I had my 6th cycle of the Cetuximab on Tuesday 11th February. The treatment went very well and Wendy and I got away soon after my treatment ended around noon and we made our way to Pret a Manger for soup and a roll. This seems to be developing into a habit now as they do some terrific soups that we can't resist.
Friday 14 February I was booked in for a CT scan at 10.30 am so I could not eat any food after 8.30 am but needed to drink plenty of fluids, I left home to catch the bus at 9.30 am allowing plenty of time to get to the Hospital. As there was a backlog of urgent patients my scan was delayed but I did manage to get home around 12.30 pm ready for a good early lunch with Wendy. Soon after we had finished I had a phone call from the registrar of the radiography department to say that my scan that I had earlier was showing that I had a blood clot on my lung!! They had already made an appointment for me at the Kingston A and E department and advised me to get down to A and E as soon as possible. So we dropped everything and caught the buses to the Hospital. We had to wait for about an hour before we could see the triage nurse but once we saw her we went through pretty quickly, whilst others were being kept waiting for up to 3 hours. I had a thorough examination by the doctor who said that it was policy to put chemotherapy patients on a drug called Fragmin which had to be self injected daily for 6 months. They don't use Warfarin as it takes too long to establish the right dose, plus it may affect the chemotherapy treatment. Fortunately for me I have Alison at home and she is giving me my injections, however when she goes away I guess I shall have to do it myself.
Week beginning 17 February. On Tuesday I had my left ear syringed at Teddington Hospital, at last I have no wax in that ear. On Wednesday I had my PICC line cleaned at Kingston, Thursday I saw the doctor in the anticoagulation department and Friday I went into Kingston Hospital again to collect my Fragmin prescription. What a week no wonder I sometimes feel so tired.
Monday 24 February. What a beautiful winters day, the sun is shining and the thermometer is rising. Today I have to go in to give bloods between 1.30 and 3 pm so that they can check my performance is up to scratch. Tomorrow is the big day when I get the results of my scan, hopefully the results will show that the drug is working and the treatment can carry on. Otherwise the situation is uncertain as they are intimating that they are running out of drug options for me. Hopefully and God willing I will be able to continue with my treatment.
Monday, 24 February 2014
Friday, 31 January 2014
Into the New year
The day after my treatment on Tuesday 17th December I woke up and went into the bathroom to have a wash and clean my teeth the first thing that I noticed when I took my pyjama top off was that most of my chest was covered in small red spots!! Breakthrough! so the drug is working on my normal cells therefore it must also be working on the cancer cells, Yes.
I had my third infusion on New Years eve and the relief doctor said that the spots were a good indicator that the drug is working but we will not know how well it is working until I have a CT scan after the sixth cycle which is due on 11 February. The scan and the results should take place within my 2 week rest period and if all is well then I will presumably move onto the 7th cycle of the same drug.
Overall I have been feeling a lot better since I moved to the Cetuximab drug. Some friends and acquaintances that I have not seen since the autumn have all commented on how I looked so pale and washed out when they last saw me and how much better I look now. However Cetuximab is not without its own side effects. The main one is that it dries out my skin and causes what looks like acne. the hospital give me Lymecycline capsules (a tetracycline antibiotic) to take once every morning to treat the spots. I also get Hydrocortisone cream to rub into the spots to calm any inflammation, it also helps with dermatitis, and I rub this into the affected areas in the evening before going to bed. In the mornings I have to rub in some Diprobase Cream Emollient on my hands, feet, chest and back and my face as I do with the Hydrocortisone in the evenings. My face and hands are the two areas that suffer the dryness most, particularly my hands where I get small splits in the skin on my fingers and around my nails which can be a bit bothersome at times.
My next infusion is due on 11 February, so will I be a grandfather then or will Paul and Nicola still be waiting for the baby which is due on 6 February. My niece, Wendy, in Canada is booked in to have her baby girl on 4 February, another grandniece for me joining the other 5 grandnieces (I hope I've got that right).
