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??
