WFH with Cancer — Week 3
After the previous week, and the start of additional symptoms, it was back to the hospital on the Thursday for round 3 of the treatment. As usual, it started with Bloods, but this time I was also having an Iron level check done as my bloods have shown me to be slightly anemic. I also wanted to make sure that I was ok to take paracetamol for headaches should they occur again, as when you arrive to the hospital and fill in the arrival form, they do ask if you have taken any paracetamol in the previous 8 hours. Thankfully I was told it was fine to take it should I need it.
Another new symptom that a lot of people don't discuss is bodily functions. So lets just be blunt on this one, but with the intake of water, you are heading to the toilet a lot, but the steroid and the additional drugs in your system can affect the other movements, so prune juice was added to my morning routine. Thankfully this helped a lot over the next few days, but do be patient with it. For me it took 4 days to get back into my regular routine.
We also discussed the markers again on what my progress would be measured on. The Paraprotein marker is the main one that they are looking at (some doctors focus on other areas depending on what cancer you have), and the aim is to get this down to single figures, or to 0 if possible. Bloods would be done monthly to measure this as the numbers can go up and down weekly, and in order to not discourage you, they do it monthly.
I was also prescribed a 10 to 15 minute walk in the morning and evening, and afternoon naps to help with the tiredness. Getting into the air would help with sleeping and generally well being, and the naps would help with the afternoon tiredness. I put an hour in my calendar and let the boss know.
There was also a new drug to be administered today. Zometa is a bone strengthener that helps with plasma repair for patients with blood based cancers. This is administered via a drip though a cannula in the back of the hand, and takes 30 minutes, so I was brought into the day ward for that. Thankfully they were also able to give me my normal injection at the same time, and as an extra bonus, you get a free cuppa and sandwich with it. Zometa is a monthly infusion, but will actually be given to me for the next year even after I have my treatment completed. The nurse also checked the rash from the previous week and said that part of the issue could be that the injection was low on my stomach and could be rubbing against my jeans so I got the injection higher this time to see if that was the case. Once done, I was on my way home and let the drugs do their things.
Now, over the last 2 months, I have had 4 cannulas placed from my time in hospital, and once its removed you actually feel an itch in not the one that was removed, but one from a previous time. Its strange what the body remembers. My left hand was itchy for a few days later, rather than my right where it was fitted.
Friday was looking good. I got a call to say that my MRI would be the following Wednesday so I had that to look forward to. I let them know about the nail and screws in my arm and they checked my notes and said they were fine. I know my surgeon had told me too, but honestly, it was worrying having this piece of metal in my arm and heading towards a magnet. It does play on your mind.
I had a nap in the afternoon, and had a lot of energy for the rest of the day. We had a movie night at home, filled ourselves with junk food, and had a family evening. It was so well worth it for us all.
Friday evening, and the rash was back. Not as bad as the previous week, but it was back. It had started at the new injection site. And I also had chills. No temperature, but my body was shaking and my energy levels suddenly dropped at about 10pm. The next morning however it was a lot worse. The rash was everywhere, down my legs and around my back, even up my arms. It was worrying. Still not itchy or hot to touch, but the fact that my body was telling me that it did not like a drug was not doing me much confidence. Saturday too I was barely able to walk. My legs were stiff, I had to support myself to stand, and I was so tired. This was the worst that I had felt so far. I also noticed that I had a sore throat.
I called the hospital on the Monday after the rash did not go away on the Sunday, and was told that the main cause was more than likely the Septrin Forte (antibiotic) so was told to stop taking it for the week and see how things went. As I was in the hospital on Wednesday for the MRI, my nurse also asked me to stop by so they could check me. I had emailed over photos to her and she had sent them on to the doctor, but Wednesday they would check and see how things were.
On the Wednesday I had my MRI scan. Oddly the tech that performed it was the same one that had done my previous MRI a few weeks ago and remembered me. It was a full body MRI so thankfully I would not be inside the machine all the time, but for 45 minutes I was loaded into and out of the machine and my arm did not react to it. For a full body MRI you have a sensor placed on your stomach that measures your breathing. When they MRI your stomach, the machine takes photos only during the time that you have exhaled so it stops and starts when it needs to. I did feel like testing that theory, but honestly the quicker I was out of there the better.
Afterwards it was up to the nurse to check the rash. At this stage it had gone down but still visible, but again the Septrin Forte was thought to be the drug causing this so I would have my medication changed in round 2 to lower the dose and hopefully stop the rash from happening.
And that was how week 3 ended up. My body had been MRI’d, it did not like one of the main drugs, and I was just really tired. I just wanted to get home now and sleep for an hour and prepare for the following day.
I do have to say that the naps and walks (when I had the energy levels) did help. Getting out into the fresh air, especially when you are working from home, is really important. We have discussed this before on the podcast, and getting into a routine especially when undergoing any treatment is important. Do however discuss it with your doctor and nursing team to make sure you are able to do any level of exercises, and don't push yourself. Some days your body just does not want to do anything, and other days you will find yourself working on a few hours sleep and be ready to climb a mountain.
