Reading back on my last post almost feels like reading about someone else, so much has happened since then! (Bear with me - it gets better...)
I started chemo in March and the plan was for me to have three x 3 weeks cycles of EC, followed by three x 3 week cycles of Docetaxel. I decided to continue working as much as possible, and just take a few days in the first week of each cycle: being able to work remotely from home was a good help in this regard. However, I hadn't anticipated just how things would develop...
Cycle 1 - as expected! Some sickness, high temperature, tiredness etc but manageable.
Between cycles 1 & 2 - shocked at how sudden hair loss was!! Having always had very thick, quick-growing hair I'd somehow managed to convince myself that using the cold cap would mean I'd hardly notice any loss. Unfortunately I lost a huge amount of my hair very rapidly (over about 48 hours) and I was very distressed to have a completely bald patch across my crown. I was, however, able to work as planned.
Cycle 2 - less sickness, thanks to great drugs, but I developed cellulitis in the same arm as my Picc line (after my second Covid jab). Very glad to be able to continue working as planned.
Cycle 3 - not so good... Tried to work as planned but felt very unwell and ended up struggling with side effects and had to retire to bed. Eventually taken to hospital by ambulance and kept in for five days with an infection.
Cycle 4 - even worse, despite only having an 80% dose of the chemo drugs. I was again admitted to hospital and ended up staying in isolation for a week.
After this I met with my oncologist and, after a very honest but surprisingly straightforward discussion, we agreed to stop chemo.
Fast forward to radiotherapy - 20 sessions. Incredibly straightforward and very few side effects, apart from some burn on my skin. Grateful that my workplace allowed me to work remotely around the daily appointments and long journey.
9 months after diagnosis - hair growing back (having persevered with cold cap despite significant hair loss), surgery, chemo and radiotherapy all done and dusted. Letrazole tablets started and first bone infusion booked in for next month (after a delay because of the need to have a crown/tooth surgically extracted before this can be done).
The past few months have been more gruelling than I could ever have imagined and there have been huge ups and downs along the way (which I won't bore you with here!)
However, the skill and kindness I've received from every single practitioner I've received care from (and there have been a lot of them!) along the way, coupled with the support of family & friends, has made it all bearable. I'll be eternally grateful that I was called for the mammogram which picked up my cancer and there simply aren't words to express my gratitude to all in the NHS.
The emotional turmoil of a cancer diagnosis has been tougher than I'd anticipated and I'd encourage anyone facing this to take up any counselling on offer. If you can adopt a mindset of 'one stage at a time' it helps to reduce anxiety.
Good luck!
