Mr Fat: Chemotherapy, Phase Two

So, phase two of the chemo was had on Thursday 1st August. back in Southend Hospital as a day patient this time and not overnight, yay.....

Drove myself in and arrived in good time hoping that I would not be sitting around as I was when I was admitted for the first one, an overnighter. Arrived at 8:20 and the waiting room was already beginning to fill up but at around 8:45 the male nurse in charge, Alan called my name first, another big Yay to that, and I was taken through to a bay with six bed/ chairs and given first choice. I took the one nearest the open door to the outside world, just in case I needed to escape, well you know what I'm like by now ......

Answered the usual battery of questions on how I was, any adverse reactions, bowel, vomiting, etc, and then satisfied, cannula and drip attached just after 9:00, result. I was then asked what toilet I would be using to pee in, which one would you prefer me to use? I asked. The male one round the corner would be better, as the others get a bit congested throughout the day.... And no doubt there would be at least one scream if I opened the door to the ladies while one was in there, I supposed!

The reason for the question though was to inform me that a measuring jug would be placed in the loo and I needed to pee into that and record how much and what time I pee as they needed to get the gunk in to the system but it also needed to be got out again in quick order, it works apparently this chemo stuff, but not to good if allowed to hang about in the system for too long.... So let the peeing commence.... But of course this peeing lark isn't always as easy as it sounds. When not in hospital I do drink a lot of water and do pee a lot but during the day not so much, last night though is a typical example of my peeing - sorry - 10:30 bathroom, pee, wash, teeth, bed sleeping as light goes off.
12:15 Am bathroom, pee, shake, wash, bed
2:30 Am bathroom, pee, shake wash, bed
3:40 Am bathroom, pee, shake, wash, bed
4:20 as above
6:15 awake, 6:45 got up and prepared b/fast for the boss

But, in hospital this seemingly Olympian ability to produce vast quantities of pee seems to desert me and instead of being in a medal position I am left in a cloud of dust in the starting blocks, analysts have at it......

So, back to Thursday and I should just mention that after the first session and the three weeks of pills I had felt remarkably well part from the constant but small and irritating nausea that I feel every day, but no actual vomiting and so hoping largely for the same outcome again with the start of this session.

Next big question, does this take as long as the first time, probably says Alan and that's why we have to measure your pee to see that it's getting through and out, so if there are no problems you should be out by late afternoon... Now he's putting the pressure on.

Thursday was the hottest day of the year and hottest I think since about 2007 up around 93 /94 degrees. Now I know this is not unusual for many of my friends not from these shores but here, oh dear, I wilt like the flowers in my garden when they see brown fingered Tom the destroyer of many a beautiful flower approaching them to try and care for them and end up killing them, which 7 yr old Shannon will be doing to grandad if he doesn't manage to save the gorgeous wee thing she bought him that bloomed so beautifully and that I appear to be killing with water!!!


So the day wore on and it was hot and sticky and making me drowsy and On. Couple of occasions just as I began to drift into a sweaty puddled nap, I would be brought round with: "Thomas, Thomas, Thomas! we are just about to change your drip and we just need you to confirm your name, DOB and first line of your address" this was about the third time and by then Mr Grumpy, who I had managed to suppress was beginning to gurgle his way to the surface, and as I struggled to wipe away the sweat from my brow and eyes I responded, "you do know that I've had no visitors in the last 5 hrs, none at all, not even my lawyer who I was I confess thinking of talking to about changing my name by deed poll from Thomas to Mr Grump, but she never showed up, so I am still Thomas, my DOB is still the same and unless my wife has chucked me out and changed the locks on the doors I still live at the same address as I did when you booked me in this morning and since you changed the last three frigging drips ....... I mean, but of course they try and explain this by saying it's procedure and it's also to make sure that the patient isn't becoming confused or non compos-mentis, which my response to that was, "as professionals wouldn't you be able to tell with the glazed over look and the non responsive actions of a patient who is in here for 7 or 8 hours ..... Me being a tit, again but it did get very wearing very quickly......

