Post treatment - First cycle
It's taken me a little while to write about this - I think I needed to get some distance and pull through the first cycle in full, although it was pretty much as advertised.
On Day 2, the day after the chemo, I still felt pretty energetic and planted about 20 potatoes on the allotment in hard ground using a trowel. I paid later when my right hand started throbbing and although this eased a bit with some paracetamol, it was joined by flu-like aching back and legs, so I had a couple of sleepless nights.
I felt a bit sick on mornings of Day 2 and Day 3 but the 5-days of anti-sickness meds worked pretty well.
A huge plus, and a huge boost suggesting that the chemo is having an effect, was that the frequency of needing to run to the loo fell off a cliff almost immediately after the chemo - I can show you the graph! I tried not to count this chicken immediately in case it was side effect of the anti-sickness meds, but the effect has persisted. Hoorah - makes daily life a lot simpler, more comfortable and allows for less nervous outings.
Fatigue was real with increasing time needing to be spent on the sofa during the day. A bright silver lining to this was that I didn't need to sleep much, and didn't want to watch TV, but was able to read avidly - I put away Eleanor Oliphant, All the Light we Cannot See and half of H is for Hawk - all recommended. I'm lining up Middlemarch and Tristram Shandy for future sofa sessions. Please feel free to suggest other reading via Comments.
Felt a bit better by Day 7, when conscious pacing should have set in, but instead I had to learn that overdoing it means more time on the sofa.
Day 10 was a busy day - Hampstead Heath dog walk in the morning (leaden legs by the end), CT scan at midday (24/7 NHS), followed by noodles in soup at Japanese Canteen. This must have been the hot day when the heavy crew came to the allotment in the late afternoon to relay a bit of path. I'm sure I did something useful too, but can't quite remember what - picking broccoli probably.
Hair bulletin: accelerating hair loss during the last week before Chemo 2 - still an acceptable covering but an increasingly gloomy outlook on this one.
I have developed some peripheral neuropathy - nerve damage in extremities - my fingers feel like a layer of superglue has dried on the tips, I pin stuck myself much more than usual while doing some sewing and broke some crockery (by accident, this time). It's in my toes and feet too, and maybe lips and tongue. It might resolve but it's a slow process and will take a while to know. In the meantime, the paclitaxel dose for Chemo 2 is to be reduced by 20% to prevent further deterioration.
On Day 2, the day after the chemo, I still felt pretty energetic and planted about 20 potatoes on the allotment in hard ground using a trowel. I paid later when my right hand started throbbing and although this eased a bit with some paracetamol, it was joined by flu-like aching back and legs, so I had a couple of sleepless nights.
I felt a bit sick on mornings of Day 2 and Day 3 but the 5-days of anti-sickness meds worked pretty well.
A huge plus, and a huge boost suggesting that the chemo is having an effect, was that the frequency of needing to run to the loo fell off a cliff almost immediately after the chemo - I can show you the graph! I tried not to count this chicken immediately in case it was side effect of the anti-sickness meds, but the effect has persisted. Hoorah - makes daily life a lot simpler, more comfortable and allows for less nervous outings.
Fatigue was real with increasing time needing to be spent on the sofa during the day. A bright silver lining to this was that I didn't need to sleep much, and didn't want to watch TV, but was able to read avidly - I put away Eleanor Oliphant, All the Light we Cannot See and half of H is for Hawk - all recommended. I'm lining up Middlemarch and Tristram Shandy for future sofa sessions. Please feel free to suggest other reading via Comments.
Felt a bit better by Day 7, when conscious pacing should have set in, but instead I had to learn that overdoing it means more time on the sofa.
Day 10 was a busy day - Hampstead Heath dog walk in the morning (leaden legs by the end), CT scan at midday (24/7 NHS), followed by noodles in soup at Japanese Canteen. This must have been the hot day when the heavy crew came to the allotment in the late afternoon to relay a bit of path. I'm sure I did something useful too, but can't quite remember what - picking broccoli probably.
Hair bulletin: accelerating hair loss during the last week before Chemo 2 - still an acceptable covering but an increasingly gloomy outlook on this one.
I have developed some peripheral neuropathy - nerve damage in extremities - my fingers feel like a layer of superglue has dried on the tips, I pin stuck myself much more than usual while doing some sewing and broke some crockery (by accident, this time). It's in my toes and feet too, and maybe lips and tongue. It might resolve but it's a slow process and will take a while to know. In the meantime, the paclitaxel dose for Chemo 2 is to be reduced by 20% to prevent further deterioration.
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