18. Chemo No.3…..3 down, 5 to go!

So, the same cycle of things happen, lack of sleep the night before due to the steroids. Up early to have a shower and get a Maccies Breakfast, gotta be done!

Dan dropped me off and I sat in reception ready to be called through.

Luckily I came prepared for a long day, with extra films on my iPad and charging cables just in case!

The Nurse came ad got me and I was put in the “Naughty Chair” right next to the nurses station so she can keep an eye on me as I cause a lot of trouble!

I had to mention that my PICC Line was being quite painful over the last few days, so she took the dressing off, checked it out, cleaned it and applied a new dressing. She said it was a bit red and I was just to keep an eye on it.

They had a slightly different plan today for the chemo drugs, the Docetaxel will be given in a way called, desensitisation. It’s give across 3 different drip bags, starting off very diluted to give my body a chance to get used to it.

I had the usual pre-meds of steroids via the drip and then the Docetaxel is started 30 mins after that.

Lunch order today is Egg Mayo Sandwich with Lemon drizzle cake. But I was naughty and bought a bit of the chocolate orange cake they had on the side as it was so tempting! So that was breakfast dessert!

All went well today, just a lot slower.

The nurse I had actually lives in the village I grew up in, so we were having a good old natter about that during the day. Took me back to my Primary School days!

The Docetaxel finished about 3pm and then they ran saline through the line for 30 mins to clear it before starting the Cyclophosphamide. I text Dan saying I should be 30 mins and for him to start heading to Yeovil to pick me up. The Cyclophosphamide went down in 30 mins so all good. Another quick flush and I was nearly all done.

I had to flag up my PICC Line again as every time I bent my arm it was bending the twisting the line. So before I left the nurse took the dressing off again and tried again. That was still doing the same, so third time lucky and it was all good and I was ready to go.

Dan picked me up and we went to KFC for some dinner, so at least we didn’t have to worry about that when we got home.

I walked to the back door and our spare key that our neighbours have was in the lock, I knew they took in my new Treadmill during the day so I thought they may have accidentally left it in there, but no. I found my neighbour in there doing our washing up.

I can’t believe how lucky we are to have such nice neighbours.

I had some post from Macmillan today, with a little certificate showing how much money I raised, so I don’t just have nice neighbours but friends and family as well being so generous, to help me raise this much!

I was so very tired, so I got in My PJ’s and headed to bed and left Dan putting together the treadmill. I heard a bit of cussing so I did pop my head downstairs to make sure he was ok. He’d misplaced the allen key, which I spotted in the rug straight away! Back up to bed for me! Dan was kind enough to sleep downstairs giving me the bed to myself.

Unfortunately all the drugs leave me constipated for the first week, so I took so Laxido and Senokot, along with some pain killers and fell asleep with a very bloated belly. I must have slept until about 1am and I was awake again. Damn Steroids! Popped the TV on for a bit and tried to get back to sleep.

But the cats had another idea, Chein decided to bring in a live mouse, so I was chasing that about for a bit until it disappeared behind the boxing in the bathroom. Back to bed again!

I slept on and off then until about 8:30am. I wanted to make sure Dan got up as my XR2 was going in for its MOT.

I still feel very useless that I can’t go out and help Dan with all these sorts of things. Even lacking the energy round the house to do stuff frustrates me.

So instead I’m sat here writing this, ready to go for another nap. But as I still have to take steroids again today I hope I’m able to!

I’m now about caught up with where I am in my treatment. I won’t be posted a blog every day now, unless I have something particular to say, but I will update regularly.

Oh, the treadmill as it came from Germany has an EU plug on it, so I’m just waiting for an adapter to turn up so I can use it. I think going for a walk will help my digestion system get moving again!

Thanks for reading my posts so far, I hope you have found them interesting!