Chemo day dawns. I had a Hickman Line fitted in January which enables the nurses to take blood, give me drugs (chemotherapy, anti sickness and fluids when dehydrated)
I have found it tricky to get a suitable dressing that doesn't irritate my skin, quite badly at times. The lovely nurses, especially Carol (you'll see her in the YouTube clip) in pre-assessment have been on the case and the one below is mainly tolerable!!! But as you can see from the picture even the micropore tape is irritating the skin....a constant battle!!
Last time I had chemo I didn't have a central line and had terrible problems with veins, ending up
with my final chemo in my foot. Far from ideal!
So this was certainly the best option psycholog - ically this time around and has already proved to be my best friend! When I was admitted after Round 1 with severe side effects from the chemo - dehydration, sickness and bone pain they were able to give me fluids, pain relief and anti sickness drugs quickly without the difficulty of finding a vein and inserting a cannula. This time around they can also hook up the chemo drugs.I have a stitch in my neck that hadn't dissolved where they inserted the line and have needed
antibiotics as it started to get infected. So they managed to get some out yesterday and the rest hopefully today as you will see!
The chemo drugs I am having this time around are Docetaxel http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancers-in-general/treatment/cancer-drugs/docetaxel
and Carboplatin
There are a raft of side effects from both drugs, with hair loss being one of them from the Docetaxel. So I'm trying the cold cap to retain my hair for as long as possible. It helps about 50% of people retain about 50% of hair. It's definitely working as I have lost the rest of my body hair. Looking on the bright side no shaving legs and underarms and no Nair in sight!
My head hair is shedding after each treatment so I've now got a wig and would shave it if it becomes patchy. It isn't losing the hair itself that's hard it's that currently I still have my anonymity and privacy. You can hide your pain, sickness and upset when nipping in the garage to pay or when teaching a class but once the hair's gone everyone knows your business. And aren't afraid to question you about it....even complete strangers. Believe me I've been there before unfortunately. This technology wasn't available for me to try 25 years ago.
My friends have been coming with me and Sean sometimes too. Including one of my oldest friends - Ainsley (we have been friends since we were 7 and 8 years old in Primary School) She was there by my side the first time and is again this time. It means a lot.
I am in hospital for several hours every 3 weeks for this treatment and the following video (click on the YouTube link below)will give a good idea of what happens. As it stands I will be having 6 cycles and this was my third.
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