Chemotherapy #8

As far as side effects go, this cycle of chemo may rank as the easiest so far.

I've mostly dealt with nausea the week after the infusion and some abdominal pain, but I was able to contain these fairly successfully with a combination of Cyclizine and slow release morphine. The combination of these two drugs should have sent me into a slumbering state, instead I've had the complete opposite. I've been suffering with insomnia, I can normally drop off to sleep at the drop of a hat, however I've been waking up at around 2.30 am a few times and unable to go back to sleep.

I have so many thoughts going through my head and in the dead of night, it seems almost impossible to forget them and count sheep.

Thoughts of my future. I'm excited, but also a little scared. Believe me, the sooner I can finish this treatment the better. The flip side to that is that without treatment, without the bi-weekly monitoring and blood tests - I'm on my own as far as medicine is concerned for six months at a time. I'll no idea what's going on in my body. I'll be relying on T cells to ensure nothing comes back. Cancer can be sneaky. It can bloom and flourish without us even knowing about it. Many symptoms (especially small reoccurrences) will not present themselves and are only detected with CT scans, which I'll be having every six months. 

I've only discovered recently that I ticked a box at the beginning of my treatment (yeah, great reading of the small print there) to take part in the SCOT trial. As well as this being of benefit for future bowel cancer patients, it means I get monitored that little more cloesly over the next seven years rather than five. More frequent CT scans and blood tests means that *if* anything were to rear its ugly head, it can be knocked on his ugly head in a swift fashion.

I can really see the end of the tunnel now. Next Thursday will mark my six week countdown until my last 5FU  pump is removed, if I put it that way it seems like no time at all!

We're starting to plan for life after treatment. Celebrating Christmas this year will be nice, a big holiday next year amongst other big plans we have on the horizon. The rest of our lives are ahead of us and we are extremely grateful.

Hayley x