17 July, Day 2

The first day of my second round of chemotherapy treatment at the Sir William Rouse clinic in Kingston Hospital. I had to be there for 9.00am and got there on time only to have to wait until 9.45 am for the doctor to see me and confirm what treatment I was due to have, there was also a check of my bloods to make sure that everything was normal, no low counts etc. After signing to agree to the treatment I was let into the clinic. This is a large room with high windows on two sides and reclining chairs arranged around three sides for patients to relax whilst being infused with highly toxic liquids.

My nurse for the day was Sunam who was very thorough in everything that she did. She took me through the process that I was to undergo which involved the use of three different drugs, the first would be a 90 minute infusion of irinotecan,  followed by a two hour infusion of Aflibercept (folinic acid) a drug designed to make the irinotecan more effective by lowering the blood supply to the cancer cells (My understanding). The next drug would be given in two doses a short 30 minute infusion of 5FU mixed with glucose. Finally I would be fitted with a pump that contained a much larger dose of 5FU which was connected to my PICC line and had to be taken home to be returned in 48 hours for disconnection providing it had been fully discharged into my body.

Before the treatment could start I had my blood pressure checked to make sure it was within the allowed limits of 140/90, my initial reading was 147/80. Out of range need to wait for me to calm down after hearing about all the nasty side effects that these drugs can cause such as the possibility of heart pains and tightness in the chest and the need to immediately dial 999. 15 minutes later the test was repeated this time 143/83, still no go and the need to consult with the doctor, doctors are always busy so it was a wee while before the decision was made to go ahead provided that I monitored my blood pressure over the next week and took readings to my GP to see if anything needed to be done.

The time was now 12.15 pm and the treatment time including flushing out with saline between drugs etc. meant that I would finish around 5.30 pm. Wendy and I eventually left at 5.40 pm to catch the buses home to arrive at 6.50 pm because of the heavy traffic. During diner I took the first of my sickness pills as there is a high possibility of feeling/being sick.

Bed time was interesting where do I put the pump when I am in bed? Finally we decided that it should go behind my pillow so that the PICC-line came up from my left shoulder through the top of my night wear and onto the pillow. That settled we had a well earned sleep after a very long day.