Monday 14 June 2010

so far, so not bad

Quick update. Still don't like talking about chemo. Despite choosing to write a blog about it. Oh, the irony.

So, how is the first R-Chop session treating me?

Well, so far the dreaded nausea has been somewhere between 4 to 6 out of 10. Which is good news.

I've actually only been sick a few times since Thursday and then, without meaning to get too graphic, it's more of a retch of acid than a full blow chunk-blower.

My getting-quite-good-at-being-a-dad-Dad came up for a few days and he commented on how much better I seemed and how much food I was eating ... I'm pleased to say that I'm eating well .. and took advantage to shovel lots of good food into me.

Getting things out the other end is proving a little more tricky still ... which can make me miserable ... but I won't dwell on that too much. The anti-sickness drugs don't help that situation either, so I've been really stringent with the amount I take. Which is no bad thing ... the less drugs the better. Gakking down 12 or so pills first thing every morning really is a grind.

I am reaching the end of the first phase of this chemo. I've been taking steroids and various drugs to keep me stable - these are now stopping and apparently this can make you feel worse for a while during a second phase that last around a week, but I can't actually see how it will make me feel nauseous ... tired/drained perhaps, but I am optimistic that it won't be worse 'sickness' wise (my pet hate).

I've been at work today (well, this afternoon) - which is pretty amazing - and have been quite 'on-the-ball' and a lot more 'physical' than before. The frustration comes when I'm piling on a bit of healthy pressure on myself,  running around the office, making phone calls, multi-tasking, 'getting moving' - then I suddenly find myself with strange stabbing pains returning in my chest, feeling sick and I then find myself retching in the toilet, whilst my concerned friend brings me water.

Overall though - I'm chuffed to be honest ... I am reserving air-punching celebrations until we've got through a good 10 days - it's only been 4 so far ... but as the title above you says, 'so far, not so bad'.

Onwards ....

No comments: