Chemotherapy 6

Looking good after chemo 6 although my head
looks a bit like the ostrich egg to the right!
Thank you to all who have been praying and sending messages of support. Thursday saw me attend my sixth session of Chemotherapy at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn. I am pleased to say there is nothing much to report. There were no unexpected happenings or nasty surprises. Everything went as it should and even a bit quicker than I am used to.



I was glad I had decided to take in my own supply of food for lunch as my brain has now associated hospital sandwiches and hospital coffee with the awful nauseous feeling chemo gives you. I have also gone off crisps (even the ones at home) for the same reason.

I have been booked in for a PET CT scan at Norwich Hospital in a couple of weeks which should give the doctors a good picture of what has gone on and where we now stand. It is quite an arduous scan - not allowed to eat anything 6 hours before; get injected with a radio active isotope then have to wait an hour (no reading or writing, but I can listen to music); lie still for 30min in a big machine; then spend the rest of the day away from Katrina and Verity as the radio activity could harm Katrina or the baby. So I will be sleeping round my parents house.

My appointment with the consultant is booked for the first week of November where we will be discussing the way forward. We are at a strange stage in the process. The 6 chemo sessions have finished, so we are now in a period of limbo not knowing what the next steps will be until the scan and appointment have happened. Will I need further treatment? Will I be able to return to work? No one knows just yet. One thing I do know is that at some point I will need to go in to the day surgery unit to have my stent removed, but as for the timing of this - you've guessed it - no one knows.

Today begins my GCSF injections to stimulate the bone marrow in order to boost my immune system. Last cycle we tried spacing them out to alleviate the pain they cause into a group of 3, then the following week a group of 2. Unfortunately this did not work as the day after I completed the first 3 injections I was admitted into hospital with an infection. So this cycle I have been told to bite the bullet and suck it up! I need to have all 5 consecutively. I have been given a supply of codine for the pain!

I was a little busy over the weekend, attending a church conference in a nearby village and then church on Sunday. This did take its toll, so this week I am taking it easy as I don't want to end up in hospital again! And and when the bone marrow injections kick in in a couple of days time I really won't want to be moving too far from the sofa!

So here ends this update. Do keep reading and keep in touch. Your support and messages do mean so much. Thank you.

#2miraclesinthemaking

Comments

  1. Unknown19 September 2016 at 20:37

    Matt, I don't how you manage it. Hats off to you and your wonderful family. You are in my thoughts. X

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown20 September 2016 at 13:26

    I think of you often and keep trusting that you will emerge stronger from this ordeal. Your Mum's cousin in Cape Town,

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous21 September 2016 at 07:22

    Matt you look amazing. Rocking the ostrich egg look! Codine is great stuff just make sure you take it regularly so maintain a good therapeutic level of pain relief! Not sure if you take paracetamol but 1 g x 4 per day in addition to the codine increases the effect of the codine. Guessing you already know a lot about it. Sending lots of love! You are truely awesome! Love Melanie (Maria - west side story/ Donald)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Matt Mcc21 September 2016 at 09:08

      So good to hear from you Mel. Yes I am mixing in some Paracetamol. Who would have thought life would take this turn when we were just a couple of kids in the 90s!?

      Delete

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