A trip to Carlisle for my brain to have its picture taken. Nothing to report. I think we will have to wait until our next appointment with the oncologist for the results. So we'll be on tenterhooks with crossed fingers for more than a fortnight. The doctor told us that MRI scans have to be discussed with doctors in Newcastle first.
I still have diarrhea, though Imodium seems to help. I'm feeling extra light-headed and dizzy and have no energy for just about any activity at the moment. I think that last cycle of chemo just about finished me off.
Showing posts with label Chemotherapy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chemotherapy. Show all posts
17 April - Still got diarrhea
Received the appointment for my next MRI scan at Carlisle in a week's time. Unfortunately it's at 9am which is impossible to manage from Cockermouth without our own transport. Even by taxi it would be impossible as the local taxi firms are doing school runs at that time in the morning.
I'm not noticing much improvement in my energy level since I stopped the chemotherapy and I have had diarrhea for the last few weeks. I understand it's not unusual to have diarrhea after chemo because the chemo kills fast-multiplying cells which include the bacteria in the gut. It's supposed to clear up on its own. But I have decided reluctantly to take Imodium in the hope that will put a stop to it.
I'm not noticing much improvement in my energy level since I stopped the chemotherapy and I have had diarrhea for the last few weeks. I understand it's not unusual to have diarrhea after chemo because the chemo kills fast-multiplying cells which include the bacteria in the gut. It's supposed to clear up on its own. But I have decided reluctantly to take Imodium in the hope that will put a stop to it.
26 March - Feeling dizzy
This last session of chemo has knocked me for six a bit. Until then I would feel a little dizzy if I climbed the stairs a bit too quickly. But at the moment even getting up from a chair makes my head spin as if I am about to faint.
According to "Living with a Brain Tumour" chemotherapy affects the bone marrow causing low counts of red cells in the blood. From school biology lessons I seem to recall that those are the cells that carry oxygen round the body. So I think the dizziness is due to the brain not receiving as much oxygen as it would like. In other words it is to be expected and I will just have to take it easier for a while.
It would be nice to know how long it takes the blood to recover once the chemotherapy is over, though, and whether there is anything I can do to speed the recovery process up a bit.
According to "Living with a Brain Tumour" chemotherapy affects the bone marrow causing low counts of red cells in the blood. From school biology lessons I seem to recall that those are the cells that carry oxygen round the body. So I think the dizziness is due to the brain not receiving as much oxygen as it would like. In other words it is to be expected and I will just have to take it easier for a while.
It would be nice to know how long it takes the blood to recover once the chemotherapy is over, though, and whether there is anything I can do to speed the recovery process up a bit.
23 March - Hospital appointment
Afternoon appointment with the oncologist in Carlisle. Nothing new to report. No new symptoms means everything is going OK. Had a blood test and collected the prescription for the sixth and final chemotherapy cycle which I start on Saturday.
Next appointment with the doc will be in two months time, before which I should have received an appointment for an MRI scan. Then the doctors will be able to actually see how well the treatment has gone.
Olga asked if I was to continue taking the steroids (dexamethazone) after the chemo was finished. So the doctor has given me a programme to step down the steroids from the current 4mg a day to zero over the next 4 weeks. If I don't feel ill or have headaches then I could be free of medication by this time next month, but if any symptoms appear I will go back to 4mg. So fingers crossed...
Next appointment with the doc will be in two months time, before which I should have received an appointment for an MRI scan. Then the doctors will be able to actually see how well the treatment has gone.
Olga asked if I was to continue taking the steroids (dexamethazone) after the chemo was finished. So the doctor has given me a programme to step down the steroids from the current 4mg a day to zero over the next 4 weeks. If I don't feel ill or have headaches then I could be free of medication by this time next month, but if any symptoms appear I will go back to 4mg. So fingers crossed...
4 February - Diarrhea
If it's not one thing it's another. A week ago I was concerned about getting constipation. Now it's the opposite. Olga thinks the chemo has killed the good bacteria in my gut. I'm eating a lot of home made live yogurt to try to replenish them.
No snow here so I'm still able to get out and about. I do wish my legs didn't feel quite so wobbly though. Olga and I walked into town today to visit the farmer's market and get a few things from Sainsbury's. I felt I needed to sit down in Sainsbury's while Olga went round the shop. I hope my fitness level will improve after the chemo is over.
