Derailed

The train trundles onwards until suddenly, shockingly, it doesn’t.

My second cycle of chemotherapy was cut unexpectedly short on account of me almost dying.

Normally I avoid drama in these blog posts. Drama is messy, we shy away from it. Better to avoid mentioning difficult subjects, at most allude indirectly and in passing.

But sometimes life is dramatic, especially when you almost lose it.

The second round of my chemotherapy started as before. A morning in Sutton being infused and then back home to recover and start the daily pill based part of the chemotherapy.

After a couple of days I found I had diarrhoea which kept getting worse.

By Maundy Thursday I was having 10-12 bouts of severe diarrhoea a day. So I phoned the helpline who were excellent and ran me through a structured triage process. We agreed that I should stop the chemotherapy pills and monitor the situation over the Easter weekend.

I stopped the pills but the diarrhoea got worse. By Tuesday I was having bouts continually, at least 20 times a day.

The helpline called me on Tuesday morning and essentially saved my life. They said that I needed to come in to the Royal Marsden in Chelsea immediately.

It took me 90 minutes to get dressed and into a taxi. I had to lie on the floor for 5-10 minutes after every action like putting on my socks. I even left the front door open as I discovered when I got home.

The taxi brought me to the Royal Marsden where I essentially collapsed at the Reception Desk.

I was rushed to the Centre for Urgent Care who put me on various drips while they worked out what was wrong with me.

I spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday as a day patient while they ran me through various tests, scans and pokings (technical term). They also kept me rehydrated with a drip and in particular they restocked my severely depleted potassium levels.

Friday they had worked out that the root cause of my problem was a bowel obstruction. Even with CT scanning these are hard to detect. They tend to occur intermittently and can be very small.

My suspicion is that my body’s violent attempts to expel the chemotherapy drugs had over stressed my guts, which had been the subject of major surgery in January. And this had led to the blockage.

The result of this was that my body was expelling water and minerals far faster than I was replenishing them and the resulting dehydration and low potassium levels had wrung me dry.

So I was admitted on Friday as an inpatient.

I was fitted with a nasal tube which was then used to help remove bile from my stomach. And yes, it was exactly as delightful as it sounds.

If you are ever fitted with one then insist on regular ice lollies. They are the only thing I found to soothe the throat, tackle the foul mouth taste of the tube, and provide the smallest spark of joy.

I spent two days nil by mouth being hydrated, given antibiotics, and filled with potassium and other essential salts.

The tube was then removed which was also exactly as pleasant as it sounds and I was put on a light fluids diet. So Rose’s Lime Cordial for me.

After a couple of days on light fluids I was allowed soft foods. So I went for Rice Crispies for every meal.

After a few days of Rice Crispies for every meal I had jerk chicken with rice for lunch today and it was the best thing ever.

So this is being written in media res. I hope to be discharged shortly but the future is unknowable.

Much to reflect upon but for me the key point is that I should have called the helpline sooner!

More soon…