Taking the Train

It’s now a week since my first chemotherapy session.

I am having adjuvant treatment which happens after the tumour has been removed and is intended to reduce the risk of reoccurrence.

As per my last two posts I thought I would give a flavour of a medical experience in the hope that others might find it helpful.

Each treatment cycle lasts 4 weeks and starts with a review meeting with the clinical team and a series of standard tests and measurements including bloods, weight, height and a CT scan if necessary.

The course of chemotherapy starts with an infusion session. You sit in a nice comfortable chair and an electrically heated wrap is applied to one arm. The aim is to make it easier for the nurse to find a vein to insert a cannula which unusually has to go into the upper side of the forearm.

Once the arm is ready the cannula is inserted and the drug is slowly infused. You should not feel anything, I didn’t. After a couple of hours the infusion finishes and the drip is replaced with a sterile one to flush the cannula through. Take a book, you will be sitting motionless for a few hours.

Afterwards I was given an anti nausea pill to take as part of a clinical trial and a big bag of pills to take home.

You will be told about potential side effects from the treatment which can include hair loss, nausea, diarrhoea and a weird nerve tingling.

The nerve tingling was the only one I experienced immediately afterwards. It’s very odd, it’s like little electric shocks when you touch metal or anything cold or textured. It’s very unpleasant so get yourself a pair of gloves. The one with the touch sensitive tips so you can use your phone. They also recommend you wear a scarf.

The weird sensitivity also applies to teeth and jaws and swallowing so you will have to get used to tepid water for at least a week. No cold drinks.

The other part of the chemo is a course of pills you take for a couple of weeks. Four 500mg pills twice a day, 12 hours apart. I have set a timer to remind me and make sure I take them.

The only side effects I have experienced apart from the nerve tingle which fades after a week have been tiredness and a 36 hour period when I had to make frequent trips to the smallest room. So work on the basis that you will not be leaving the house for the first week of every cycle. Even with minimal side effects you will be dopey, wobbly, tingly and quite possibly locked in the lavatory.

The biggest issue is simply that chemotherapy is much like life, highly important yet for long periods rather tedious. And the problem is that the unoccupied mind will churn uncontrollably. So be prepared for bouts of depression and anxiety. Make sure you have a support network in place. Be kind to yourself. It’s like a very long train journey.