Chemo # 1

On Tuesday, 29th June I had my first session of Chemotherapy.

Before we left for the hospital, I could sense I was a little snappy, Jay was also quite tense and I just wanted to get it all over with. I was a little teary eyed on the walk over to the hospital from the car, but Jay just reminded me to stay positive and stop dwelling on the unknown (which I don't normally need to be told but I think it was all a bit much to take that morning).

My appointment was at 11am so we arrived a little early to try and speed up the process.

The day before I had been in to see my Oncologist (Mr Shah) - he doesn't come into the hospital on Tuesday - to get his approval for my go ahead.

I waited an hour on Monday before finally getting to see him, only for him to ask "Are you happy with everything you've been told? Are you happy to begin the treatment tomorrow?" The answer to both was "Yes" and that was it - at most a 60 second conversation after which I was told I could go home!

Back to Tuesday, after the waiting around on Monday I was sure I would have a better experience today (ever the optimist!), but no, about 40 minutes after arriving I was approached by one of the nurses who advised me that they only had a set of temporary notes for me and they were trying to locate my full notes before I could begin my treatment.
The problem being from what I gathered that my consent form for the Chemo was not in the temporary set.
Another 20 minutes and they decided it would be quicker and easier to get me to complete a new consent form so we could just get on with it! Phew.

I finally got to go through to the treatment room, which is a quiet, yet bubbly room with six comfy recliner chairs, one hospital bed and lots of natural light.
It should be said that the team of nurses working on that ward are FANTASTIC, all really friendly and attentive. Nothing is too much trouble and they seemed genuinely interested in me as a person not just a patient.

One of them is getting married next year and found out I was a Wedding Planner so is intending on getting my help over the next few months! She's also a Pampered Chef fan so I'll be taking some catalogues in with me next time - There are sales to be made wherever you are!! I might even ask to leave some order forms for her to drum up some more orders!

Once I had had some blood taken they started with the Chemo.

The Regime I'm on is FEC 75
(Fluorouracil + Epirubicin + Cyclophosphamide) the 75 stands for mg/m2
They start with the E which is the nasty toxic one that makes the hair fall out, it's also bright red in colour and makes your wee go pink!

I had a cannula put into my hand from which they took my initial bloods then flushed through some saline.
The first bit is administered via 3 syringes, in total taking about 20 minutes, during this time a nurse has to stay with you as if there is any leakage of the drug outside of the vein there is some very scary plastic surgery repair work to follow.

This is followed by a 5 minute flush, then I think its the F that follows - a clear fluid again taking about 20 minutes, followed by another flush.
The 3rd and final bit (The C) is then attached and takes another 25-30 minutes. Followed yet again by a flush with Saline.

Throughout the whole process I was kind of waiting for something significant to happen, I expected the Pink stuff to hurt for one, they gave such scary information in the pre-chemo chat about how toxic it is, it seems impossible for it not to be more noticeable when it's running through your veins.

The only side effect that did get me was at the very end during the final flush, my face went very tingly all round my sinuses and forehead. Apparently this is the C and only lasts about 5 minutes - and quite right not long after I noticed it, it started to dissipate again. Very weird sensation though.

After the treatment was over they provided me with my anti-sickness medication for the next few days and the instructions, then Jay went off to get my next session dates booked in (bless him he was with me for the whole thing, and was really quite fed up with the delay we had getting started).

We then got to go home, it was strange, I felt no different on the way home than I did on the way to the hospital (if a little less apprehensive) again I felt like I was waiting for something to suddenly happen - if anything I felt a little cheated and was tempted to say I felt crappy just for a bit of attention!

It was 2.30pm when we left the hospital, at 4.30pm the nausea started; just lightly at first (not even enough to alert Jay) but over the next hour it got steadily stronger. The instructions I had with the drugs was to take the next lot just before I went to bed, I could tell this wouldn't be easy.

At the pre-chemo chat they gave me a number to ring at any time of the day or night with any concerns or questions I had no matter how trivial they might seem. At 6pm I decided to ring them to see if there was anything I could do to try and alleviate the awful hungover/morning sickness belly I had.

They were great and told me I could take a couple of my tablets early then again when I go to bed. The drugs are better at keeping the nausea away than getting rid of it once it arrives, so the results weren't amazing but it did help a little.

The next morning (Wednesday) I had 3 lots of tablets to take - 1 lot I took before I got out of bed, another I took when I got downstairs, and the 3rd lot I had to take with food (I forgot to take these!).

Come 11.30am and the nausea was back, I had just put Amber down for her nap and was going to have a bit of shut eye myself when I realised I hadn't taken the other tablets. Time for a second call to the nurses! They told me I had to take them now and then again in 4 hours (this wasn't great as I had already been told not to take them after 2pm as they can affect your sleep at night).
I took one of the tablets as instructed then again at 3.30pm and again it did make me feel a bit better but there was still a low lying sense of nausea hanging around.

The rest of the day went by without anything eventful thankfully, I took the rest of my tablets at the right times and actually had no difficulty going to sleep (perhaps as I didn't ever get that nap in the day?). However one thing I have been struggling with is when I get up to go for a pink wee in the night I am really finding it difficult to get back off to sleep again.

The next morning (Thursday) I was very careful to take my tablets correctly, realising as I did so that I had only taken half the dose of the tablets that I had forgotten to take the day before (1 at each dose instead of 2 tablets). So on this occasion I took the 2 and had no nausea at all - yippee!

One of the difficulties I did have with (typically) the tablets I had to take most frequently is that they tasted awful if they touched my tongue and made me gag quite forcefully, so much so that I was getting myself in a bit of a state every time I had to take them. Eventually I managed to work out a technique where by I would glug and hold a mouthful of liquid in my mouth, drop the tablet into the water and swallow it all like the Whale swallowing Dori and Marlin in Disney's Finding Nemo.

This technique has proven successful from here on in!

Today is Friday, and I'd like to say I've cracked it, but I felt pretty nauseous for most of the morning, had a snack and a little nap and have felt just OK for the rest of the day, it really is like morning sickness as in the only thing that really takes the edge of it is eating, so watch this space for a huge, balding Emma to emerge!!

Tomorrow is my last day of tablets to take (unless I need them on the odd occasion), next week is my low immunity week, where I have to be really careful to to get too close to anyone that is unwell, as if I get an infection that is not treated I may end up in intensive care (Blimey Drama Queen!!).

The 3rd week is when my white blood cells start to increase again and I will start to (hopefully) start to feel a bit more normal. However in this first cycle this is the week where my hair is most likely to start falling out :(

All just in time for the following week where we start all over again.

Subject to my white cells being up to normal levels again my next session will be on Tuesday, 20th July.