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??
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