Chemotherapy Cycle 5 – Update

Bloods Day

Went for bloods to the hospital in Hove, no drama’s this time with the Portacath not feeding back blood, so that was good. We returned home to be called later and be told that the bloods showed Jo was anaemic as we had half expected. That would explain the having to stop to catch her breath half way up the stairs or getting exhausted bending over to feed the animals. So a Blood transfusion is now scheduled for Thursday and chemo delayed 1 week.

Bloods Day +1

Stay in bed day and rest as much as possible today, blood transfusion tomorrow.

Blood Transfusion Day

Five and a half hours at the hospital today with the Blood transfusion. Had an issue again with the Portacath, accepting fluid, but not giving blood back out. Anyway transfusion went ahead we will see next week whether it will have sorted itself out. Jo started to feel a little better as the transfusion went on and managed to walk up the stairs at home without stopping. Not sure she is ready for Mt. Everest just yet but it’s a start.

Transfusion +1

Jo felt a good bit better following the transfusion, took it fairly easy.

Transfusion +2

We headed off to Bath for our weekend away with a couple of friends. The drive took a while due to traffic on the M25 and Jo’s feet were still sore, so when we got there we got a cab in to the town from the hotel, had a fab dinner at Hudson’s steakhouse, we can highly recommend it, before a couple more drinks and another cab back to the hotel. Thoroughly enjoyable day.

Transfusion +3

Day 2 in Bath, Jo woke up feeling slightly stronger than the day before so we decided after breakfast to walk slowly into town, then we walked on to the Royal Crescent and the museum there, at that point we realised we had been a bit ambitious with her walking ability and she was starting to suffer. So found a pub or two to try and recover and limit the walking. Had a spot of lunch before doing a short tour of the shops, some more pub studying and then dinner. By this stage Jo was exhausted so cab back to the hotel and some well earned rest.

Transfusion +4

Ok so the previous day was way too much for Jo, she woke in quite a bit of pain in her legs and arms and general aching all over. We had breakfast before heading back to East Sussex, we stopped for lunch in the sunshine, then home to bed and rest before bloods tomorrow.

Bloods Day part deux

Jo is still suffering the effects of the weekend and still aching and in some pain, but not as bad as yesterday. Bloods went well and the Portacath gave blood straight away unlike last week. She insisted on tidying up the house while I worked, when she is in that frame of mind she can’t be told, she likes things to be all ready for chemo. Chemo tomorrow.

Chemo Day

Bloods were good Hb had gone back up to 110 and Platelets up to 246 following the transfusion, so all good to go. So Chemo number 5 of 6 has started with the Carboplatin via the Portacath, which as usual takes 1 hour to deliver to be followed by 2 weeks of Capecitabine (Xeloda).  For about an hour following the Chemo, Jo got rather light headed and sleepy, she even fell asleep in the car on the way home. After an hour or so she was back to normal.

Day 2

Jo slept badly, bad metallic taste in mouth, energetic but emotional.

Day 3

Jo slept well, slight constipation, energetic but lazy.

Day 4

Sore feet, gums are good following use of Gelclair that was prescribed by the nurses. Energetic but slight heartburn.

Day 5

Sore heels, gums are good, slight constipation and still energetic despite no steroids.

Day 6

Gums are still good, her feet were sore but she felt energetic and positive.

Day 7

Slept well, but still was very tired, body was aching, which feels like you have grazed yourself all over.

Day 8

Jo felt positive and energetic, pains disappeared, gums, feet and bowels all good.

Day 9

Jo kept waking up but when she did sleep, she slept well.

Day 10

Today she felt energetic, happy and positive.

Day 11

We did an unexpected long walk which wore Jo out and gave her sore feet.

Day 12

She was feeling a little emotional, frustrated and with sensitive gums.

Day 13

Hands tight, feet sore, pains on her sides.

Day 14

She felt energetic but had sore gums.

Day 15

Sore gums became mouth blisters, energetic and positive. Capecitabine finished, so cycle 5 medicine done.

Day 16

Slept badly, gums better, but emotional and tearful.

Day 17

She slept well but was awake early, big weekend ahead as it’s my birthday, Jo was quite emotional during the day. In the evening we went out with a load of friends to celebrate my birthday, we had a really good night.

Day 18

Hot flushes, breathless and sore feet, possibly from standing up the previous night, lunch with some friends, followed by dinner with the Family at our favourite Chinese restaurant, food excellent as always.

Day 19

Noticed lots of hot flushes or at least them becoming more obvious or frequent, though they don’t last very long, it does make her feel slightly light headed. Today was my birthday, so after doing the presents in the morning, the two of us headed to Beaconsfield and the amazing Crazy Bear Hotel where we had booked a suite. Arrived to Champagne and an absolutely stunning room, we both had a great time and made some great memories.

Day 20

Jo had lots of hot flushes today and breathless when doing simple things like putting shoes on. After a great night at the Crazy Bear we sadly packed our bags and headed home, we will be back!!

Day 21

Back to reality on our way to the hospital for bloods this morning as Chemo cycle 6 hopefully will start tomorrow…