One other side effect of the current drug is that it makes me feel very sleepy on occasions and I can very easily fall asleep in the afternoon for a couple of hours. In fact the doctor I saw the last time positively encouraged it. We have had so much rain here this month that it has made it difficult to get onto the allotment and into the garden. Also it is not good for going out cycling although we did manage to go out last Wednesday with the club as it was a lovely day. we had elevenses at East Molesey and lunch at Woodies near new Malden, quite a gentle run out.
The next question is what will the results of the CT scan be and what will happen next regarding my treatment??
I had my third infusion on New Years eve and the relief doctor said that the spots were a good indicator that the drug is working but we will not know how well it is working until I have a CT scan after the sixth cycle which is due on 11 February. The scan and the results should take place within my 2 week rest period and if all is well then I will presumably move onto the 7th cycle of the same drug.
Overall I have been feeling a lot better since I moved to the Cetuximab drug. Some friends and acquaintances that I have not seen since the autumn have all commented on how I looked so pale and washed out when they last saw me and how much better I look now. However Cetuximab is not without its own side effects. The main one is that it dries out my skin and causes what looks like acne. the hospital give me Lymecycline capsules (a tetracycline antibiotic) to take once every morning to treat the spots. I also get Hydrocortisone cream to rub into the spots to calm any inflammation, it also helps with dermatitis, and I rub this into the affected areas in the evening before going to bed. In the mornings I have to rub in some Diprobase Cream Emollient on my hands, feet, chest and back and my face as I do with the Hydrocortisone in the evenings. My face and hands are the two areas that suffer the dryness most, particularly my hands where I get small splits in the skin on my fingers and around my nails which can be a bit bothersome at times.
My next infusion is due on 11 February, so will I be a grandfather then or will Paul and Nicola still be waiting for the baby which is due on 6 February. My niece, Wendy, in Canada is booked in to have her baby girl on 4 February, another grandniece for me joining the other 5 grandnieces (I hope I've got that right).
One other side effect of the current drug is that it makes me feel very sleepy on occasions and I can very easily fall asleep in the afternoon for a couple of hours. In fact the doctor I saw the last time positively encouraged it. We have had so much rain here this month that it has made it difficult to get onto the allotment and into the garden. Also it is not good for going out cycling although we did manage to go out last Wednesday with the club as it was a lovely day. we had elevenses at East Molesey and lunch at Woodies near new Malden, quite a gentle run out.
The next question is what will the results of the CT scan be and what will happen next regarding my treatment??
Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Change of treatment regime
On Tuesday 12 November after my sixth infusion I reached the half way point of my treatment with Irinotecan and fluorouracil(5FU) and folinic acid. apparently the folonic acid makes 5FU more effective. As this was the halfway point in the treatment I needed to have a CTscan to check the effectiveness of the treatment regime. Two days after my infusion I again started to suffer from diarrhoea which lasted 4 or 5 days and showed no signs of stopping despite the use of loperamide tablets as instructed by the pharmacist, so I phoned the doctor at the treatment clinic on the 18th Nov. and she immediately put me on antibiotics which cleared the diarrhoea very quickly. On the 21 Nov I was back at the clinic to have my PICC line cleaned. The next day I was back in the Hospital again to have a CT Scan at 10.30 in the morning. I was now all set up for the halfway meeting with the doctor on the following Tuesday 26 Nov, what was the outcome going to be was the treatment effective or not, were the side effects tolerable or not?
Monday 25 Nov. went into the Sir William Rous Unit to have my bloods taken ready for the doctor to see on Tuesday.
Wendy and I got to the clinic in good time on Tuesday, however it was very busy and we had to wait nearly 2 hours before we saw the doctor. However it was not my regular clinic doctor and initially the replacement doctor said that my bloods were OK and as I was feeling good then I could continue with my treatment. He had not realised that I had had a CT scan the previous week and we were supposed to be discussing the effectiveness of the treatment so far and whether or not there was a need to change to a different treatment regime. As he did not know the background I told him to look up the CT Scan on the computer after he had done this he said that he needed to phone the normal doctor to find out what the plans were. so back to the waiting room for another 45 minutes. He then called us in and said that as the current drugs were not working effectively and they were causing severe side effects then I was to switch to a new drug called "Cetuximab". I had the choice of coming back in one or two weeks. I chose to come back next week. On our way out the Doctor said that I was very lucky to be able to have this drug. It works differently to other chemotherapy treatments that attack healthy cells as well as the cancer cells. This drug is targeted on the cancer cells and shuts down their reproduction system. This reduces the side effects considerably.
