Ben Morrice's blog

Second day after first chemotherapy

I have taken all the anti nausea drugs (as they only give you enough for the first 2 days post chemotherapy) and so far have not really felt nauseous, nor had any vomiting.

I had a slow day today. Went for a short walk early in the day and felt fine. Went for another walk in the afternoon, however after this walk I did feel significantly fatigued and had to sit down for 30 minutes to recover.

My appetite has not yet been affected by the Chemotherapy, though I am eating smaller meals and eating more frequently which probably explains why I am not feeling nauseous.

Dad left today. Mum is still here.

First day after first Chemotherapy

I had a good nights sleep and woke up only a few times during the night to have a drink of water. I suffered no pain or nausea/vomiting – which is always a good thing!

All 3 of my compulsary anti-nausea medications seemed to do the trick today as well. It seems my body is coping well with the treatment thus far.

Today my mother cut my hair. I have now a shaved head (I think it is number 3, so its not ALL gone) but its good and will make things a bit easier for when/if I loose my hair. I have been told that if this does happen it will most likely be around the third week of treatment.

I also went for a small walk (2km) today, though upon returning I did feel quite fatigued and had a lie down after this. I need to take things a bit slower, especially in the days just post chemotherapy sessions.

Chemotherapy: First Session

It wasn’t the best start to the day. We left the house with 40 minutes to my appointment, and ended up arriving 5 minutes late. We caught the train, which is usually an 8 minute journey (2 stations) to the nearest station to the hospital however yesterday was different. Firstly there was a signal fail on the way to the first station, this resulted in us waiting inside the train on the tracks for 15 minutes. When we finally arrived at the station that was having the signal issue, we had to change platforms and get another train. The wait was only 3 minutes. We got to Parliament station and exited the station only to be faced with torrential rain AND hail! Someone was not making it easy to get to the hospital today! It did however all work out fine, we were only 5 minutes late and the chemotherapy unit had really just started their day.

I started off with having my height, weight and temperature recorded (a normal practice for anyone undertaking chemotherapy) and then I was taken to an administration room. There were 5 chairs which would soon be full with other patients. My nurse for the day was extremely bubbly and nice, which was a good thing as this calmed me a little.

I was given a cannula into my left hand and started off with a drip containing saline, followed shortly thereafter with some anti-nausea medication (administered via the drip).

The chemotherapy I am having is ABVD. The order of the drugs I was given were;

Doxorubicin (the ‘A’ in the above acronym) – about 100mm, the nurse had to watch over the administration of this drug as it can damage nearby tissue
Vinblastine (the ‘V’ in the above acronym) – about 60mm, the nurse had to watch over this one as well
Bleomycin (the ‘B’ in the above acronym) – about 100mm
Dacarbazine (the ‘D’ in the above acronym) – this took the longest to administer. It was 600mm

All up with the constant saline I would have had at least 1000mm of fluid pumped into me.

I was visited by a chemist during the treatment and supplied with a plethora of anti-nausea drugs, I was given the following;

Dexamethasone 4mg (to be taken 2 time daily, starting tomorrow)
Granisetron 2mg (to be taken 1 time daily, starting tomorrow)
Aprepitant 80mg (to be taken 1 time daily, starting tomorrow)
Metoclopramide 10 mg (to be taken at anytime nausea or vomiting occurs

The whole chemotherapy process took 4 hours. We got a taxi home rather than the public transport, and will probably stick to taxis in future to avoid unnecessary contact with other potentially sick people.

I felt fine for the afternoon, no real change. After dinner I started to feel a slight head ache and a bit of nausea. The nausea faded after taking some anti-nausea medication and some ginger tea. We went to bed early around 21:30.

Chemotherapy education

Today I went to the hospital again and was introduced to the chemotherapy ward. I sat down with a nurse and was given several information pamphlets and was talked through what drugs are going to be used and possible side effects. Not very nice stuff 🙁

I will be doing the ABVD regime, which is the international standard for treatment of Hodgkin’s Disease.

My first session of drugs is tomorrow morning. I feel anxious and a bit afraid.

