Right so after much deliberation we have decided that it is best to do a Chemo to Chemo diary. That way we can put all the information from one treatment to the next into one post. Also time is tricky to manage as I have to write the posts for mum and some days she's busy then Im busy be it on evening shifts of what ever but we realised we could commit to one post for definite every 3 weeks! We may post between those times if we see if that something deserves a post on it's own or if a significant change happens. So here we go, only again I will write these in Diary form so theres a perspective of time with regards to the treatment and how it's been affecting her.
12th June Chemotherapy Day - First treatment
Appointment was at midday and we were all asked to sit in the waiting room by the nurse and after about half hour of waiting and getting very angered by "Bargain Hunt" on the giant plasma TV, which was driving me to distraction as each seller went straight down to half the original price within the first haggle. Anyway I digress, we were finally called though to one of the treatment rooms which had space for 4 people to have treatment at one time. In addition to a giant lazy boy chair they get each there were two beds in the room incase any patients aren't feeling well and want to be laying down for their treatment.
Mum was asked to sit in the squishy seat and was given a blanket, pillows for her arm and a table which the nurse put a bucket of warm water to bring the veins up on the hand. Now due to the previous cancer Mum cant have anything done to her left arm as she's had radiotherapy and the lymph nodes removed. After a few minutes or so the nurse came back over armed with a trolly of goodies (they weren't really good but it sounds nicer) and she sat down with Mum to put in the cannular into her right hand. Now thanks to the Monday trip to A&E that previous week they had pretty much ruined all the veins in her hand so they put it in the cephalic vein which is the one that runs up the the thumb and towards the index finger. I have to say from my perspective It looked like it hurt, no offence to the nurse as I think it was a struggle to get it in anyway but she was prodding around and boy did it look horrible. All being well once it was in it was ok. John at this point had to go sit in the waiting room whilst the lines where being put in, he's not very good with needles.
So the first bag they attached was Saline, which is to plump up the veins and prepare them for the Chemo. This took about half an hour to drip through, whilst this took place the fun "Cold Cap" was installed and I think that may be the worse part. Basically the cold cap is to help reduce the hair loss that can occur during Chemotherapy. It freezes the skull to minus 5 degree's and it takes you about about 15-20 minutes for your head to go numb then you don't notice it after that. This is what mum said about the Cold cap...
"The first 15 minutes where a total brain freeze I had to concentrate really hard to keep it on. But after that it was fine, it was heavy and slightly uncomfortable and after taking it off I needed to take some painkillers for the headache it gave me that was it really"
The cold cap needs to go on 30 minutes before the chemo starts, all the way through and then 30 minutes after. It seems to be a love hate thing if you can get through the first 20 minutes or so then it's okay but some people can't stand it which is fair enough. They do give you a heated blanket to help keep your body warm whilst you have the cold cap on so thats nice, in fact mum wanted to take it home with us at one point.
One the first bag of saline was through the next bag went up which was Steroids and this is to reduce sickness and help healing. After that finished it was onto the Chemotherapy. Now you are not meant to feel anything when having the treatment (other than maybe a cold head) if you do feel anything you are told to tell a nurse immediately and they are always within eyesight so it's never an issue. Personally I have never seen a ward with so many staff on it which is great! Once that had dripped through it was a final bag of saline and the final 30 minutes with the cold cap on.
Now the whole process took about three to three and a half hours and after Mum felt..... fine.
13th - 16th June
Slept well that night after the Chemo woke up early around 6am but didn't feel at all tired, it was the complete opposite she had an abundance of energy. The day involved a walk, 4 hours on the allotment, cleaned the windows and weeded the garden. Basically we had to take the wheel out of her cage to slow her down! It was a bit crazy.
For the rest of the following days mostly sleep was un interrupted but she would wake up early and have a lot of energy. Breathing was fine as nothing really was different other than the change in waking up time, as mum is normally a good late sleeper (i.e. 9am if John lets her)
17th - 19th June
Sleeping pattern still the same as mentioned before the only new thing was diarrhoea which started in the early morning and then would be gone by lunch time. This would make you feel not right and weak but like I said would go by the late morning. Started taking Anti sickness tablets which where given by the Nurses just incase she needed them.
20th - 21st June
Fine and Dandy :) Went for a 3 mile into town and back on the 20th, no discomfort in breathing.
Got to see the WIG we chose today - Will do a separate post on this as there is so much more to discuss!!!
22nd June
Hickman line was put in today. As i mentioned on the first Chemo day Mums veins in her hand have been ruined so they have put in a permanent line on the chest which will stay for the duration of the treatment and for life as far as we are aware as Mum will have to have the Cancer drug Herceptin every three weeks forever.
Mother says "Having this line put in was more weird than anything, I was awake but under Local anaesthetic. They had scanners and x-ray machines all standing by, I think it took more to time prep everything than to actually put the line in."
The most annoying thing after this operation seemed to be that Mum had to roll up a pillow to rest her body on and to keep her right arm elevated so there was no pressure on the line. So the only trouble has been sleeping with the thing. Other than that no worries. It was lots of tugging and poking but it's in now and that's that.
23 -24th June
Been feeling really good. Stopped taking the anti sickness pills. Taste buds back to normal and appetite has come back to what it was before.
25th June - 2nd July
No problems at all this week, lungs have been drained once again by the lung man and this time they took 120ml off so breathing has massively improved. All has been a far better week.
So that is all from one treatment to the next. If you liked of disliked this post please tell us as we want to be able to write it all in the best way possible. Any feedback will be great as we want to know if this is worth writing or not. Any questions please ask we would love to try and answer them if we can.
Final thought from Mother.....
"The whole thing has been really surreal. I think with not being able to breath I have found it more debilitating because I feel that if I didn't have the problem with the fluid on the lung I would be able to carry on and in some ways forget the whole thing is happening. I have had one really dark black moment and that was not long after being diagnosed, after being told that my life would be cut short, he can't cure me but he can control the disease. However having the chemotherapy has given me a sense of relief as I am now fighting back!"