Monday 2 Dec I went in for my bloods to be taken and the following day Wendy and I turned up at 11.15 am ready to see the doctor, luckily it was the usual one who had come back after some sick leave. She agreed that I could go ahead and have the treatment, the unit was full so I had to go into one of the private rooms where I felt a bit isolated I much prefer to be in the same room as the other patients as you can talk about and compare your treatments etc with them.
The initial dose with this drug is 200ml taken over 2 hours, they monitor you over this period as a small minority of patients suffer flu like symptoms and for one hour after the infusion before you can go home. The treatment for me went very well with no adverse reactions. My next treatment is due in 2 weeks, so I am back to the fortnightly pattern
Monday 16 Dec. Had to wait for about one hour before my bloods were taken. My PICC line which is designed to feed the infusion into a large vein near my heart also has the ability to draw back blood, unfortunately my PICC has got blocked up somehow and its not possible to take blood samples using it. Therefor whenever I have to give bloods they put a needle in my right arm to draw the blood off. This time around I had a care assistant who has been trained in taking blood samples, I was a bit reticent but it turned out to be OK.
Tuesday, treatment day. Wendy and I set off at 9.0am and arrived on time for a 10.00 am appointment with the doctor. One hour later we got to see her and she said my blood levels were OK. I had been having trouble with my thigh leg muscles and mentioned this to her and she said it was probably the result of a course of steroids that they had given me which tend to target the larger muscles in the body. Apparently it will recover over a period of time. So onto the treatment clinic for another 30 to 45 minute wait for a nurse to become available to start up the infusion. these are quite short being only for one hour plus a 30 minute saline solution infusion to clear the PICC line. Felt good after this treatment but later on in the afternoon I began to feel very tired so I had a little rest until dinner time. I am quite comfortable with this new treatment regime as so far I have not suffered any side effects and I am begining to feel a lot better and more relaxed and able to get on with things. Lets see how the treatment goes as I am supposed to come out in a rash of spots within the first few weeks of treatment....I will keep you posted!!
Monday 25 Nov. went into the Sir William Rous Unit to have my bloods taken ready for the doctor to see on Tuesday.
Wendy and I got to the clinic in good time on Tuesday, however it was very busy and we had to wait nearly 2 hours before we saw the doctor. However it was not my regular clinic doctor and initially the replacement doctor said that my bloods were OK and as I was feeling good then I could continue with my treatment. He had not realised that I had had a CT scan the previous week and we were supposed to be discussing the effectiveness of the treatment so far and whether or not there was a need to change to a different treatment regime. As he did not know the background I told him to look up the CT Scan on the computer after he had done this he said that he needed to phone the normal doctor to find out what the plans were. so back to the waiting room for another 45 minutes. He then called us in and said that as the current drugs were not working effectively and they were causing severe side effects then I was to switch to a new drug called "Cetuximab". I had the choice of coming back in one or two weeks. I chose to come back next week. On our way out the Doctor said that I was very lucky to be able to have this drug. It works differently to other chemotherapy treatments that attack healthy cells as well as the cancer cells. This drug is targeted on the cancer cells and shuts down their reproduction system. This reduces the side effects considerably.
Monday 2 Dec I went in for my bloods to be taken and the following day Wendy and I turned up at 11.15 am ready to see the doctor, luckily it was the usual one who had come back after some sick leave. She agreed that I could go ahead and have the treatment, the unit was full so I had to go into one of the private rooms where I felt a bit isolated I much prefer to be in the same room as the other patients as you can talk about and compare your treatments etc with them.
The initial dose with this drug is 200ml taken over 2 hours, they monitor you over this period as a small minority of patients suffer flu like symptoms and for one hour after the infusion before you can go home. The treatment for me went very well with no adverse reactions. My next treatment is due in 2 weeks, so I am back to the fortnightly pattern
Monday 16 Dec. Had to wait for about one hour before my bloods were taken. My PICC line which is designed to feed the infusion into a large vein near my heart also has the ability to draw back blood, unfortunately my PICC has got blocked up somehow and its not possible to take blood samples using it. Therefor whenever I have to give bloods they put a needle in my right arm to draw the blood off. This time around I had a care assistant who has been trained in taking blood samples, I was a bit reticent but it turned out to be OK.
