I am late, so very late in keeping this blog up to date. I will make this post an update of two weeks.
You have all read the Euphoria piece in which the cancer cells appear to be retreating before the shock and awe that is chemo. The spell of the good news kept me going for quite a while. The day of reckoning came when we met the oncologist, Dr. Hedley.
Ever the realist, the good doctor is not overwhelmed by the news. He tempered our expectations. One CT-Scan does not a trend make. Don’t get over excited. He was expecting positive results, maybe not as positive as the ones we got, but this is not a time for partying. This is Euphoria-reigned in.
Dr. Hedley believes that the chemo will run its course shrinking the tumours. There will come a time, however, when the tumours stop responding. We will take a break from chemo at that point and monitor the tumours on an on-going basis. Chemo will resume when the tumours decide to grow again. This will go on, basically, for the rest of my life, as long as it may be. We asked about a liver operation. The good doctor felt that the operation is unwarranted since it would be quite harsh and hard on me.
This begs the question of the severity of the operation. I just went through an 8 hour operation, and he thinks the liver operation will be severe? How bad is this operation?
It took a while for reality to set in. As things go, this is not so bad. My reaction to chemo treatments has been a bit bizarre to say the least. I have had a few side effects, a lowered white blood cell count, fatigue, and the discoloration of the skin on my hands making it look as if I need to wash them, and nose bleeds due to low platelet counts. . The white blood cell count is reversed by Neulasta. Fatigue by sleep. The discoloration by gloves. No, not really, I am not wearing gloves to cover them. They are what they are.
If this is the worst chemo can do to me, I am willing to take the chemo treatments whenever required. Chemo taken in short bursts will negate the requirement for Neulasta. That is a plus. I told them to put a zipper in when going into the first surgery. No idea why they did not listen to me.
The rest of the week went very well. I am showing few signs of being on chemo. My appetite is fine, thank you very much. If things keep going this way, I may have to go on a diet. I still have a lot of my hair, though admittedly thinned out. Turns out I have SO MUCH hair that losing a bit of it puts me on a par with a lot of other people. No sense going for a hair cut since it is not growing. I have to shave every two to three days instead of every day. What a relief that is. Seriously.
Fetneh came to visit. Always a pleasure. We talked, we laughed, we shopped. Tool her a high end furniture store, just for fun. No shopping trip would be complete without some fashion adventures. Off we went to Yorkdale mall. The precedent has been set. We will have to take her to a new Toronto experience every time she comes here.
Some of my days have been extremely productive. Others have been less so. The fatigue is sometimes overwhelming. I am a bit confused by all this and attempting to reason things out. I might be overdoing things when I am feeling strong and mighty and paying the price the next day. Not sure. I spent Saturday almost entirely sleeping. Friday, on the other hand was a very good day. The answers will come in due course.
I am now preparing myself for chemo week. If all goes according to plan, I should sleep through this session. Next CT-Scan is on March 8 when we will have a better idea of what is going on.
Thank you for being there, visiting, writing, commenting, praying.
Hey Farokh – best wishes for a good sleep during chemo today! Hope all goes smoothly…talk to you soon.
Big hugs, as always, Di
Hi Farokh,
The Chemo does make you feel like a faded photo copy of ones self. I found the THC tablets they gave me helped to squelch the nausea but were overwhelming. The medicinal Cannabis was easier to control, if smoking is an issue though it does go nicely in a brownie or tea as they do it in India. Your in my thoughts.
Stone