Chemo 1
Team Amy 5
Much as I would like to pretend otherwise, my last cycle on 28 December got the better of me.
The day after the Docetaxel infusion and Phesgo injection, the taste changes started to kick in; well, they hadn't completely recovered from the last cycle. I also started to feel unwell - general malaise and a bit achy, but my temperature was normal. I just put it down to chemo, and specifically Docetaxel, catching up with me. On the evening of day 7 my temperature gradually went up to 38C. I called the oncology triage line and they told me to go to A&E. Here we go again...
The waiting room was heaving and all the chairs in the triage area were taken. Out came the red card, and I steeled myself for a long wait but I was called quite quickly this time. Bottom line: I had a mild, unspecified infection, but my neutrophil count was 4, within the normal range. I was so happy that they were able to send me home with oral antibiotics. With flu and Covid rampant and hospitals struggling to cope, this was a good result for me and for the NHS. I felt rough for a couple more days until the antibiotics started to take effect.
But this cycle has been the worst by far generally and I think it must be the cumulative effect. Well, I’d had it pretty easy up until now and I'm not complaining. Well, I am, but I do feel blessed with how I've coped so far. I had several side effects for the first 14 days that impacted my sense of wellbeing generally:
It didn't help matters that I felt more tired and couldn't walk more than ten or fifteen minutes some days instead of my usual 30-45 minutes and longer walks at weekends. I skipped three days completely. More seriously, my liquid intake was not good. I've had a stern word with myself about drinking more, and HCA is doing a bit of nagg... encouraging too 
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Thankfully, I'm now feeling better, eating a bit more, albeit a limited range of foods, drinking more and feeling much happier in myself. Just in time for another dose tomorrow 
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I had an MRI ten days ago to assess how the chemo has been working but no results yet. However, I saw my oncologist last week and he said that the lump is "hardly palpable". Hopefully, the MRI will confirm that it has shrunk. That would be very welcome news.
Tomorrow will be my final dose of chemo! Because of the increased side effects and the food issues/weight loss, my oncologist has decided to reduce the dose. I'm happy with that decision and I hope it will make a difference. It would be good to end on a more positive note. More importantly, I want to recover from this final cycle as quickly as possible so that I can get back to having a healthy, balanced diet, do more aerobic exercise and resistance training, and hopefully lose a few more pounds, to prepare for surgery in the next month or so. I may even try Nordic Walking after checking with my healthcare team. Studies have shown that it is beneficial for improving common symptoms of breast cancer treatment.
Some chemo units have a brass bell that patients can ring as they leave to celebrate the end of their chemo. I haven't seen one on my unit, and I possibly wouldn’t ring it anyway, but I will be doing a little happy dance inside! Especially as I will finish chemo before my birthday 
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As always, I want to thank you for your messages and prayers. There was one day during this cycle when my mood was quite low, but in the evening I was feeling a bit brighter and more chatty (HCA got fewer monosyllabic answers and grunts). Reading back in my diary, I see that I had two or three lovely messages during the day, which probably had everything to do with it. I am very grateful to have this support from Base Camp while I climb the mountain – thank you!
I hope you are all keeping warm and well. We’re looking forward to seeing people indoors again very soon!!
Big love xx