Tuesday, treatment day. Wendy and I set off at 9.0am and arrived on time for a 10.00 am appointment with the doctor. One hour later we got to see her and she said my blood levels were OK. I had been having trouble with my thigh leg muscles and mentioned this to her and she said it was probably the result of a course of steroids that they had given me which tend to target the larger muscles in the body. Apparently it will recover over a period of time. So onto the treatment clinic for another 30 to 45 minute wait for a nurse to become available to start up the infusion. these are quite short being only for one hour plus a 30 minute saline solution infusion to clear the PICC line. Felt good after this treatment but later on in the afternoon I began to feel very tired so I had a little rest until dinner time. I am quite comfortable with this new treatment regime as so far I have not suffered any side effects and I am begining to feel a lot better and more relaxed and able to get on with things. Lets see how the treatment goes as I am supposed to come out in a rash of spots within the first few weeks of treatment....I will keep you posted!!
Saturday, 2 November 2013
Chemotherapy session 5 of 12
Session 4 of my Chemotherapy went very well as I did not have many side effects and also I didn't feel that tired, still it was the first one after a long break and this one may not be so good. I had my bloods done on Monday and for the first time for several visits the unit was fairly empty so I did not have long to wait. For once they had a full staff on duty!
On Tuesday Wendy and I were able to go on the train as the appointment to see the doctor was at 11.00am, we can only use our Freedom passes on the trains after 9.30 am. The doctor checked me through at around 11.30 am and we went into the treatment room around 11.45 am. it was around two thirds full however there was a full staff on duty and everything was running smoothly. Some of the regular nurses have been away on 3-5 weeks holidays to visit relatives abroad when this happens they bring in more staff from The Royal Marsden in Sutton. So today was a good day as they were able to start the treatment promptly. It all went very well and we were able to leave by 4.00 pm to get the buses back home something of a record.
I felt very well physically by the time we got home and I decided to have a bit of a rest and get on with my book that Alan gave me for Christmas called "World without end by Ken Follett" quite an easy read but it is 1262 pages and I am on page 1077 at the moment as it is getting more gripping and I am spending more time on it as I now want to see how it finishes. It is set in the period 1327 to 1361 in the time of King Edward III and it gives an accurate insight into the times and politics of that era and how the working class lived and were treated by the ruling classes.
On Thursday I went back in to the SWRU to have my bottle removed and my PICC line flushed and cleaned. Whilst I was having this done I was being interviewed by a medical PhD student who was doing some research to find out if everyone was satisfied with their chemotherapy bottles that pump a measured dose into you for a couple of days. She was taking on issues that the patients brought up so that she could use the information to somehow improve the performance of the pumps. My issue is that the pump hardly ever finishes pumping the full dose into me over the 48 hour period, others have the same problem so that is probably the sort of issue she will have to have a look at and find a solution.
So now I am writing this on Saturday 2nd November and so far beyond a bit of excess flem at the back of my throat which makes me cough and a couple of partially blocked ears which make my hearing go strange so that I talk a little oddly and also feel a little disoriented. So I am feeling quite good and feel almost my usual self, plus I feel clean and fresh as I had a nice shower this morning.
On Tuesday Wendy and I were able to go on the train as the appointment to see the doctor was at 11.00am, we can only use our Freedom passes on the trains after 9.30 am. The doctor checked me through at around 11.30 am and we went into the treatment room around 11.45 am. it was around two thirds full however there was a full staff on duty and everything was running smoothly. Some of the regular nurses have been away on 3-5 weeks holidays to visit relatives abroad when this happens they bring in more staff from The Royal Marsden in Sutton. So today was a good day as they were able to start the treatment promptly. It all went very well and we were able to leave by 4.00 pm to get the buses back home something of a record.
I felt very well physically by the time we got home and I decided to have a bit of a rest and get on with my book that Alan gave me for Christmas called "World without end by Ken Follett" quite an easy read but it is 1262 pages and I am on page 1077 at the moment as it is getting more gripping and I am spending more time on it as I now want to see how it finishes. It is set in the period 1327 to 1361 in the time of King Edward III and it gives an accurate insight into the times and politics of that era and how the working class lived and were treated by the ruling classes.
