Chemotherapy #5

I'm 41.6% of the way through on my chemo treatment according to my Dad, that sounds pretty good to me!

So, after almost 3 weeks in hospital I triumphantly returned home yesterday just to crash out on the sofa and sleep all afternoon. With each cycle, it seems to drain my energy levels more and more. It's a fatigue that not even the many hours of sleep I've had can fix.

I'm not complaining though! I'm home, I have all my comforts, my lovely comfortable bed, Paul can rest now and the ability to please myself. I'm feeling quite happy that I don't smell like hospital now. No matter how much you shower, hair wash and scrub, there's always that faint whiff of bandages and sterilising solution whilst staying in hospital.

So chemo number 5 was given to me as an inpatient and it was ok this time. I had no reaction to the chemo, the nurses ensured I was pilled up to the nines to prevent this from happening.
I had no sickness, just a bit of nausea, the only problems I've had is the stomach pain from which it's still recovering from the 4th cycle. I've been given morphine to manage the pain at home and it seems to be keeping that under control.

Neuropathy reared its ugly head for a time today, just need to remember to keep my hands and feet warm!

I'm free for a week and will be admitted as an inpatient on Monday for my sixth chemo. I'm too much of a loose cannon these days to be let home after the chemo so I'll probably be in until at least Thursday. I don't mind so much, it makes me feel safe that if anything goes wrong the staff are there to help straight away.

Dr B, my oncologist, seems to think I have some particular enzyme missing or faulty that helps break down the chemo. This is why he thinks I have such an adverse reaction. We want to keep pushing on with the treatment but do it as safely as possible, hence being an inpatient when the infusions happen.

I had a CT scan at the weekend to determine if I am still cancer free. I'm nervous but hopeful that with the surgery and chemo it hasn't had the chance to come back. I'd certainly hope that the way the treatment has made me feel so far, cancer cells haven't even had hope of blooming. I'll probably find out the results of these next week so I'll keep you posted.

For the next week, I'm going to enjoy my freedom - I did a lot of retail therapy from my hospital bed so I'm using this time to enjoy my purchases and possible make a few more!

See you on the other side of chemo #6!

Hayley x