Cycle 4, Day 9


As ever, it’s been a long while since I’ve done an update. I’m planning on doing a proper one soon but to be honest, the second day of the week after being in hospital for chemo is when I’m at my least energetic and lucid (chemo has fully hit and the steroids have worn off) so will leave it a few days. So just a brief, medical focused update for now as people are getting concerned!

Chemo week went smoothly. I was dreading the hospital stay a little bit more than usual because of how much I had issues with smell and taste last time, and my moods been a bit lower, but I’ve learnt they are manageable, plus I had a dose of good luck, so everything was fine. Still a lower appetite than usual and now fighting larger fatigue (as expected) so eating little and often, but my weight has kept the same which is all important. I’m still being active an have been out usually twice a day for walks without it being an issue at all in terms of my fitness, and in many ways I feel like I’m dealing with chemo better now than at first. Naps have become a crucial part of the day as opposed to just being when required.  The main point to get across at the moment is that I’m just shattered; constantly yawning, eyes closing and wanting to lie down. Although unfortunately not always able to sleep. Hopefully as week 2 goes on and I get further through the cycle, this will lift (as it always previously has) but it’s definitely accumulating.  Apart from that, no other side effects other than the odd stomach cramp or sleeping issue. So, successful so far but I’m looking forward to this week being over and having a bit more energy. Once again, hugely grateful to my family (particularly over the post chemo weekend) to help as I’m really drained in this period and it’s such a benefit having people take care of the basics around me, it really takes the stress off. Also, a huge shout out to Octo for shaving his head and raising money for Macmillan. Really rocking that latino look. Also, thanks to Mandy, my old manager at the NAO, for arranging and holding a cake sake to raise money for the charity – it’s really appreciated.

I have a scan next Monday to see the impact of the chemo after four cycles, and I receive the results on Wednesday. The hope is that the chemo has continued to be effective. The optimal result would be that the mets in the lungs have shrunk/disappeared and the tumour has reduced in size enough that they will consider doing (major) surgery to remove the main tumour of the adrenal gland. Another possibility is that it’s been effective, but they want to do one or two more rounds of chemo to shrink the tumour and push back the cancer further. If this is the case, so be it, but the fatigue is hitting hard now so I really am hoping for surgery. Another possibility is that the chemo has stopped being effective in which case we’ll look at other options, or which there aren’t many.

My mitotane levels the last 2 tests have been around 19 and 20 (towards the upper level of the therapeutic range), so it’s good as I’m in the range, but we need to be careful it doesn’t go up further and I get severe symptoms from mitotane that people often report. It takes time for the level in the blood to adjust to dosage changes and I had already dropped to 5g a day. I’ve now dropped to 4.5g per day to try and ensure this doesn’t happen. Blood tests have been reduced to fortnightly with my next one being next Wednesday, with a week until results, so the hope is I’m around 16-19 and I can continue the same dosage.

Doctors and nurses continue to say I am tolerating treatment very well, and I’ve been very active (as I’ll discuss in my next post). My main desire for the week is to stop yawning. When that’s happened, I will give an update on what’s been an exciting few weeks and I can go into great length about my rediscovered love of chess and the wonders of the Peters World Map (cancer has made me extremely boring). 

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 4, 2018 at 10:33 PM

    glad to see the treatment is going along well Gandma.

    ReplyDelete

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