My son dropped me off for my treatment on the 3rd August, I was prepared with bags, and even change of clothes etc along with some tech, to keep me busy during the day. I went to the Chemo area, as my bloods were taken week before, meant I could go down for my Radiotherapy session first. (Every other week I will need to get bloods taken and checked first. So my first session of Radiotherapy went well, they took 5mins just to ensure all measurements were all spot on, took about 10mins once it started. Thankfully I did not have any issues with dizziness etc, it was actually bit relaxing, just tried to think of positive things. Back up to chemo area, before they got me hooked up with treatment, they did agree to give me some additional antibiotics also, as there was a small infection at the PEG tube (it is common as it’s an open wound)
Rooms are made up with 6 bays with chairs, they discussed, how they would place a line in my left hand, and start to pump in various liquids, (Steroids, Saline etc) these are to help keep the kidneys also. Chemo drug Cistplan was then put through, then followed with more flushing fluids. Whole day was relaxing, teas biscuits and dinner brought round. They do monitor how much you are urinating, just to make sure you have passed enough. My first day, I may have set a record, as the antibiotics also help you to urinate, along with my Diabetes, felt I spent more time in toilet, rather than sitting down. Got out at about 4pm.
Radiotherapy continued Tuesday to Friday 920am each day, all went well.
Few bits to note for first week. Do not underestimate how much your body can be affected even in the first week, TBH I probably did not rest enough, to the point where I had an episode on the Wednesday night where my Heart Rate would not go below 114, partly probably because tiredness and getting myself worked up possibly, I did call the relevant helpline, but did manage after few hrs to get it below 90. So please plan, everyone is different and level of treatment is unique to you. I certainly rested a bit more over the rest of the week, and felt the better for it.
Other small changes. Felt head a bit cloudy at times and definitely felt a little more tired (Chemo side effect) Mouth was a little drier, and felt my throat start to get a bit more tender, but started using Humidifier. In summary after first week it felt I had aged by about 10-15 years.
On the positive front, even after week 1 I have felt the larger lump start to reduce in size.
Weekend off with no treatment, so plan is to chill out, although the hot weather over the weekend, means I will be staying indoors, to keep my neck etc away from the Sun...better to be safe than sorry.
Pic above showing unit for Radiotherapy and mask already on table, other pic is ready for chemotherapy
No comments:
Post a Comment