Round 2

Its been a while since my last update, I hit a bit of a tough time and struggled to do anything including blog!

I've completed the first of six treatment cycles, three lots of intravenous drugs and 126 tablets, and am now into the second cycle or Round 2!  For the first cycle it was tough going and towards the end had totally washed me out.  The main problem I had was the effect of the drugs on halting the production of red and white blood cells. Basically, I was suffering with the effects of anaemia: tiredness, fatigue, loss of energy, shortness of breath, headaches, difficulty concentrating, dizziness etc.  I'd started the treatment in an anaemic state and slid progressively week by week towards severe anaemia.  It was the anaemia that was making the treatment seem so tough and washing me out.  Thankfully, Sarah twisted my arm to call the hospital and see if I could get a blood transfusion to rectify the situation.  I was asked to come in the next day, the Wednesday of my week off, for blood tests and ended up having a blood transfusion and receiving two units of blood (see link below).

What a difference the transfusion made, I went from not being able to concentrate, sleeping for most of the day and feeling totally knackered to being full of energy.  The following day (Thursday) I was in the garden mowing the lawn, Friday I even went for a short bike ride.  Since then I have felt much more like normal, although I'm still deemed as anaemic due to my haemoglobin levels being below the minimum.  Hopefully, we can manage the levels more carefully now so I can deal with the effects of the chemo drugs.

Its not been all anaemia and chemo grind, we managed to get a lovely couple of days down in Devon during half term visiting Sarah's dad and wife and their crazy ten month old black lab called Figgy.  A few more days would have been nice but chemo round two was calling.  Back to the grind, last Wednesday was the first of the three hospital visits in the second cycle.  The drugs still wipe me out for days but I'm not feeling as tired now and can at least concentrate and do a few minor chores.  I did push myself a bit too far the other day foolishly ignoring the fact my abs are still recovering from major surgery I tried to do a small bit of painting.  My abs disagreed with the effort and I suffered the consequences, lots of pain and bent double for two days. Note to self, 'you're still recovering dummy'.

So there you go, a brief round up of where I'm at right now.  Sarah and the girls have been so supportive and are still helping me through all the tough times which I'm continually grateful for.  I've had a couple of dark weeks which are now behind me, but thanks to some altruistic donors of blood I've recovered from the anaemia and hit round two feeling okay. I'm now going through the grind of taking the drugs, feeling crappy and looking forward to my next week off.  Every day is a day closer to completing the chemo course and getting back to normality.

A younger Figgy - Guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

If you're feeling altruistic why not give blood? The best donation you can make.

https://www.blood.co.uk/

Tough going.

I've now been for two rounds of chemo treatment (intravenous) and am working my way through the 168 tablets to consume during this cycle.  I counted how many pills I take in a day, 17 in total.  Over the course of the treatment that adds up to 2,208 tablets all in.  Shake me and I'll rattle!  Anyway, how is it going? In a word, tough.  In terms of side effects I'm doing alright at the moment only having to deal with the common ones, nothing too horrendous. The scary bit was the drop in the levels of white blood cells and haemoglobin, both now rock bottom in just a week!

What does that mean in real terms? Apparently, I will have little immune defence and anaemia. The latter causing me to get out of breath easily and constantly feel tired. Walking up the stairs now tires me out. Stannah stairlift here we come! If we can't get one of those it'll have to be a Sarah stairlift :) The drugs themselves wipe me out for days, let alone the added effect of being anaemic. There are adjustments in plan for the dosages and also injections to help with the white blood cell level and a blood transfusion to bring the haemoglobin level back up.

The frustrating thing is there is nothing that I can do to change the situation, the drugs are working as they should, which involves stopping production of while and red blood cells.  I do know that this is the collateral damage caused in targeting cancer cells.   It does seem to have hit me early though.

So, that's me, the first couple of treatments have 'kicked my ass'.  I thought I'd fare better to be honest. I'm feeling wiped out but positive that I'm on the right track.  As I've said to many people, 'it's a grind' and that's just what it is.  On the plus side my beard and guitar playing are coming on!



P.S.
As I've previously said I'm not looking for sympathy. Yes, it's shit but it could be a lot worse. I'm telling it how it is.  One day and pill at a time, I'm getting there 😉