On Thursday I went back in to the SWRU to have my bottle removed and my PICC line flushed and cleaned. Whilst I was having this done I was being interviewed by a medical PhD student who was doing some research to find out if everyone was satisfied with their chemotherapy bottles that pump a measured dose into you for a couple of days. She was taking on issues that the patients brought up so that she could use the information to somehow improve the performance of the pumps. My issue is that the pump hardly ever finishes pumping the full dose into me over the 48 hour period, others have the same problem so that is probably the sort of issue she will have to have a look at and find a solution.
So now I am writing this on Saturday 2nd November and so far beyond a bit of excess flem at the back of my throat which makes me cough and a couple of partially blocked ears which make my hearing go strange so that I talk a little oddly and also feel a little disoriented. So I am feeling quite good and feel almost my usual self, plus I feel clean and fresh as I had a nice shower this morning.
Saturday, 19 October 2013
Back on track after a short break
My planned break for two weeks did not work out as I had hoped that it would as right at the beginning I caught another infection in my sinuses on day 1. After a week it hadn't cleared up so on the Monday before I was due to re-start my chemotherapy I went to my GP and she prescribed a course of antibiotics to clear it up. She also wanted to give me the flu jab and a new one for shingles that has just been introduced for those over 70 years old, but said that I had better confirm with the chemotherapy doctor that it was advisable.
Thankfully over the week my infection cleared up just in time for me to go and give bloods so that they could assess my fitness to cope with more chemotherapy. I went in on Monday but as the chemo unit was extremely busy they sent me off to have my bloods done in the bloods department, luckily there was no long queue so I was able to be seen immediately---more needles but expert practitioners so I didn't feel a thing. As I had time to spare I stopped in the bloods unit as they have a WRVS service there that offers hot drinks and snacks and I had a cup of tea before going home.
Next day Tuesday my chemotherapy is due to re-start or is it? Wendy and I left home in good time to make our appointment to see the doctor at 9.45 am but because of bus and road work problems we didn't get there until 10 am however they were extremely busy and it was still a half hour before I was seen by the doctor. My normal doctor is on holiday in Japan so I saw another doctor from the Royal Marsden who examined me and went through my bloods, my tumour markers had been going down since the earlier course of treatment but was starting to rise slowly during the interval whilst I had stopped. She then examined my mouth to see if the wound from my tooth had healed up sufficiently for me to continue treatment, she felt that it was not fully healed and was concerned about the treatment may cause it to bleed and possibly become re-infected, I said that I would really like to start again and she then decided that I could wait outside whilst she discussed it with the pharmacist. Ten minutes later she came back and said that I could re-start the treatment. Everything went well and we were able on this occasion to get away fairly early around about 4.30 pm. I forgot to ask the doctor about having flu and shingle jabs so I asked the receptionist to find out and she came back to say that no I am not allowed inoculations of flu and shingles. Also during the discussions with the doctor she was concerned about me picking up these infections and advised me not to get on crowded trains and buses, plus avoid all crowded gatherings. I need to take more care of myself.
Thursday time to go in and have my bottle removed and my PICC line cleaned and flushed this was OK but the nurse said that there was no blood flowing back on both ports but she was able to push the saline solution through with no problems. They have stopped using Heperin which they used to thin the blood in the line in case it started to clot, they did some tests at Marsden to see if it was really necessary to do this and decided that they could stop using it as the risk was quite low.
Saturday so far I have been feeling good since the treatment the drugs I am taking to stop the gastric re-flux are doing there job and the start of a little diarrhoea so far seems to have been stalled by the use of loperamide for now. No doubt the chemo will be working inside me and I know that for a couple of days I shall feel a bit low. Just now I feel fine and have pruned back yesterday and today the conifers and the front and back of the house c'est la vie!!
