Chemo 5

 I had an email from my brother-in-law today.  It was headed “Sympathy”.  It rather startled me because he is a cancer epidemiologist and statistician. Maybe he knows more than I do about my case. 

I did sort of feel in need of sympathy earlier this week.  I was given a bit more of the poison than in the previous 6 weeks.  My original dose was 350 somethings of 5FU, and now I am on 400. So that means I went from a 50 to a 63 % of the total dose allowed for my weight. 

Doesn’t sound like all that much does it?  But it sure packed a punch.  I had nausea, dizziness, mouth ulcers which really hurt, as well as much more of the usual fatigue. 

But it is gone today, except for the tiredness.  I was thinking I might ask them to put me back into the comfort zone - but I guess it has to hurt to work. 

I was thinking about me saying my stoma was sort of like an unborn baby (not really). So then my stoma bags, which are pocket shaped and grey, are sort of like nappies. And I have powder to put on Effie, after she has been cleaned.  Not that I think a form of stoma bag would work on a baby, or a disposable nappy would work on me. 

With the extra bit of poison, Effie gave her first interpretation of diarrhoea.  It is liking having a water tap that won’t turn off. Luckily I have medication that sorts it out, and marshmallows and jelly babies help too.  

I have an extra trip to the hospital this week - my check on my eyes - because of the right one which didn’t close after the Bell’s palsy.  I thought it was doing OK now, but just maybe the poison, which prefers the taste of new cells - has been taking bits out of my facial nerve tissue, which has had to regrow after the Bell’s Palsy killed it off. I think my smile is a bit crookeder again too.  But I am still smiling, so that is OK.