Apologies for my short absence but I was actually undercover. Either under the cover of my duvet, or under the cover of a blanket on my couch.
It’s been nine days since I had my last chemo session (sounds like I’m at an AA meeting!) and I haven’t been outside the house since. Imagine! I had round one, of four, of a new cocktail of poison called A/C, the abbreviated name for Adriamycin and Cyclophosphamide. Who makes up these names, and do they make them so difficult to spell on purpose? I have chemo brain (according to my nurse it's well documented so I'll be using it as an excuse for everything now!), so it’s a challenge to spell my own name, never mind one of those far too long drug names. One lot was bright orange color and one was the usual clear color, I don’t know which was which, but I do know, that unlike the Taxol, I felt the after effects as soon as I got home. They knocked me for six. I did ask those in the know what do these drugs do to the tumor/cancer that the Taxol didn’t and the only answer I got was that they do the same thing but they work in a different way. So I’m none the wiser. I can only equate it to what I know, an engine perhaps, you can have a diesel one or a petrol one, they both do the same thing, but work in different ways.
I had been warned that I’ll be very unwell after receiving these drugs but it still took me by surprise, and along with the surprise, I also have a whole new regime of anti sicknesses drugs and steroids to take. Plus, on top of all that, I have to inject myself with an immune boosting drug 24 hours after receiving the chemo. Yikes!! No rest for the wicked! I must have been very wicked....
So, this injection, the day after the chemo the hospital sent a nurse out to show me how to administer it. Apparently it’s easy to do and I should be able to manage it myself. (NM told me she only ever had one patient who couldn’t manage to do it and she had no intention of having that number go to two!) Yikes. No pressure. The nurse was great, she had a ‘dummy’ needle kit which we practiced with and I was able to manage with no trouble. I had to practice with the sharpsafe box also and I was able to manage that too. But, of course, when it came to actually sticking the real shiny pointed very long menacing looking needle into myself, I just couldn’t do it. Epic failure. Don’t tell NM, my name will be mud!! Just as well I’m not really one of those investigative reporters that has to do all this sort of stuff, I’d definitely be sacked. Anyway, the nurse did it for me and she has to come back next week and go through the whole process again. Fingers crossed I’ll be braver the next time. I’ll have to be, 'cos she won’t come back a third time.
It’s not all bad news though, I’ve finished work for the foreseeable future, so I’m a full time patient now and I have an army of carers lined up to look after me over the next few weeks. Just so they know in advance, I got one of NM’s score cards and I’ll be marking them on their performance, for example, who makes the best coffee, who makes the best soup, who makes the best dinner, who makes the best cake, who picks the best stuff to watch on TV and of course who entertains me with the best gossip.
My big sister, Deirdre, headed up the first delegation of carers aided and abetted by a visiting from London brother, Ciaran. A big thank you to them. Between them they were able to cater to my every demand, which were many and insistent. Score cards have been updated and the next lot of carers be warned, the bar is set very high for your shift. Although Deirdre said she wasn’t coming back again unless I stayed where I was supposed to, as in, on the couch!
Rusty would like to thank Patrick, my nephew also visiting from London, for taking him round the park every hour.
In other good news I managed not to have to use the vomit (too much information, sorry!) basin that was my best friend for the first few days. It was a very good friend and followed me from the couch to my bed and waited patiently by my side, even though I ignored it and then casually tossed it aside when I knew I didn’t need it anymore.
And speaking of being cared for, I am the recipient of yet another lovely care package. This one came all the way from the Black Forest in Germany (thanks Gabrielle!), I only hope I’m not too sick to eat all the goodies inside. I wont be cold either with the also enclosed Dr Who Tom Baker style scarf! I think you have a challenger for the knitter of the year title Deirdre.
There’s no denying it was a tough few days, so tough that I hadn’t the strength to write, but I got through them, I’m here to tell the tale and I’m still in good form. Hopefully my immune system will have recovered enough to go thought the whole process again next week! I know that sounds mad, wishing to be well enough to be poisoned all over again, but it’s one step closer to the finish line, so fingers, legs, eye, wires crossed for good blood results on Tuesday.
It’s hard to believe that I’ve been so undercover that I haven’t been outside for over a week, I’m really looking forward to going outside again, even if it is only for a trip to the hospital, but until Tuesday, I'm staying undercover(s).
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