We arrived at the hospital so early that we were there before the Ward staff - talk about keen. We live on a little island and whilst our hospital is small, it is brand new. We don't have a resident Oncologist - a guy from Liverpool pops over every Thursday and a very nice lady - chief oncology nurse - is in charge whilst he's away.
She made us very welcome and allocated us a small private room off the Oncology lounge. Nice big lounge chair, table, guest chair and windows overlooking the surrounding countryside. Hubby was hooked up to the intravenous bag and given 4 hours of saline (hydration) plus 4 litres of drinking water. This was followed by various drugs for anti-sickness and then on to the real thing. Half hour of Gemcetabine.... more hydration... then 4 hours of Cysplatin to be followed by 4 more hours of saline. By now the small room looked like my hubby's private office - 2 laptops, blackberry, cups of tea and, of course, the cake I'd made. I am making it sound like a piece of cake and it was. I was very surprised. The best part of the day was meeting 'Roy'. He also has a bladder tumour and he was on his last day of chemo. He looked great and told us that apart from a couple of days of feeling lethargic (& a bit grumpy) he had managed it fine. Hearing that was the best boost!
Because of all the hydration and the time it was taking, hubby was put into a ward for the night and I left him watching Murray play at Wimbledon. The call came at 4:30am this morning "Get me out of here!" Luckily, Day 2 of Cycle 1 is next Tuesday and it involves only a short session lasting about 1 hour. Keep you posted.
T
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FormerMember
Hi Trishka,
Hope the rest of the treatment is as straightforward. Please satisfy my curiosity, which small island do you live on? I live close to Liverpool and am scratching my brain to remember what small islands are reasonably close by.
from you. Hi Shelagh, we live on the Isle of Man. I bet you've been there many a time. We only have 75,000 people here so guess we are lucky to have a nice brand new hospital even though it doesn't have all the facilities. It does mean too that we don't really have to queue up for too long for anything...
Also had bladder cancer and was terminal back in Nov 2008. Had the same chemo as your hubby. Its a bind waiting for the infusions to complete, it takes so long. I only had one side effect, the tiredness, everything else was a breeze.
The chemo completely zapped my tumour to the point where I could have the op that was originally planned. I finished chemo mid/end Feb 09 and had my op mid March. All the pathology results came back clear and I now have a new life to look forward to. I'm recovering well from the op and getting stronger by the day.
Hope it all goes as well with you. Bladder cancer is one of the most responsive to chemo so I was told. Best of luck.
Lucky you! I think only rich people live on the Isle of Man. I've never had a holiday there but worked there for 2 weeks many years ago. (Market Research for NOP.) Loved it. Loved the people and loved the laid back way of life. It was like stepping back into the 50s.
What a hopeful message from Mike (above). Cheers Mike and good luck to your hubby, Trish.
Hi Mike, thank you for commenting on my blog. It is the best thing to hear from folk who have been there and done it. I know my hubby would love to hear from you as he is not happy about the operation to come. He's been told that they can do a neo-bladder op but really terrified that when they get in there it will be a different story. He's also worried about the incontinence - he's 52 years old. Can we email you? Lots of questions... like where did you have the op... who did it... etc etc.
