Pick yourself up.... Dust yourself off.... And go again

Have you ever played Bubble shooter? I’ve literally been dodging covid bullets for the last 3 weeks. The bullets have been firing off and the protective layers below me have been falling away. But with three days to go I haven’t got the bullet myself! I’m now on the extremely clinically vulnerable list putting me into a heightened group that are more susceptible. Chemotherapy whilst killing the cancer cells can’t identify the good cells and manages to wipe out them as well. If you’ve ever wondered why chemo is given with sometimes 3 week breaks this is because your white cells, platelets etc need to have the time to recover in between. This makes you very vulnerable for a period of time.  Now is not the time to have a dodgy thermometer. At least once a day you have to to check and obviously if you are concerned more often. A temperature of 37.5c and you have to spend the night in hospital being monitored, IV antibiotics etc. When Sam had treatment he was going to school when he was...

I’ve left it a couple of weeks to share my chemo effects as I knew I would feel differently (well in total panic) for the first one and wanted to share a slightly less neurotic synopsis! My first rounds of chemo are a drug called placlitaxcel, or taxol is it’s street name (well affectionate ward name). I’ve got 12 weeks of this every week and I’ve done 3 so far, so I’m calling myself an expert now! Taxol should be fairly well tolerated which is just as well as I’m having it every week. I get the big boys mid feb. I’ve done a lot of reading on the benefits of fasting before chemo as it’s meant to help with the symptoms and also improve the effects of the chemo on any cancer cells and protect your good cells. I’m fasting for 24 hours before but haven’t told the doctors as not sure what they would think. Taxol can cause an allergic reaction so they pump you with antihistamines and steroids first for half an hour and then the infusion of the chemo takes an hour. They keep a keen eye on you...

Today is an important day in my journey, it’s the day I decide on my new hairstyle!  I’ve been given the choice to have a cold cap whilst receiving chemo but the nurses haven’t sold it to me to be fair. Maybe it’s because it adds more to what they have to do which to be fair I get, as they work so hard. The name says it all, it’s very cold and not much fun and you have to wear it for 30 mins before you start chemo too. Believe me you don’t want to add any more time to a fabulous day! Then to hear that it more often than not saves some hair but not all, so you can end up with patches, was enough for me to decide it wasn’t for me. Plus the extra hassle of washing hair with a picc line is not to be forgotten. So onto the next decision to wig or not to wig? Well if you’re anything like me I saw this as an opportunity to have a bit of fun, so armed with my wig voucher today from Clatterbridge and my mum in tow I headed to the wig shop in Hoole, run by the lovely Claire. It was fun! So m...

It’s my first chemo day today. It’s been a strange feeling of trepidation mixed with some relief it’s starting. I’ve been wracking my brain as to how to describe how I feel. I can’t get the thought out of my head that it must be similar to the first time someone takes LSD or a similar recreational drug not knowing how they will react. But then it can’t be like that surely because why would people put themselves through that! It’s a late start for me with chemo today, 3.30pm. I get to start on plaxitaxel which I’ve convinced myself can’t be too bad as I have it every week. With chemotherapy your blood has to repair in between and your neutrophil counts have to be strong enough for the next lot. In 12 weeks time I must be having the bad boys as you only have those every two weeks but I’ll be near the end then and on countdown!. As a mum (I’m hoping mums out there will agree) 3.30pm is not really the ideal time so I’ve got to summon up the courage to ask them for an earlier slot. Wonderin...