Chemotherapy is a very unpleasant aggressive treatment. Albeit an effective one. I guess it should be no surprise that it is unpleasant given its roots are in World War I chemical warfare. The pioneers of chemotherapy treatment took their inspiration from Mustard gas. As with many significant discoveries, a chance event , in this case, an accidental exposure to Mustard gas lead to the observation of its effects on white blood cells, and the rest as they say is history.
The side effects are often as bad as the cancer itself, or in some cases worse. They also take a little time to present, and can last for longer periods than the treatment itself. Having seen a remarkable turnaround in Vicki's condition, she is now starting to suffer the side effects of the treatment. Her chemotherapy finished on Wednesday, and Vicki was pretty well throughout. Now however, the roller coaster that is her cancer journey, starts to roll downhill.
At the moment, she's just on the edge of negative side effects, she's started to feel nauseous and unsettled. The doctors warned us this morning that diarrhea, sore mouth, tiredness and nausea are all likely over the coming few weeks. In addition, suppressed appetite and hair loss are also likely. So hold onto your hat Dorothy, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!
Vicki remains quite well in herself, but her blood counts are still low, and today she needs platelets and a blood transfusion. It may be another 2 weeks before her blood counts return to her post treatment levels. Once she recovers from this 2nd treatment, her consultant has promised a brief break in the treatment. Obviously this can't come soon enough for us all.
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