Five Down

Five down!

It has been – as usual – a strange few weeks since my last chemo.  J came to see me, bearing gifts of chocolate – medicinal of course!  Both K and A have arranged to come to see me.  M phoned to check on me in spite of the fact that she has just come out of hospital. My attempts to go to work were thwarted by an outbreak of norovirus (and colleagues who had it, still came in to work – WHY???).  Better to be safe, I stayed at home.  But just in case I didn’t have enough to think about, a hot red lump appeared on a chemo vein.  Rather than phone AOS who always seem rushed off their feet when I have called before, I called my GP and made an appointment.  Her opinion was that there had been a leakage of chemo fluid and I had an infection, so I would need antibiotics.  She explained when I should take them, saying they can cause nausea and vomiting, and added “but you’re suffering from that anyway, so take them when you want”.  Jeez, thanks.

For the most part, I have managed to keep up with my walking.  Although it has been a struggle at times, I feel I have achieved something, and it has to have done me good.

The good news though was that unlike my previous two chemos, this time my neutrophil count was high enough, and chemo would go ahead without any further hassle.  I was so relieved, the “will it, won’t it” cycle has been stressful.

So, chemo day came and went as before, and I have to continue injecting the Zarzio, it does seem to be helping my neutrophil count, so I grit my teeth and get on with it. T picked me up afterwards and I went home and collapsed on the sofa exhausted. 

This post-chemo week has been the worst so far. I have actually lost my appetite for certain foods, the thought of other foods turns my stomach, water tastes strange and I have to force myself to eat.  My throat and tongue feel like they have a deep shag pile carpet glued on them, my tinnitus is worse, and in addition to the ringing I can hear my blood pulsing round *woosh, woosh*.  Muscle and joint pain, bone pain and extreme exhaustion are all worse.   My nausea and vomiting comes back towards the end of the week and I resort to taking more Ondanestron (dry mix cement, remember?) and so I double my intake of prunes.  As for brain fog.  I don’t know who or what I am, I can barely string a sentence together.  But, only one more chemo to go.  One more cycle of this to get through.  Five down, one to go.  Almost there.