Thankfully over the week my infection cleared up just in time for me to go and give bloods so that they could assess my fitness to cope with more chemotherapy. I went in on Monday but as the chemo unit was extremely busy they sent me off to have my bloods done in the bloods department, luckily there was no long queue so I was able to be seen immediately---more needles but expert practitioners so I didn't feel a thing. As I had time to spare I stopped in the bloods unit as they have a WRVS service there that offers hot drinks and snacks and I had a cup of tea before going home.
Next day Tuesday my chemotherapy is due to re-start or is it? Wendy and I left home in good time to make our appointment to see the doctor at 9.45 am but because of bus and road work problems we didn't get there until 10 am however they were extremely busy and it was still a half hour before I was seen by the doctor. My normal doctor is on holiday in Japan so I saw another doctor from the Royal Marsden who examined me and went through my bloods, my tumour markers had been going down since the earlier course of treatment but was starting to rise slowly during the interval whilst I had stopped. She then examined my mouth to see if the wound from my tooth had healed up sufficiently for me to continue treatment, she felt that it was not fully healed and was concerned about the treatment may cause it to bleed and possibly become re-infected, I said that I would really like to start again and she then decided that I could wait outside whilst she discussed it with the pharmacist. Ten minutes later she came back and said that I could re-start the treatment. Everything went well and we were able on this occasion to get away fairly early around about 4.30 pm. I forgot to ask the doctor about having flu and shingle jabs so I asked the receptionist to find out and she came back to say that no I am not allowed inoculations of flu and shingles. Also during the discussions with the doctor she was concerned about me picking up these infections and advised me not to get on crowded trains and buses, plus avoid all crowded gatherings. I need to take more care of myself.
Thursday time to go in and have my bottle removed and my PICC line cleaned and flushed this was OK but the nurse said that there was no blood flowing back on both ports but she was able to push the saline solution through with no problems. They have stopped using Heperin which they used to thin the blood in the line in case it started to clot, they did some tests at Marsden to see if it was really necessary to do this and decided that they could stop using it as the risk was quite low.
Saturday so far I have been feeling good since the treatment the drugs I am taking to stop the gastric re-flux are doing there job and the start of a little diarrhoea so far seems to have been stalled by the use of loperamide for now. No doubt the chemo will be working inside me and I know that for a couple of days I shall feel a bit low. Just now I feel fine and have pruned back yesterday and today the conifers and the front and back of the house c'est la vie!!
Monday, 30 September 2013
Tooth extraction and date of the next chemotherapy
The day after I had seen the hospital dental consultant I managed to fit in a Technical Audit in Reigate for UKAS, I am trying whenever possible to fit in my few audits that I do around my treatment and the hospital is quite helpful in this respect.
On Friday 20th of September Wendy and I went into the Princess Alexandra ward at Kingston Hospital for my tooth extraction. We didn't have long to wait before I was called in to see the dentist. He spent some time telling me how he was planning to do the extraction. This included details of Plan A and Plan B. Plan A was after numbing the area to gently attempt to wiggle the tooth around, if it could be wiggled then the next step was to remove it. If that failed then it would have to be Plan B which involved cuts and stitches to the gums. Luckily for me Plan A worked and the tooth was out in no time. I then had to wait 10 -15 minutes biting down onto a plug of paper to allow the blood to clot where the tooth had come out. I was then discharged with a list of after care instructions that would help the healing process, namely to have a mouth wash every 2 hours using hot salt solution starting the following day and lasting for 5days. Wendy said that I was out quickly, the whole visit had lasted 30 minutes. I felt fine but my lower jaw felt very numb. We then went to the Chemo treatment clinic to have my PICC cleaned but were told we were too early so we decided to go back home and I would come out again later.
On the Saturday we had an enjoyable day out cruising on the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal in Clive and Jenny's long boat going from Willowtree Marina near Hayes to Uxbridge and back, Jenny is our URC minister at Hampton Hill. It was a very restful day out and good fun opening and closing the locks we passed through, I also managed to more or less keep up with my hot salt water mouth washes that I had to do every 2 hours.
Since having my tooth out there has been very little happening, there has been some discussion as to when would be the most appropriate time to re-start my chemotherapy treatment, the last treatment that I had was on 20 August. The extraction wound needs to be fully healed before the chemotherapy can re-start after taking advice from the dentist the date for me to re-start will be 15th October providing we get a good blood check on the 14th. So the next couple of weeks will be like a short holiday for me and unless there is something to report the next blog will be when I re-start my treatment.