Today Dad arrived from Bathurst. He was present in the education session along with Mum and Marika. We went out for dinner to a steak restaurant which was a really nicely cooked steak.

Tomorrow at the chemotherapy ward I will also get a full listing of dates of when I will be having the injections. This will be useful to have, especially for Mum & Dad to allow them to plan their trips down to Melbourne a bit easier.

bits and bobs

Today my case was discussed internally at Peter Mac in a multidisciplinary team meeting. It was agreed by all that my disease will require 3 cycles of Chemotherapy, followed by radiotherapy.

There are no concerns with the activity of my throat on the PET scan, as such an appointment with a ENT specialist is not required.

The second pathology from the biopsy of my neck lymph node also came back, which shows again classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

I am also booked in tomorrow for a chemotherapy education session at the hospital and my first chemotherapy session has been booked in for Friday morning.

The results are in

Today was my appointment with to discuss the results of my tests.

Blood test = no issues, however slight abnormalities with Blood count – specifically a slighly higher ESR (Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate) rate and a slightly higher than normal Eosinophiles rate. Both items are not a concern but need to be monitored over the course of my chemotherapy.
Bone Marrow test = no signs of cancer (good!)
Results from second opinion of biopsy from neck lymph node not yet completed (has been put through as an urgent request)
PET scan shows 20mm node in my neck & a 30mm node near the thymus gland. The node near the thymus looks isolated to just the node and the actual gland is not affected. My specialist will liaise with a Radiologist to have a look over the PET scan and offer his opinion to confirm this and discuss attack strategy.
Specialist to also liaise with ENT specialist as some activity in the throat area shows on PET scan. Activity in the throat on the PET scan is apparently common with people my age. If an appointment is needed with an ENT specialist, this could delay treatment.

Staging has been completed and I am 2A. At this stage the likely treatment will be combined Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy. Chemotherapy has been tentatively booked for 09/09/11.

Discussion about my prognosis/attack strategy is also scheduled to be discussed as part of a multidisciplinary team meeting at Peter Mac tomorrow.

Lazy day

Today I worked from home. The pain in my hip was not unbearable, however I wanted to be sure that I would recover without complications.

By the end of the day I have no pain in the area around my biopsy site and do not feel anything weird when sitting down, or getting up.

Second day of tests

My second day of tests, today is Bone Marrow – followed later by the PET.

The first order of the day was inserting a cannula into my arm. As it was a requirement to fast from food and water for 12 hours, my veins were not as prominent as they should be and it took the nurse 3 goes to get the cannula work as expected. Right hand and arm slightly sore, but cannula installed on left arm after a little struggle.

Shortly after I was taken to a room with a bed whilst I waited for another Haemotologist. When he was ready to start the nurse gave me 3 (mg?) of Diazepam. All I remember is feeling the doctor prod the area a bit with his fingers, then telling the nurse to give me another 2 (mg?) of Diazepam. The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital bed. Apparently I had slept for 1 hour in the bed after the operation 🙂

After this it was time to goto the PET area for my scan. I was still a little bit sleepy at this stage. I was given another injection through the cannula and was told to lie down and relax. I had my iPhone and listened to music and think I went back to sleep again. This was for about 45 minutes. After this rest period I then went into the PET room and sat inside the donut for 20 minutes whilst the system scanned my body.

The effects of the Diazepam had worn off by the time my PET scan was complete. My hip is a little sore when sitting down and getting up again. Walking is not affected.

First day of tests

A busy day today;

Provided a sample at the local Andrology Unit (uhuh…)
Lung test performed – basically blowing into a machine and watching a line draw on a screen
Heart test performed – injected with radiation and then had x-ray machines take photos of my body and circulation rate

Second opinion

Today I had another consultation with a Haemotologist at Peter Mac. I was booked in for a series of tests for next week;

Blood test (done today)
Lung function test
Heart function test
PET scan
Bone Marrow biopsy

A further appointment was also booked with my specialist for the following Tuesday. by next Tuesday the results of the above tests will be known and we will be able to ‘stage’ my disease and determine the treatment plan.

A second opinion of the biopsy from the lymph node in my neck will also be performed by a pathologist at Peter Mac.