Other than that I had a book or two to read and fellow patients to chat with but unfortunately no one else seemed in a very chatty mood! I suppose wrapped up and worrying about their own particular brand of cancer to be bothered to chat a though I did manage a good chat with a lovely woman who was sitting outside after being booked in 5 hrs earlier and was still waiting for her treatment to start - I remember that from my last post and the thing is she has lymphoma something or other and is on a experimental drug giving by injection which apparently takes all of 5 minutes, sheesh. I saw her leaving about 90 minutes later, so a 6 1/2 hr wait for a five minute injection. Is it any wonder that depression in cancer sufferers is high, it's bad enough having the damned thing but surely there is just no excuse for that kind of treatment.

We wished each other well, having discuss what we were reading, I pointed her in the direction of Secret Doors: The Challenge by Brian D Meeks a great Sword and Sorcery magical tale with from a Potteresque perspective that will take on and rival Harry as the series develops and gets bigger and better - go get it now - I'll wait

And so the day wore on.... I escaped a couple of times with drip and dolly trolly, she had a nice set of wheels, but did not mange the 18000+ steps I did on my first visit, far too hot for that regrettably and my energy levels seem to be dwindling. A bit like Friday someone sent me an email asking for me to write a report, it was about 2:30 Pm and I responded that I would do it on Monday as someone had opened a valve and my steam appears to have been let out for the day, so I am following it out the door.....

6:00 Pm and I was watching that last drip like a hawk, which was silly as it seemed to make it go slower but by 6:20 the machine was buzzing away and I did notice throughout the day that of course this happens to everyone as their bags empty or the machine just needs a gentle nudge or you (me) have created another blockage, but the nurses never seem that eager to attend and it can go on for as long as 5 mins before anyone can be bothered to check it out ....

Eventually a nurse who says she had been on all day, but that I had never seen arrives and I ask if I can get out now, she checks the records, checks the pee records and says YES.....

she starts to unhook me and gets the cannula out and as she gets the plaster on all, hell breaks loose with alarm bells screaming out.... Some inconsiderate other patient who is hooked up to monitoring devices along with his treatment goes into some kind of shock and the rest of the ward becomes like the Marie Celeste, bless no real complaints and he turned out to be ok after the ministrations of the nurses, so my sorry griping is soon put in to perspective, ah well....

The nurse who was dealing with me clearly forgot all about me and I had to find another one to give me my meds to take home and go through the paperwork and get my next blood test form ... Oh did I mention I have to get my blood work done not more than two days before I go in for the treatment each time, something about checking the white cells. Did that on Tuesday, went to Basildon hospital on the way past to Southend as we had taken the day off as Marie and Peter were going for a Spa day and we were taking 7 year old Charlie and Holly to the beach and fun park for the day.

Arrived at Basildon blood testing the number on the wall was 63 I asked what the next one was, 93, says the woman behind her glass screen, forget it says I , and we headed on to Southend.  I do not know the difference is size between these two hospitals, they look pretty similar but there was six or so others waiting for blood tests here as opposed to Basildon crazy and then I felt guilt too as no sooner had I sat down when my name was called! Apparently Southend, unlike Basildon and Broomfield like to get cancer patients seen to quickly and there is off course a need to get the bloodwork report done quickly as the treatment is in the next couple of days, but off course Southend, unlike the other two also give free parking to cancer patients .......

Oh, 7 year olds Charlie and Holly were invited in to watch the process which was a bit worrying but also good, but only if granddad didn't whimper, which he managed not to and as the blood was drawn out and into the test tube their wee mouths and eyes gaped open and then big smiles as the nurse applied the dressing and drew a smiley face on it as granddad was so good and didn't faint....

So I managed to escape and felt as well as I did the first time on the drive home and into the Friday morning but unfortunately from there on in it was down hill all the way Wasn't sleeping but oh so tired, acid reflux still so awful and constantly wanting to be sick but not doing so, hardly able to lift my feet gums, teeth, ulcers sore back, kidneys felt like they had been given a good kicking and the footbridge close to us and over the M25 the london orbital motorway was looking ever so inviting to jump off, I really felt that awful and have done for the last 12 days still struggling into work though, even if I wasn't managing a full day I was at least keeping up with the paperwork.

Today, 13th August, after still getting up a couple of times during the night, I FEEL BLOODY GREAT, as if the last 2 week were a thing of the past which of course they are, but a complete turn around, go figure.... and that's why it has taken me so long to write this post and apologise to all those whose sites and blogs I have been ignoring and not leaving my gold plated comments on and to my friends and family for being a miserable bugger, I shall try to do better :-]