No snow here so I'm still able to get out and about. I do wish my legs didn't feel quite so wobbly though. Olga and I walked into town today to visit the farmer's market and get a few things from Sainsbury's. I felt I needed to sit down in Sainsbury's while Olga went round the shop. I hope my fitness level will improve after the chemo is over.
30 January - Prunes and laxatives
I'm sure you are all happy to know that I survived the start of my fourth chemotherapy cycle without suffering chronic constipation. :) This time we were prepared. Besides my usual prunes for breakfast we stepped up the laxative tablets to three a day, plus a dish of beetroot before lunch and dinner. We also had more liquid meals such as borscht or stew. I don't think I can look at another beetroot - not for another 4 weeks anyway. As suggested by the doctor, I also took only one anti-sickness tablet per day instead of two.
The chemo still makes me more than usually lethargic (or just plain lazy) but it was a fine day so this afternoon I hauled ass and Olga and I walked to Harris Park and back - the best part of a couple of miles. This seems to be about my limit these days, and I'm still very sweaty by the end of it.
The higher mountains of the Lake District were iced white with snow. Looking across at them I felt rather sad: I doubt if I will ever regain enough fitness to walk the fells again.
I don't understand why I feel so physically weak when it was only my brain that has had surgery, but I believe it may be down to the dexomethasone, a cortico-steroid, which I take to control inflammation of the brain that might otherwise cause headaches or seizures. These steroids are completely different from the kind taken by body-builders and cause muscle wastage (and many other harmful effects, if you read the packet.) So I have lost fitness built up over many years that will probably take years to regain, if ever.
The chemo still makes me more than usually lethargic (or just plain lazy) but it was a fine day so this afternoon I hauled ass and Olga and I walked to Harris Park and back - the best part of a couple of miles. This seems to be about my limit these days, and I'm still very sweaty by the end of it.
The higher mountains of the Lake District were iced white with snow. Looking across at them I felt rather sad: I doubt if I will ever regain enough fitness to walk the fells again.
I don't understand why I feel so physically weak when it was only my brain that has had surgery, but I believe it may be down to the dexomethasone, a cortico-steroid, which I take to control inflammation of the brain that might otherwise cause headaches or seizures. These steroids are completely different from the kind taken by body-builders and cause muscle wastage (and many other harmful effects, if you read the packet.) So I have lost fitness built up over many years that will probably take years to regain, if ever.
27 December - Third chemotherapy cycle
Christmas is over. I hope you all had a good one. Ours was fine - quiet, spent at home enjoying some nice food and watching undemanding TV.
I allowed myself two small glasses of wine with dinner on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I did feel a bit tipsy later on, but that is pretty much how I feel most of the time at the moment so I don't think I can really blame the wine. Nor was it necessarily responsible for the slight headache I had on Christmas morning, as I didn't have one on Boxing Day morning. But I'm not in a hurry to try wine again as I haven't been missing it that much anyway.
On Boxing Day I started the third chemotherapy cycle. 400mg of temozolomide a day for the next 5 days. So I'm preparing for a couple of weeks of feeling crappy and lethargic. My mouth is already starting to feel like the inside of a sumo wrestler's jockstrap. No pain, no gain as they say.
I allowed myself two small glasses of wine with dinner on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I did feel a bit tipsy later on, but that is pretty much how I feel most of the time at the moment so I don't think I can really blame the wine. Nor was it necessarily responsible for the slight headache I had on Christmas morning, as I didn't have one on Boxing Day morning. But I'm not in a hurry to try wine again as I haven't been missing it that much anyway.
On Boxing Day I started the third chemotherapy cycle. 400mg of temozolomide a day for the next 5 days. So I'm preparing for a couple of weeks of feeling crappy and lethargic. My mouth is already starting to feel like the inside of a sumo wrestler's jockstrap. No pain, no gain as they say.
30 November - The foul taste is back
Four days into Cycle 2 of the high dose chemo and the foul taste in my mouth is back. I still consider that I've been fairly lucky as whilst the side effects of the temozolomide haven't been pleasant they have not been intolerable.
Despite taking laxatives before I started my bowels were once again set like concrete by day 3. And whereas I normally eat just about anything my appetite now is not as great as usual and there are some foods I just don't fancy at the moment. I don't even feel like chocolate!
Olga said she noticed the chemo was making me slow-witted. I can certainly testify to that. I'd rather not think how many hours I spent trying to get some radio and computer stuff to work for reasons that should have been blindingly obvious to anyone with a functioning brain. Ah well, nobody said this was supposed to be fun.
