I returned to the Royal Berks Hospital on 7th February to finally have the first round of chemotherapy. I was to have a combination of two drugs, Oxaliplatin which is administered through my PICC line at the hospital and oral Capecitabine which is in tablet form that I take everyday for 2 weeks and then have a week's rest. The tablets can sometimes give quite severe side affects so I was hoping that my body would cope with them as the alternative is to have chemo hooked up to my PICC line every day for 2 weeks.
The nurses in the cancer ward are just lovely; although it is SO busy there they remember you and make you feel so comfortable and looked after. The room where you are plugged in is the old children's ward; it has beautiful tiles with pictures from traditional children's rhymes and stories, I was sat under Dick Whittington! This made me and my Mum giggle as we have a close family friend called Dick Whittington!! I'll try to sit under it again to get a picture for him!! I was stocked up with my ipod loaded with Maverick Sabre's new album, lots of magazines and 2 cream eggs!!
The nurse plugged me in and I didn't know what to expect - would I feel it going in? Would I feel strange straight away? Well, to be honest it was a bit of an anti-climax, I couldn't feel a thing!! I sat there for 2 hours reading trashy magazines, loving Maverick Sabre and enjoying my yummy cream eggs. My Mum stayed with me through the whole thing, so we could chat about the trash we were both reading about!! I popped to the loo with pulling the drip along with me, bit like taking a dog for a walk!! It was in there that I started to feel the first of the side affects, it was the tingling fingers! I suppose the toilets must have been that much colder. It felt very strange but once I warmed them up I was okay.
So after a few hours in the hospital I was ready to go home. I was wrapped up warm as it was freezing outside and I already knew that I was experiencing the tingling fingers, and I was so pleased I did wrap up as my fingers, lips and toes were all tingling as soon as I got outside. I felt okay for the rest of the day; just the tingling and my fingers kept going numb, which meant I couldn't type on my phone or computer. I did feel very tired for the rest of the day, so lots of rest was on order.
I started taking the tablet chemo the next morning. I take it twice a day and I have been lucky so far as it seems to be agreeing with me. I haven't had any of the extreme side affects that I was worried about. Unfortunately my appetite has not been affected, if anything it has grown!! Think a shopping day might be in order soon as I am slowly putting on the weight I lost when I was ill. So far so good, apart from the exhaustion, urgency to go to the loo and the funny tingling, I feel I have coped well with this first round; it hasn't been easy and I am aware that it may get worse as I have more rounds. Its the exhaustion that has been getting me though, I have had to cancel on people a few times and although I know they understand, I still feel awful :( and I feel a bit nervous about going to events in the evening, firstly as I am so tired and also being in a hot environment surrounded by untold germs worries me!! But I am sure that my body will get used to this new state of existence and I will be more aware of my good/bad days as the rounds go on.
So, I am almost up to date with telling you about my treatment. I am sure there will be up and downs on this journey and it feels quite comforting to have you all travelling with me xxx
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