5th-14th August - Cycle 2 and its nasty side effects

My second cycle of treatment started pretty much as I'd expected.  Three full days in hospital with various tests and checks before being connected up to the chemo for hours on end.  On the first two days there were a couple of administrative hold-ups which meant we weren't able to leave hospital until around 6pm so they were long days.  After the first couple of days I already started to feel very tired by the time Jacki and I got home so it was just a case of trying to have something to eat and a quick cuddle with Lyla before I headed to bed.

As expected, following the final hit of treatment on the Friday by the time I got home in the afternoon I was pretty much bed bound, but this time even more so than after the first cycle - which was already pretty bad.  I'd heard from other people that the second cycle was more difficult so the effects were to be expected, but I couldn't believe how long they were to last and how bad I felt.

By the following Tuesday I was still pretty much incapable of doing anything other than to stretch my legs for a couple of minutes at a time and for some unknown reason I started to suffer incredibly bad indigestion and heart burn which I later discovered can be part of the side effects of some of the tablets I was taking which, ironically, I was taking to help manage the chemo side effects.  It's almost like a vicious circle.  You take one thing to manage one side effect only for that to trigger something else.

Fast forward to the following Wednesday morning - when I was returning to hospital for a Bleomycin top-up - I felt incredibly ill and could almost physically not drag myself out of bed.  During the night I'd gone to the loo only to realise I was feeling light headed.  Next thing, bang, I'd fallen and hit my head on the bathroom sink which left a nice shining bruise and scratch on my forehead, which coupled within my thinning head of extremely short hair made me look look I'd been having a nigh time scuffle with someone.  By the morning I was feeling no better but thankfully I was sick before Jacki and I had to head to the hospital which helped ease the symptoms a bit.  At least I knew I'd be able to consult a doctor in order to try and fin out what I could do to try and make things better.

I had my usual change of dressings on my PICC line and bloods taken before waiting to see the doctor.  The registrar doctor we saw was extremely kind and helpful and we went through all the medication I was taking to try and come up with a plan of how to combat the sickness I'd been feeling.  Following this I headed off for my top-up of Bleomycin before going home. 

Thankfully by the Thursday I'd started to feel slightly better, although still completely lacking any real energy or appetite at this stage.  Whilst I had been trying my best to eat, it's safe to say I wasn't consuming enough calories to replenish what was being taken out of me.  I continued to perk up on the Friday and was able to login to my work laptop to begin trying to do some light work.  I just hope that I continue to pick up over the next few days which should leave a good week or so of feeling better before I have to start contemplating my third cycle.