Chemo mini-break

I’d been seriously thinking about taking a week off as the chemo had got so exhausting but that decision was taken out of my hands. Last week as usual I had blood tests when I arrived at hospital. These are to make sure my body is well enough to cope with the evil cocktail of drugs.

I knew that I’d been feeling awful for several days. It turned out that I really was properly ill. The results showed that basically my immune system was too poorly for chemo. For anyone interested my neutrophils were 1.4. It means that I am have neutropenia and much more susceptible to infections.

At hospital I was told that I should spend my time off resting. After a magnesium drip I was sent home. It felt weird, almost like I was skiving. I hate the chemo but I was mentally ready for it. Instead we got to go home early.

I was warned that having the week off could make me feel much better so I shouldn’t over do it. But there’s been not much chance of that.  For the fist few days I just felt knackered and mostly snoozed on the sofa.

The biggest change is that I’m not attached to a bottle of chemo which needs to be carried everywhere. It means that this has had a week off too.

It’s brilliant not being connected to the bottle 24/7. My port gets a valuable week off too. Thats the thing which is buried in my skin and where the needle goes in and connects a tube to the bottle

I’m so aware of having all this stuff attached to me that it’s strange to not have to worry all the time. Usually I have to make sure I don’t move my right arm too much otherwise the needle could pop out. I have to be careful that the tube doesn’t catch on anything, especially door handles. Every time I stand up I need to remember to have that stupid bag wrapped around me.

After almost a week off I am starting to get a tiny bit better. Getting your brain and body back is an incredible feeling. Suddenly your head clears and you can move around a lot easier. It’s not all good though. When you’re really ugggggh you tend to focus on how horrible you feel. However when you’re not so ill, you become much more aware of normal life and what you’re missing out on. It becomes tantalisingly close but it’s still just out of your grasp. But even so I’d much rather feel like this than really sick.

I know that my chemo mini-break must come to an end soon. Despite how dreadful the drugs make me feel and how inconvenient how the bottle is, I really hope that I’m well enough for the toxic treatment this week. I don’t want anymore time off. Well I do, but i know thats not the best option for me. This stuff is helping to enable me to live longer and however awful it is, I need to finish this course of chemo.