Today I had another appointment at the hospital – the planning of my radiotherapy. I would call it preparation rather than planning. Items done at the appointment today;
- Mask created of my face/shoulders/neck – this mask is made of a plastic mesh material and will be used each time I have radiotherapy. The mask is meant to position my neck/head in the same location each time so that the radiotherapy doses are accurate each time. The mask was made with me laying on the tray with my chin pointing to the ceiling as far as I could. Then a pliable warm mesh was added over my head and about 8 hands then continually padded it around me until the mesh had hardened.
- Initial measurements/markings performed – With my mask on, strapped in – it is so tight that I can’t not speak. I need to stay in the same position the entire time and obviously with the mask I cannot move my head. Various measurements were taken by my radiotherapy team, and markings made on my body. I currently have 3 ‘crosses’ on my torso and also 3 ‘tattoos’ (3 black dots) in the centre of each cross. The tattoos were news to me, I was not aware that was happening until seconds before the needle was inserted! Another memento eh? 🙂
- Baseline CT scan – Again with my mask strapped on I had another CT scan. This scan will be used as a baseline for my radiotherapy treatment.
My radiotherapy should be starting on the 14th December and will be 15 sessions in total. The dates/times have not been finalised yet, but it should start around that time.
Unfortunately this means that I will be having Radiotherapy over Christmas/New Years, on the other side – the good news is; I should finish my radiotherapy regime by early January 2012.
I had a good weekend. Better than previous ‘chemo weekends’. I still had to have a nap on both Saturday and Sunday, but the anti-nausea drugs didn’t seem to stuff me about as much as previous times and I generally felt better.
Only a few days left before I should feel normal, and for an extended period this time. Still need to clarify the exact time between the end of chemo and the start of radiotherapy, but it should be 6 weeks which will push me over New Years.
Anyways, it’s sunny (a rare occurrence in Melbourne recently) and I need some vitamin D!
The day started abruptly. We were having breakfast at around 08:00 and I just happened to read my appointment for the day again. For some reason the chemotherapy appointment had been rescheduled for 08:30, when it is usually at 09:30.
We quickly got a cab and managed to make it to the hospital on time at 08:30. On time for what, i’m not really sure. The hospital was still opening at that time. Nobody was ready for me. We arrived before my usual Chemotherapy nurse arrived.
I was taken to the chair and the wait for the drugs began. It was 11am before I started the Chemotherapy treatment!
To make matters worse, the drug which takes the longest to administer (Dacarbazine) had some issues with my vein today. Usually this drug takes 1 hour to completely administer, however this time (and only this time!) my vein really started to hurt. Usually the nurse gives me a heat pack to put over my arm which helps the flow of blood, but today that wasn’t helping either… The solution was to dilute the drug with saline, and slow the IV pump.. The result was that it took 2 hours to administer this single drug! 🙁
I was in the chair for near 6 hours today… Just as well today was the last Chemotherapy session!!!
Been awhile since I posted anything. This is because I haven’t had much to say.
My last cycle of Chemotherapy was quite good, the Tuesday after the Chemo was my worst day and like the other cycles I felt much better on the Thursday. Wednesday was still a bad day, but not as bad as previous cycles. I had a few bouts of blurry vision and problems with my taste, but again – not as bad as previous weeks.
Heres hoping that my next and ultimate chemo session (tomorrow) will be the same.
Marika and I finally went out last night to celebrate the news of my previous post (remission). We went out to a Swiss restaurant and I had for the first time in 3 months, pork & beer. I had one glass of beer and I was still feeling the effects of it this morning! Amazing how the body reacts to this stuff when you don’t have it for period!
I had my second last Chemo yesterday (5th of 6 total). But before that I had a quick consult with my haematologist. The lung test I had done on Thursday was fine, no damage to my lungs from the Chemo and even more exciting was the results from the PET scan show that the cancer has gone into complete remission. I was shown before and after pictures and it is a very nice feeling not seeing any ‘black bits’ on the after picture 🙂
Marika and I will be celebrating this news by going out to dinner and along with a beer when I feel a bit better, as i’m now recovering from the chemo. I have not had any alcohol since I was diagnosed back in August, so looking forward to that!
Went in today to have a lung function test. This is required to determine if there has been any damage to the lungs from the Chemotherapy (from the drug bleomycin). I’ve had this test before, before starting Chemotherapy. One study showed that lung damage occurred in 20% of patients receiving treatment with bleomycin! :/
I’ll find out the results tomorrow for this one…
Went in for my PET scan today (Positron emission tomography for those that really want to know). It’s not a bad test really. I have to fast from midnight the night before, and there is a needle involved – however, the needle is a shot of glucose and then you get to lie down for 1 hour! Then you get up and lie down in the machine for another 20 minutes. I’ve never really complained about lying down 🙂
The results will be available on Friday before my next chemo starts. Fingers crossed we hear ‘remission’ on Friday.
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