Despite taking laxatives before I started my bowels were once again set like concrete by day 3. And whereas I normally eat just about anything my appetite now is not as great as usual and there are some foods I just don't fancy at the moment. I don't even feel like chocolate!
Olga said she noticed the chemo was making me slow-witted. I can certainly testify to that. I'd rather not think how many hours I spent trying to get some radio and computer stuff to work for reasons that should have been blindingly obvious to anyone with a functioning brain. Ah well, nobody said this was supposed to be fun.
26 October - Starting intensive chemotherapy
My blood test results have given the all clear to begin the first of six intensive chemotherapy cycles tomorrow. Just when I'm starting to lose the foul taste in my mouth and able to enjoy food again! I just have to keep telling myself it's for the better.
At least, I hope it is. There has been no improvement in my hand tremor. But the only major effect of that is that electronic constructional work and other activities which require the use of tools and a steady hand is next to impossible. Oh, and I tend to hit the wrong keys on the computer keyboard more often than previously. This I could (reluctantly) put up with.
But the most debilitating symptom is the fuzziness in my head, the feeling I'm not really there, that I'm looking at the world through a window that makes everything look a bit out of focus, that it's unreal, just a bad dream. It's similar to how I was feeling before I was even diagnosed with a brain tumour. Only worse. I have started to worry that despite the treatment I have had so far the tumour is fighting back, that this is as good as it's going to get. Morale is at a low point at the moment.
At least, I hope it is. There has been no improvement in my hand tremor. But the only major effect of that is that electronic constructional work and other activities which require the use of tools and a steady hand is next to impossible. Oh, and I tend to hit the wrong keys on the computer keyboard more often than previously. This I could (reluctantly) put up with.
But the most debilitating symptom is the fuzziness in my head, the feeling I'm not really there, that I'm looking at the world through a window that makes everything look a bit out of focus, that it's unreal, just a bad dream. It's similar to how I was feeling before I was even diagnosed with a brain tumour. Only worse. I have started to worry that despite the treatment I have had so far the tumour is fighting back, that this is as good as it's going to get. Morale is at a low point at the moment.
18 October - Flu jabs
This morning Olga and I went to the GP surgery to get our flu jabs.
Then another trip to Carlisle for an appointment with the consultant. Didn't learn anything new, just a re-statement of the next phase of treatment.
I must have a blood test at the GP surgery next Monday, then we will phone Carlisle on Wednesday to check the results and ensure that my blood count is good enough to start the treatment. If I'm OK then I will start the first of six chemotherapy cycles on Thursday 27 October. I will take temozolomide at double the previous dose for five days, then 23 days I will take nothing. The idea is to take the cancer cells by surprise: If I took a continuous steady dose of temozolomide then they start to build up a resistance to it.
The one thing that wasn't mentioned is when I have another CT or MRI brain scan. I presume that if one was necessary they would do it. But it would be nice to know how effective the treatment has been so far at beating back the tumour.
Then another trip to Carlisle for an appointment with the consultant. Didn't learn anything new, just a re-statement of the next phase of treatment.
I must have a blood test at the GP surgery next Monday, then we will phone Carlisle on Wednesday to check the results and ensure that my blood count is good enough to start the treatment. If I'm OK then I will start the first of six chemotherapy cycles on Thursday 27 October. I will take temozolomide at double the previous dose for five days, then 23 days I will take nothing. The idea is to take the cancer cells by surprise: If I took a continuous steady dose of temozolomide then they start to build up a resistance to it.
The one thing that wasn't mentioned is when I have another CT or MRI brain scan. I presume that if one was necessary they would do it. But it would be nice to know how effective the treatment has been so far at beating back the tumour.
18 August - Starting treatment
First day of actual treatment. Nothing much to report.
Took the temozolomide tablets. Didn't feel nauseous.
Had the first dose of radiotherapy. Didn't feel any pain. Lay there on the bed, under the mask, while the X-ray machine whirred around my head. Nearly dozed off.
The worst thing about it was having to miss lunch to maintain an empty stomach two hours either side of taking the temozolomide.
Took the temozolomide tablets. Didn't feel nauseous.
Had the first dose of radiotherapy. Didn't feel any pain. Lay there on the bed, under the mask, while the X-ray machine whirred around my head. Nearly dozed off.
The worst thing about it was having to miss lunch to maintain an empty stomach two hours either side of taking the temozolomide.
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