The time has now arrived to start my treatment and having so far had 7 consultations, 2 Colonoscopies, MRI & CT scans and several lots of bloods taken, my 25 sessions of Chemo/Radio are just around the corner…..however there is one more thing that I needed to consider before I start….fertility.
The position of my tumour was rectal, which means that radiotherapy will targeting my tumour from behind and the high energy rays will exist from my groin. This causes a risk to fertility and my oncologist recommended that I should think about storing some sperm, just in case the treatment causes any long term damage….now as I am currently childless and would love to have children one day, I decided to take his advise….
I won’t bore you with what this entailed as I am sure that you get the picture and for those that know me and are now wondering why I never mentioned this before….sorry…...So now I have my samples stored at a hospital In Leeds….and no I am not saying where….for security reasons…J
So its now time for my Radiotherapy sizing and off I go to the new Oncology wing at St James Hospital Leeds. The place is amazing and looks like a shopping mall with so much space and its warm feel.
Down to floor minus 2 and I am met by one of the Oncology nurses who will be looking after me of the next 5 weeks. She explains what will happen and provides me with my appointment card which in the main are morning sessions between 08:00 -09:00, thus allowing me to pop in…get zapped and pop off to work….this is great….and also the card allows me free parking at the hospital.
Next its sizing up …..I remove my jeans and socks and shoes and underwear and put a gown on. …..next its face down on a long bed. Not too dissimilar to a theatre bed…..and the radiologists give me something I have longed for …3 tattoos….using the scan results they have worked out the location of my tumour and using lights they mark my body with 3 dots. This will aid the radiologists at each session to align the machine to ensure that the radioactive rays target my tumour precisely.
Fri 30th Apr 10 and its my first radiotherapy session. A few days prior I visited my Oncologist who examines me to ensure that I am ready to go and to supply me with my Chemotherapy (Capecitabine) in tablet form to be taken twice daily on the days that I have Radiotherapy.
Capecitabine is one of a group of chemotherapy drugs known as the anti-metabolites. These stop cells making and repairing DNA. Cancer cells need to make and repair DNA in order to grow and multiply.
I arrive on the Friday just before 08:30 and head off to Costa Coffee for a latte and then take the lift to minus 2 and I take a seat in the waiting area for BM LA07…..my machine for the next 25 treatment days.
My nurse arrives shortly before 9 and I am taken to a changing room where I unchanged and put my gown on. A few minutes later and there is a knock on the door and I am taken to my machine where I met by 2 radiologists. So its time to lie front down and with my bum in the area, the table is aligned so that the lasers line up to me 3 dots (tattoos).
Once aligned they leave the room and I am told to stay still and not move an inch. The machine then moves both clockwise and anti clockwise to zap me with 3 5 second bursts of radiotherapy….and that’s it. From undressing to being zapped to changing back again….12 minutes max and by 9:45 I am back at my desk in Pudsey. I wasn’t quite sure how it would be, but I was very please apart from my bum in the air…
During my treatment schedule I saw my oncologist on 5 occasions for check up’s and blood counts and several visit to see the nursing team for burns. There are many side effects from both Chemo and Radiotherapy and for me at this stage it was tiredness and there were many occasions when I had to leave work for afternoon naps. Nausea was not really an issue for me but my bum did burn from the radiotherapy and I took pain relief along with a mild laxative to aid bathroom trips. In addition I was provided with some dressings and an ointment to aid with the burns…..
Treatment 25 was on Mon 6th Jun 10 and it was quite emotional to be saying good-bye to friends that I had know now for over 5 weeks. I arrive at machine 7 and am stunned by the sight. The previous day was my birthday and the team decided to celebrate by placing birthday banners on the machine….it was a lovely touch… ..
