Oz which was lovely.  I've had and enjoyed Camel in North Africa, but I wasn't tempted by the Camel sausages in Woy Woy!  Emu I love, but we didn't manage to find any on this trip.

My favourite restaurant in Sydney has closed I'm afraid so it's been much harder to find things on this trip.

[GerryL]

I've stroked a croc but it was only about a foot or so long and the keeper kept the business end away - this was at Australia Zoo. Thought to myself, what a lovely pair of shoes it would make as the skin is so soft.

You should try whitchetty grubs (cooked) if you get the chance as well. They have a lovely nutty flavour to them. I had them in Perth.

I would have avoided the camel sausages as well. Interesting that camel is actually enjoyable, but I guess it is all in the way it is cooked.