On Friday 20th of September Wendy and I went into the Princess Alexandra ward at Kingston Hospital for my tooth extraction. We didn't have long to wait before I was called in to see the dentist. He spent some time telling me how he was planning to do the extraction. This included details of Plan A and Plan B. Plan A was after numbing the area to gently attempt to wiggle the tooth around, if it could be wiggled then the next step was to remove it. If that failed then it would have to be Plan B which involved cuts and stitches to the gums. Luckily for me Plan A worked and the tooth was out in no time. I then had to wait 10 -15 minutes biting down onto a plug of paper to allow the blood to clot where the tooth had come out. I was then discharged with a list of after care instructions that would help the healing process, namely to have a mouth wash every 2 hours using hot salt solution starting the following day and lasting for 5days. Wendy said that I was out quickly, the whole visit had lasted 30 minutes. I felt fine but my lower jaw felt very numb. We then went to the Chemo treatment clinic to have my PICC cleaned but were told we were too early so we decided to go back home and I would come out again later.
On the Saturday we had an enjoyable day out cruising on the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal in Clive and Jenny's long boat going from Willowtree Marina near Hayes to Uxbridge and back, Jenny is our URC minister at Hampton Hill. It was a very restful day out and good fun opening and closing the locks we passed through, I also managed to more or less keep up with my hot salt water mouth washes that I had to do every 2 hours.
Since having my tooth out there has been very little happening, there has been some discussion as to when would be the most appropriate time to re-start my chemotherapy treatment, the last treatment that I had was on 20 August. The extraction wound needs to be fully healed before the chemotherapy can re-start after taking advice from the dentist the date for me to re-start will be 15th October providing we get a good blood check on the 14th. So the next couple of weeks will be like a short holiday for me and unless there is something to report the next blog will be when I re-start my treatment.
Monday, 16 September 2013
10th to 16th September
Tuesday I went into the chemotherapy to give bloods so that they could monitor my blood levels from the point of view of recovery from the tooth removal as well as monitoring the tumour marking. Still having trouble eating properly.
Wednesday Due to have my lower left wisdom tooth removed by my local dentist at 2.30 pm. Wendy and Alison took me into Kingston to buy Paul a birthday present, mainly to stop me thinking about my tooth extraction. We got back from Kingston had a quick lunch of soup and then headed for the dentist. We got there on time and surprisingly they were ready for me. I was whisked into the room and in the chair in minutes. After a quick investigation and questions such as 'is that as much as you can open your mouth?' the dentist decided that the extraction was too complicated and decided to refer me to the specialists in Kingston Hospital. They had faxed a form of referral direct to the Oral department of the Hospital.When I got home I rang the Chemotherapy unit and told the receptionist what had happened and could they do anything about it. She said that could I get the contact name and phone number of the person that the dentist had faxed. When I rang the dentist I asked the receptionist for the name and phone number which she was able to give me. I then asked how long she thought it would take and she said it would be up to 6 to 8 weeks. I then phoned back the chemotherapy unit with the required details and the receptionist said she would go over and have a look in the Oral Unit.
Thursday Still concerned about my extraction. I rang Chemo Unit again but the receptionist had gone out for a couple of hours. I then decided to ring the Oral Unit myself and I asked the same question - how long would it be before they could extract my tooth - I got the same reply, 6 to 8 weeks. So I said it was an emergency as I was in the middle of chemotherapy and they could not continue until the tooth had been removed, she said she would have a word with the consultants and ring me back. Mid afternoon I got a call from them giving me an appointment for 2.30 pm on Monday of next week for a consultation --RESULT. I rang the Chemo Unit and got the receptionist who said that she had just been round to the Oral Unit and they had received my referral and had given me an appointment for next Monday.
Friday I went into the chemo unit to have my PICC line cleaned up. I spoke with the receptionist and she said that the Chemotherapy doctor had written a long letter to the Oral Unit which was more good news. Last Tuesday when I went to give bloods the nurse said that it was difficult to push the saline through the line and she was not getting much bleed back when she tried. The result was they had to draw blood from a vein using NEEDLES. The nurse I had today to clean my PICC line said that it was better today as there was bleed back on both lines and it wasn't too bad pushing the saline through.
