I had a bad few days this week, but I think my body has recovered from my of the Chemo from this session. I have noticed a few small bruises on my body in seemingly random places, wondering if this is one of the ways the body deals the effects of toxic Chemo they give me.
I went for a walk yesterday, South Yarra to Richmond and back (Not a great distance – around 4km total). After returning I felt really tired. My body isn’t used to moving! Feeling tired is sooo much better than feeling fatigued though. If I had to choose, I love feeling tired!
I was meant to have a planning meeting with my radiotherapist today, however that meeting has been cancelled/postponed until after my Chemotherapy treatment.
Had the 4th session of Chemo yesterday. Was okay… A bit of a delay with the drugs, so was waiting in the chair for a while with an IV that was doing nothing 🙁
Anyway, all is over – for now.
Other news is that I have a few bookings lined up in the future.
This Friday I have a planning meeting with my Radiologist. I’m not too sure what this will entail at this point.
Wednesday week I have a PET scan booked in. The results of which should be ready 2 days after, which will be the morning of my next Chemotherapy day. The results of this test hopefully will show the cancer has gone into remission, fingers crossed!
I also have a breathing test booked in for Thursday week, the results of which will be compared to my baseline test performed before the Chemotherapy started. This is done to ensure that no damage has been caused to my lungs from the Chemotherapy drugs, again fingers crossed I guess!
I had a meeting with a radiologist yesterday. My first initial consultation regarding radio treatment. Basically the plan will be to nuke my neck and chest once a day for 3 weeks (3×5). This will happen probably around 6 weeks after my chemotherapy ends. They like to give you body a bit of time to recover from chemo before killing other things. My last jab of chemo juice is November 18th (just around the corner!!!), and 6 weeks after this basically puts me into the new year.
There are a stack of side effects related to radio, which differ from Chemotherapy – but the combination of chemo + radio has better results (smaller chance of relapse) so radio is the way I’m going. I do have the choice however, to not take on the radio – this would mean that I would need an additional 3 cycles more of chemotherapy (another 3 months, 6 months in total).
The main short-term side effects are things like dry throat, redness of exposed areas, and fatigue as you go on. Unlike chemo, the effects are compounded as you continue the treatment.
The ‘potential’ long term side effects/risks can be quite nasty. These range from losing the functioning of the saliva glands in one’s mouth (constant dry mouth) to the development of secondary cancers (1% risk). As my thymus will be getting blasted, there is also a small risk that I will develop problems here in the future (5%).
I’ll have to get changed into a hospital gown and lie down on/in a machine before it zaps me. The ‘zapping’ (not the term most commonly used) will only be 3-4 minutes per day, so the actual process of radiotherapy administration should not disrupt my day too much. Hoping I can return to work prior and during this time, however time will tell on that front.
In other news my next chemo session is tomorrow, this will be 4 from 6. 4/6 = 66% – yeah!
I had a few crap days this week. The fatigue really gets me down. As of yesterday though I haven’t needed to sleep during the day, which trust me is a good thing!
Heading into the ‘take it easy’ phase of the cycle now, as my blood counts are now at their lowest I am always fearful of doing too much – and I feel like I should be doing things, as the past few days I have not been doing anything :/
It’s all about balance I guess.
I am having 3 months of Chemotherapy, getting jabbed in the hand and pumped with drugs through an IV every 2 weeks. I have so far had 3 sessions of this process. Therefore, one could say that 3 out of 6 is 50% completed. However, unfortunately the process of administration is only part of the story. As it takes my body around a week to recover the other way to look at it is based on time. As I started my Chemotherapy on September 9th, and today being October 9th – that’s 4 weeks out of 12 weeks (1/3 complete).
Either way, it’s a another milestone regardless and if its only 33% complete then it won’t be much longer till its 50% complete 🙂
It’s been a little while since my last update. This is basically because things have been going well. No news is good news, etc… That being said, I do have a few updates.
I had an appointment with my specialist today. Just routine stuff really. We discussed the symptoms I have been experiencing so far which are all ‘normal’ and did some paperwork to book a few further appointments. I will be seeing a radiotherapist soon to start discussions on the radiotherapy treatment, which should be in the next month.
The prescription of Dexamethasone which I suspected was the cause of tightness in my chest has been reduced half of what was previously supplied, it is not even a compulsory drug and could be ommited completely – but we are going to continue to try it with a half dosage.
I don’t currently have any symptoms, my taste sensations have returned to normal which means I guess i’m ready for the next Chemo session. I will have a blood test done tomorrow to determine if my counts are high enough for the Chemo, though this should be fine. Mum is currently driving down to Melbourne and will be here for my next treatment on Friday.
Also, the node on my neck (the only ever visible sign of the cancer) has shrunk to a point that is no longer visible! You can still feel something if you really search for it, but this is most likely scar tissue from the death of the tumour cells. A positive change in any case!
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