As week 11 rolls along, the treatment part of cycle 2 is complete (week 3 has no treatment, to help build my strength up to do it all over again!).
The Tuesday phone calls are becoming a time of apprehension now as depending on the quality of the blood results, we get the green light for the chemicals to be ordered. This is done on the Tuesday. To give you an insight into the costs (quick internet research) my treatment of 4 cycles is somewhere in the region of £12,204 and £18,306 for the chemo medication alone!
Sadly this time my white blood cells were marginal so as a precautionary measure I had to self administer 3 days of Filgrastim injections into my stomach (£284.20 per injection x3 = £852.60). Filgrastim injection is used to treat neutropenia (low white blood cells) that is caused by cancer medicines. It is a synthetic (man-made) form of a substance that is naturally produced in your body called a colony stimulating factor. Filgrastim helps the bone marrow to make new white blood cells.
The first day, I dreamt about it, I got up and pondered over it, I watched several Youtube videos, and read just about every website I could ... From waking up to taking the injection, I pondered for nearly 3 hours ... but I have to say, it was easy and for the most part painless, once I got over my nerves!
Since chemo, the weather has been all over the place, but mostly humid, and my room is at the front of the house, getting the afternoon sun. I have been tired and restless, often resorting to an early evening nap, and even going to bed earlier ... then waking in the middle of the night! The fatigue has been tough, often resulting in an urge just to sit down on the floor ... regardless of what I have been doing! The temperature has been high, but never quite reaching the 37.6 that would warrant a blue lit ride to the LRI.
Now the reason for mentioning the earlier pricing ... There is so much criticism of the NHS (those estimates are just the medication alone) ... and yes I have suffered delays of a couple of hours due to staff shortages, but put these things into perspective and it is a truly amazing organisation, and something that we should NEVER EVER take for granted! They are under immense pressure to deliver, and they do every time!
Highlight of the week
Fish pie and Veg with treacle pudding and custard
Completing the Lego Fender guitar ... my attention span has diminished recently!