The last time I had chemotherapy transfusion was 20th August, four weeks ago as I write this blog. I can still feel the effects of the drugs particularly in my nose and mouth where the soft linings of the nose and mouth are being affected plus the tingling sensation in my hands and feet.
Monday After a cold and very wet weekend I am ready now to visit the Oral Unit at Kingston Hospital to see what they can do for me.
Just come back from seeing the Hospital dentist. I had an X-ray of my teeth which the dentist examined and announced that the wisdom tooth was decayed, the evidence was a black hole inside my tooth on the X-ray. She then got me on the couch and did a visual examination of the tooth and said there is not much room there to remove the tooth but it should be OK. She asked why my dentist had referred me I said I didn't really know but I suspect she didn't want to take the risk of removing it. Anyway the hospital dentist (whom I have yet to meet) has agreed to take the tooth out on Friday at 11.00 am after the children's session has finished, the nurse said bring a book in case they run over time. Watch this space!!
Wednesday Due to have my lower left wisdom tooth removed by my local dentist at 2.30 pm. Wendy and Alison took me into Kingston to buy Paul a birthday present, mainly to stop me thinking about my tooth extraction. We got back from Kingston had a quick lunch of soup and then headed for the dentist. We got there on time and surprisingly they were ready for me. I was whisked into the room and in the chair in minutes. After a quick investigation and questions such as 'is that as much as you can open your mouth?' the dentist decided that the extraction was too complicated and decided to refer me to the specialists in Kingston Hospital. They had faxed a form of referral direct to the Oral department of the Hospital.When I got home I rang the Chemotherapy unit and told the receptionist what had happened and could they do anything about it. She said that could I get the contact name and phone number of the person that the dentist had faxed. When I rang the dentist I asked the receptionist for the name and phone number which she was able to give me. I then asked how long she thought it would take and she said it would be up to 6 to 8 weeks. I then phoned back the chemotherapy unit with the required details and the receptionist said she would go over and have a look in the Oral Unit.
Thursday Still concerned about my extraction. I rang Chemo Unit again but the receptionist had gone out for a couple of hours. I then decided to ring the Oral Unit myself and I asked the same question - how long would it be before they could extract my tooth - I got the same reply, 6 to 8 weeks. So I said it was an emergency as I was in the middle of chemotherapy and they could not continue until the tooth had been removed, she said she would have a word with the consultants and ring me back. Mid afternoon I got a call from them giving me an appointment for 2.30 pm on Monday of next week for a consultation --RESULT. I rang the Chemo Unit and got the receptionist who said that she had just been round to the Oral Unit and they had received my referral and had given me an appointment for next Monday.
Friday I went into the chemo unit to have my PICC line cleaned up. I spoke with the receptionist and she said that the Chemotherapy doctor had written a long letter to the Oral Unit which was more good news. Last Tuesday when I went to give bloods the nurse said that it was difficult to push the saline through the line and she was not getting much bleed back when she tried. The result was they had to draw blood from a vein using NEEDLES. The nurse I had today to clean my PICC line said that it was better today as there was bleed back on both lines and it wasn't too bad pushing the saline through.
The last time I had chemotherapy transfusion was 20th August, four weeks ago as I write this blog. I can still feel the effects of the drugs particularly in my nose and mouth where the soft linings of the nose and mouth are being affected plus the tingling sensation in my hands and feet.
Monday After a cold and very wet weekend I am ready now to visit the Oral Unit at Kingston Hospital to see what they can do for me.
Just come back from seeing the Hospital dentist. I had an X-ray of my teeth which the dentist examined and announced that the wisdom tooth was decayed, the evidence was a black hole inside my tooth on the X-ray. She then got me on the couch and did a visual examination of the tooth and said there is not much room there to remove the tooth but it should be OK. She asked why my dentist had referred me I said I didn't really know but I suspect she didn't want to take the risk of removing it. Anyway the hospital dentist (whom I have yet to meet) has agreed to take the tooth out on Friday at 11.00 am after the children's session has finished, the nurse said bring a book in case they run over time. Watch this space!!
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