INTRO

Hold onto your hats, it's going to be a bumpy ride! Thank you for stopping by and joining me for a while. I've recently been juggling (as all mums do) more balls than I am comfy with, and just when I felt like a professional juggler - BAM!! I get hit with this - BREAST CANCER!! I'm hoping that writing this blog will serve as some sort of therapy for me, to get me through this 'rough patch' ahead.... if it's interesting, entertaining, thought provoking or helpful to anyone else out there then that's an added bonus. If you like what you read, please visit again or click the "join" button below, and feel free to spread the word.

Saturday 2 June 2012

5 down 1 to go!!

Hello All!   Yesterday I had my 5th dose of chemotherapy, so only one more to go! Yeahhharrrrr!!  I was dreading having it, starting off the cycle of side effects again was not something to look forward to especially after the 4th I had blurred vision for 3 days, which was most disconcerting.    I told my Oncologist about this and he changed my anti-sickness drugs around (let me have the more expensive one!) and so far, touch wood, the blurred vision that should have come on this morning, hasn't happened which is such a relief.
During my treatment yesterday I shared a room with a lovely inspirational lady - age 75, married to an 85 year old man suffering with parkinson's disease.   She was there receiving chemo for lung cancer and it was her first dose, so it would be fair to say she didn't really know what was about to hit her.    She said "I can't sit around and take it easy after this, I've got a husband at home with parkinson's who needs me to get him up, bathed, dressed every day, he still wants his meals on time!"  I said surely she had someone to help her with all this, but no.  She has 2 children, one living in the US and one in Germany.   Her daughter in the US visits her more than the one in Germany!    I said, well what about friends, she just shrugged her shoulders and said well the neighbour has offered to help but I'm not very good at accepting help.  I told her, she MUST accept some help!  She is due to undergo combined chemo and radiotherapy at the same time, and she is still hoping to go on her cruise around the UK booked for mid July!   I didn't like to put a downer on her hopes, but I'd be amazed if she felt well enough to go ahead with the cruise.  She asked me where she could get head scarves from, I replied the internet was the best place but she doesn't like using it for purchases so she'd need to get to the shops.  She doesn't drive and only ever visits one small town that has no department stores.  It's a wonder how anyone can get by living like that!   I asked what she used to do for a job.   She replied that she didn't start work until age 45 as she was raising her 2 children, and apart from that it just wasn't the done thing.   It was a slight on the husband if a woman had to go out to work "couldn't he provide properly for her and the family?"  - my how things have changed!   The job she chose to take at 45 was caring for mentally ill people, visiting them in their homes.   She told me a few funny stories, one where she spoke of a cross dressing man who had a desire to wear ladies french knickers but he couldn't understand why his meat and two veg would hang down either side of the crotch seam!  She did laugh! Another about an old woman who laced every sentence with the F word - it was quite a surprise and very amusing to hear such words from a 75 year old.
This all cheered me up and took my mind off the bad experience I had just suffered when the nurse put the cannula in the front of my wrist to administer my drugs - OH MY GOD THE PAIN!!  It was searing pain when she put it in and I told her but she thought it would wear off, with the help of a heat pad to dilate the vein.  So I stuck with it for 10 minutes or so, she was pleased that it all appeared to be working properly - they hook you up to some saline solution and flush it through seeing if it 'bleeds back' properly and it did, but it still bloody hurt and I new I'd be stuck with it for about an hour or more.  I did express how much it hurt and I was in tears, so she said she'd get someone else to have a look it.   Another nurse (more senior I guess) came in and said right lets take it out and try somewhere else - phew! but by then I was really worried it would hurt just as much going in elsewhere. Anyway, she did it and all was fine!    The new place for the cannula was the inside of my forearm - much more comfy.  I can tell you no-one is going near my wrist again with a needle!!!  Its the second time I've had a needle in near the bones, you know, the nobbly bits on the outside of your wrist and both times it was complete agony!  Sorry I can hear you all wincing - LOL!    Needles don't bother me, but pain does.
So after a good few hours sitting down being drip fed potent drugs and chatting, I came away feeling quite rested and actually spent the rest of the afternoon baking cakes for the Jubilee celebrations.   Admittedly by the evening I was totally knackered and slept really well, thank goodness.   I've taken my last lot of steriods (8 tablets a day for 3 days), and now just need to remember my anti-sickness tablets (2 tablets 3 times a day), start my GCSF injections tomorrow for 5 days and start taking anti-biotics on Tuesday (2 a day for a week)!     There will almost definitely be a few sleeping pills popped during the next week too - I figure 'in for a penny...' with all these drugs the odd sleeping tablet isn't go to do me any harm.  Oh and the ibuprofen of course to help with the muscles and joint aches which will start in a day or 2.  Mmmmmmm lovely!   
BUT for today, right now, I'm just pleased that I can see clearly and concentrate well enough to type this.   My DH has taken the kiddlies swimming so I am enjoying some peace and quiet.  This is after he has cleaned the house, done a huge pile of ironing and done 2 loads of washing - he really is AMAZING and I love him so much :).   
Oh, I almost forgot... I have hair growth!!! Whoop Whoop!   It's only a small amount but its definitely growing, I am cultivating a fuzzy chick type hair 'do'.   But sadly the armpit hair is resurfacing too. Sigh.  I have really appreciated these couple of months of no de-fuzzing.  My eyelashes and eyebrows have taken quite a bashing recently, so hopefully this will ease off now.  I have found some great makeup for filling in your eyebrows though, called Eylure Shape and Shade Brow Palette (at Boots).
Right I think I've gone on enough.   My union jacks are flying and I wish you all a wonderful, celebratory Jubilee weekend with your families and really hope the weather doesn't bugger it all up for us! xxx