Off The Beaten Track Festival - Burger and chips in the van
The end of my treatment is getting closer, I'm a couple of days over the two thirds mark and coping well. It's now round 5 of 6, which means I currently have 160 tablets and 5 intravenous sessions left to go.
Farty, forgetful and f****** sore feet.
Throughout my journey I've blogged honestly and openly about my experiences and challenges faced. I think I've been lucky and not had too bad a time with it all, I've experienced most of the common side effects to a lesser or greater degree. There are a couple of things that do seem to be getting harder to deal with but as the end of the treatment draws closer its more of a mental battle than anything else.
Taking the list in reverse order the sore feet side effect is always a good one and makes me laugh at how I have to mince around after over-doing it the day before. If I've gone for a short walk or been on my feet too long I pay for it the next day and have to be 'light on my feet' to reduce the pain. Its a good look and most probably suits me! 'Chemo brain' is one of the horrible side effects, it slows down thinking, reduces concentration span and affects short term memory. It takes days after treatment to think clearly and for my concentration levels to return to near normal. I'm too spaced out to even watch daytime TV, how bad is that? Not enough brain power to watch Jeremy Kyle, bad, very bad. Farty, you may think is the worst side effect but actually it maybe my body trying to protect itself, bear with me on this and I'll explain. During chemo treatment the drugs can effect liver and pancreas functions, both useful in digesting food. It must be a combination of a number of things: chemo drugs, my re-plumbing, not taking enough Creon (digestive enzymes), and what I eat, they all add up to me occasionally being very farty. This may not be a bad thing though as there have been scientific studies to show that 'farts cure cancer'. That's a bit of a headline grabber and not all too accurate but they do reckon that,
'hydrogen sulphide [produced in farts] in small doses can prove protective to the cell’s mitochondria, ....therefore can help cells resist the progression of many diseases.'
Silent, not deadly; how farts cure diseases
So taking that on-board I now stick my head under the duvet and keep the car windows closed after a good fart and let the hydrogen sulphide do its trick. In true altruistic form I keep saying to the girls, "sniff up its good for you" but they're having none of it!
It's not been all bad, last week was drug free, I managed to squeeze in lots of events and catch ups. I met up with some of my old team from Cisco for lunch - a lovely afternoon with steak and chips, well organised by Raghav. I went sailing on the Solent in a 42 foot yacht and got a tour of BAR - Ben Ainsley Racing HQ courtesy of Nick Topham and Jeff Johnson - a brilliant day. Went to a private festival in Dorset organised by my 'chemo buddy' (Andrew), with three live bands (including the real Elvis!!!), food and beer, it was an awesome weekend. Following that I minced around with sore feet (and hands), farted a far bit and was wiped out for two days, well worth it though.
I'm still here grinding through chemo, putting weight back on, looking healthier but gradually going a little bit doolally. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and hopefully, so too my future.
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