Treatment so far.

Hello everyone, I just want to touch base and give a bit of an insight into my treatment. I was diagnosed with stage 1b3-2a. 

I’ve just finished week 4 of 5 and on the whole it’s not been as bad  as I thought it was going to be.

chemotherapy on a Monday is a long day, you have to wait for your doctor to sign off your medication and the first 2 weeks took ages. I was at the hospital for 12 hours those first couple of sessions but the last couple of weeks has been quicker. Once you get taken to the bay and have the cannula inserted you just sit there while the IV does its thing.  Take things to entertain you, a book or iPad or something. The worse bit for me is the needing to pee all the time during the treatment. They give me 2 hydration drips to begin with, then the chemo and then another hydration drip to end this is to make sure your kidneys are working properly. The only problem is you need to go to the toilet like a million times during. This involves unplugging the IV, wheeling it to the toilet, trying to get your knickers down with one hand (so as not to disturb the IV) then having to pee in a jug so they can record what is going in and out. Honestly it’s like a comedy sketch that happens literally every 15 minutes.  By the end of the treatment I usually feel washed out and need someone to pick me up from the hospital as I don’t want to drive tired. 

Radiation therapy is a doddle, there’s nothing to it.  You go into the room, confirm your details and lie down on the bed.  The machine does 3 rotations around you and you’re done. You don’t feel anything, or see anything, and to be honest I questioned what it was actually doing at first.  

After a couple of weeks I began to feel the effects of the treatment. I’m very tired all the time and have days where I feel sick. My bladder and bowels have been affected as well which is caused by the radiation. At first I felt very full and bloated but as it’s progressed it has turned to diarrhoea. I go through periods of being bloated one minute and absolutely ravenous the next. 
They give you steroids to take after the chemotherapy, my advice is definitely take them as they do pick you up and give you more energy. They only give me enough for 3 days so by the time the weekend comes around I’m really flagging. But you can ask for more if you need them ( I only found this out this week). I also suffered with heartburn which I’ve never had before but again tell your doctor about any symptoms you have and they will give you something to alleviate them. 

on the whole I’ve had good days and bad days. The good have been good but the bad have been pretty bad but I’ve only had a handful of those days. I can’t believe how quick it has gone by as well, it seems so daunting to begin with but I can’t believe I’ve only got one more week to endure. 

I hope this post will help anyone starting out on their treatment plan and will give you an insight as to what is to come. Remember, stay positive (it really helps), talk to your doctor about everything and know that you’ve got this .  Sending hugs to anyone that needs one