Back on the Chemo Rollercoaster

Today is Monday the 29th of October and it is 8.30am. I walk into the Chemo Suite at the Alan Walker Cancer Clinic. This is the first time back in the Chemo Suite since April this year. The nurses are always very friendly and welcome me back. Obviously they all still remember me as I have been coming here for two years now. I jump into the big recliner seat and get myself comfortable. They check my vitals and go over the blood test from last Friday. Now ready to go. They plug the needle into my port and start administering the lethal mix of drugs. I have been hooked up for an hour now and am feeling OK. I think this has been the only hesitation I have a present is how the drugs will affect me this time around. As you know I am very positive but have a feeling they will hit me hard this time around. Mainly due to the fact I a weaker now than I have since I was first diagnosed. I am happy to be back on the Chemo believe it or not. My results have been terrible lately and just want to get them back under control as soon as possible. Let’s hope the concoction they are pumping into me will have a good result and maybe even reduce my markers rather than just hold them. Time will tell. The ulcer has still not totally healed and causes me trouble/pain from time to time. As long as I keep the pain killers up I do not have too many issues. My weight is still a problem down to 63 kilos and having issues putting on any weight back on. Mainly due to the ulcer in my stomach. Fatigue is still knocking me around and struggle through the day from 3pm onwards. i just hope the Chemo does not make this any worse!!! Wish me luck this time around and hopefully the treatment will work before the side effects kick in.

An update

It has been awhile since my last post. There has been a lot going on and wanted to wait until I had a clear picture of what I was doing. Dr K spoke with the Specialist in Adelaide and they have another trial drug which they thought might work for me. Sorry I cannot remember the name of it but is very similar to most of the regular chemo cycles but obviously using a different drug. It is approved in the US, but not here. I had to fly down to Adelaide for a rushed appointment with the Specialists to see if I would qualify. To cut a long story short, no I do not qualify as I have been off regular chemo for too long whilst my results have been increasing. Not to worry I still have the fall back to regular chemo treatments, which the Doctors agree will most probably have a better outcome than the trial drug. Meghan, Sam and I are currently away in Bali having a well deserved break for a week. Once I get back I have an appointment with Dr K and straight back onto regulat chemo treatment. I have about three more different treatments to go before I am out of options. Depending on how well I do on each one will give us an indication of how long I have left. So what will happen is I go on one treatment until the side effects get too bad or it stops working and my markers start to increase rapidly. This will be the same for each treatment and once I have tried them all and there is nothing new to try it will be off the chemo until the end.all these treatments can only slow the cancer down and there is nothing out there which will cure my case, so crossed fingers they come up with a miricle drug in the near future which will save me! I am still battling this ulcer and am down to 63 kilos and Meg has nicknamed me "Skelie" obviously short for skeleton. Yes very funny. The increase in drugs has been great and am now pain free most of the time, but when I am in pain it is so bad I cannot describe it, to the point I throw up, so not so nice. Apart from the pain the only issue I have is my stamina, I have trouble concentrating past 3pm in the afternoon and just feel like having a sleep. Not a good look at work I think!! Everything else is great and Meg and Sam are doing well and we are really enjoying this break. Until I have any more news Bye for now.