chemo 2 - session 2

Cheo 2 -session 1 day 5

I suppose if this is supposed to be an honest story of what it is to live with and no doubt die from cancer, it is important to mention the bad bits as well as the good.

I was very pleased with my first 4 days after chemotherapy - and it was only on the 5th night that I had a very unpleasant experience.  It might have had nothing to do with cancer or chemo, but it made me scared to death.  I woke in the night, having had bad nightmares, which probably doesn’t mean anything - and I felt just awful.  My daughters say that a description like that is worth nothing - but all I can say is that I was totally out of control of how I felt, and I knew if this was going to be a regular feature, I was not going to be able to cope with 6 months of chemo. 

 Day 7

The next night, I was scared to go to bed - fearing it would happen again, but remembered that I had been given anti-nausea and steroid drugs for those first three days, so hoped that taking at least one of them again might do some good.  So I took an anti-nausea drug - I didn’t have nausea so it seemed a bit like cheating but this time, my evening session was tolerable. I woke for about half an hour, and had pulsing discomfort in my brain, and pressure.  But perhaps only a 1/10 of the intensity of the night before. 

But my chemo is not supposed to have brain side effects - they list diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting, but my digestive system was working pretty well. 

So in doing my online research I asked google if Iranitcan can pass the blood - brain barrier and it can - and can even do some good in helping with some types of brain cancer    So maybe that is what happened. My brain got a dose of the nasty stuff and reacted rather strongly to it.  

Doing more of  my research today, I wanted to see what peritoneal cancer looked like. I don’t really want to give it a name - but it it looked like  a “ring of roses” that would help me visualise what was happening to me.  The pictures disappointed me. Nothing pretty or fanciful about it.  I spreads quickly across the outside edges of the intestines and on the shiny surface,  little nodules form.  These are sticky and manage to go between and on top of bits of the small intestines, blocking them. They can also block the ureters.  If you have chemotherapy, it takes about 2-3 months for them to regrow after the treatment has finished. 

Day 8

If I were on my old chemo, I would have to be going back for the next dose, but thank goodness I have another week to recover.  Last night I didn’t sleep at all - or maybe the odd doze just before I got up.  No reason why.  But I have had a short nap and feel like I can cope for awhile now.

Session 2

I had a similar experience with the chemo session, but only one was necessary to get the cannula in.  My daughters and I decided to ask for a different distribution of the extra drugs that I take home, and they agreed that we could stretch the steroids out for another two days, but using the same overall. 

Now it is the second day after the session and I had a good night.  I have agreed to go on the second added in chemo drug for the fourth session.  But I am feeling positive and the nurse said I looked a lot better. I still have my chemo curly hair.