Cycle 3, Day 18

Thursday 7th March 2019
“What appears to be the end of the road may simply be a bend in the road” —  Robert H. Schuller

Twas the night before tomorrow, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. It certainly has that tinge of Christmas Eve to it this evening. 2 reasons, it’s my last chemo tomorrow, and I for one am pretty excited by that. Secondly, it’s Luke’s 11th birthday tomorrow too, so he’s gone to bed with anticipation while Jayne and I are excited to see him receive his gifts tomorrow.

Going back to today, I had another good sleep but only about 8 1/2 hours. From the word go, my eyes felt tired and I struggled to keep them open for the first few hours of the day. I took the kids to school again, had some toasted bagels for breakfast, then had some visitors about 10.30am, had a brew and chatted til past midday. After that I had planned to do some stuff in the garage, but I simply couldn’t be bothered because I was so tired. I sat around not doing a lot. Just after 2pm I went up for a nap, and slept for over an hour. The tiredness really got me again today, but I think an extra hour in bed might have made a difference. I think I still need 9+ hours at night or else it’s nap time after lunch.

After that, the kids got dropped off here, and we just sat around watching TV. Luke seems to have a cold, Parker seemed quite tired too so we got them to bed much earlier tonight. Jayne wrapped Luke’s presents and then we watched some TV. I’ve got my bag ready for tomorrow and it’s a 6.40am get up to get to the hospital on time. If I wrap this blog up quick, I’ll get 8 hours sleep.

Just the tiredness again today, I’m getting about a bit more without my heart racing. My fingers are now more tingly and itchy, less sore. They are still sensitive to heat though, as I found out picking the freshly toasted bagels out of the toaster. I haven’t felt like eating a lot today either, just the 2 meals, appetite is still very much up and down.

So tomorrow I need to be at hospital for 8am. Normally on a Friday Jayne drops me off there and then Dad picks me up. This time Dad is going to pick me up early doors to take me, and experience a chemo day with me. Tomorrow is the best set of appointments I’ve had. 8am for Blood, 9am to see the Dr, 10am for Chemo. If anything, I’ll be more worried about hitting them all on time than the waiting around. Things don’t always run on time. We need breakfast in-between of course, another NHS canteen Full English 🙂

I’ll miss the awesome Birthday breakfast that Jayne has got for the boys, but it can’t be helped. He’ll also have to wait until after school to get most of his presents, but again it can’t be helped. He understands. Then in the evening, we’re out with my family for a meal for his birthday, he picked the Toby Carvery because he likes the desserts. I’m not complaining, I’ll have the steroid munchies again so I’ll fill my plate as high as it will go. If I feel like it, I’ll have a celebratory beer. I’ll need to drink a few litres of water after the chemo though, otherwise I’ll shrivel up like a dry sponge after a beer. Chemo really does dry you out.

What a mental lift tomorrow will be 🙂 Then I just need the physical side of things to catch up. On the longer journey of having cancer, this is of course a bend in the road, not the end. After tomorrow I’ll need a hearing test to see if it’s been temporarily/permanently damaged, same for my lungs, then the all important CT scan to see if the chemo has worked, and whether I get the all clear or not, I’ll be a regular customer at The Christie for years to come. But boy will I be glad when this chapter is over. Enjoying time with Jayne and the boys and not feeling useless, getting back to work properly, getting back on the bike, growing my hair back ! The next chapter starts tomorrow once this one ends, and it should be a great day all around.