Personal Blogs

Well, that's that then!

Had you asked me at the start, I would have said that 30 treatments in 43 days would have felt like a lifetime, especially given the schlep to and from Addenbrooke's for each treatment (about 30 miles each way). In reality, it's gone really quickly … a bit like those six weeks of summer holidays did when you were a kid!

Week 6 (which in calendar terms toppled over in to Week 7 thanks to the [much appreciated] bank holiday) didn't bring any major surprises. I've definitely hit the build-up-of-fatigue that they warned about – on Wednesday evening I got to about 8.30pm and just crashed and haven't felt fully awake since. I got up Thursday, logged in to my work computer and answered a couple of straightforward emails, but it soon became clear that nothing more complicated than that was possible. Went for treatment, came home and crashed on sofa. Friday was very much a repeat of that.
Saturday and Sunday as usual involved a lot of doing not very much at all, but I would say that they've not had quite the same restorative effect as in previous weeks.

In theory the tiredness may worsen over the next two weeks before it starts getting better. In practice, I won't be having to spend the time travelling or being at hospital, so I suspect that may balance out. I also won't actually have to get up or set an alarm if I'm feeling that tired since I'll have nowhere to go (only as far as my home-office to work, when I can). Clearly I'm optimistic here that the new schedule means any changes in tiredness won't really be noticeable.

I'm still losing hair by the handful, though still not really finding where it's come from. Yes, I have my small bald patch, but I'm sure there's more hair than that gone in the bin/down the bath drain. Perhaps it is thinning at that same level around my head, it's just hard to notice, exactly as promised. This should keep on for another three weeks or so and then it should stop falling out – though it'll be over the next 18 months that it comes back (possibly a different colour or texture).

Immediate future is a follow-up with the oncologist in about four weeks, and first scan in about three months. All future scans will be compared to that one as my post-treatment-baseline. Blood tests six-monthly. Visual function tests in six months as well, but the probably less frequently as time goes one (same as the scans).

Now I just need to stay awake long enough to talk to the DVLA about when I can start driving again (oncologist thinks it should be fine, but wants me to check with DVLA, as it may need co-ordinated clearance from oncologist, ophthalmologist and DVLA, so that might be a challenge!)

Oh, and I was asked if I wanted to keep my mask - I said yes, so as I could bring it home and finally show a picture of it: