The halfway point

Before I start I hope you had a good break over Easter and enjoyed some time with loved ones, I did and had a great break from chemo for a week.

I've now reached the halfway point of my chemo treatment, three cycles done and three to go.  It's definitely been a journey with its challenges both physically and mentally, there have been some high points and a few low points too since my last blog.  More to come I'm sure but I'm on the back straight with the finish line in sight - the end of June.

Some of the high points have been: testing out my stomach capacity for beer and curry with my good pal Neil and cycling buddies. I'm pleased to report that I managed five pints and a full curry, nan and rice.  Not bad considering I've had a third of my stomach and liver removed, amongst other bits!

Another was watching Jeff Johnson take on an opponent half his age at the Ultimate White Collar Boxing event, winning his match and raising over £3,000 for Cancer Research.  A terrific effort from Jeff, so focused and well prepared it was a joy to watch, especially with a gin and tonic in hand. A couple more drinks were had in the following 'victory party'. A sore head and lethargy followed the next day!

A definite highlight was seeing Dorothy and Roni in their dance show at the Point, Eastleigh Theatre. They'd been practicing their dances for months, all the hard work plus the taxiing efforts from Sarah to practice sessions paid off, they were awesome -  making me a very proud dad.

After the dance shows, Easter was low key but enjoyable, spending time with the girls on day trips out.  Unfortunately, with the timing of everything it wasn't possible to grab a couple of days away.  Fortunately though it was my week off drugs and what a difference that makes, I almost felt normal.  It's been a while since I've felt that good, in fact thinking back it must have been around mid October before all this kicked off.  

I don't like to dwell on the low points but there have been many days of feeling shit. Typically after chemo on Wednesday I'll feel shit, Thursday I'll also feel shit, Friday I'll not feel quite as shit and Saturday will be better, Sunday and Monday I'll just feel tired and mildly nauseous, Tuesday is blood test day and we come back to chemo day.  That's the cycle and most days it just feels like watching the time count down, frustrating, but I'm getting used to not achieving anything in a day other than letting it pass.   I've found as the treatment goes on the side effects get more pronounced, for this cycle I had to stop taking the oral drugs for 48 hours as my feet were too painful to walk on.  In sympathy for my feet  my hands have also become red and sore.  I'm just waiting for the mouth ulcers, but so far they've not made an appearance.  

I have been managing the low points by staying positive, planning out future holidays and events, things to look forward to and share with  family and friends.  After one particular tough treatment I felt quite down, the following day in a fit of defiance I bought a new windsurfing board.  I'm using the chemo excuse to good effect!

I'm doing OK and grinding through the treatment, getting there day by day, looking forward to looking back on this experience and returning to work and normality.  Thanks for all the encouragement and well wishes they really do help. 


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