Side Effects.. they could be worse!

It struck me only yesterday that my treatment regime is intense - at least six months of weekly treatment, composed of two chemotherapy drugs (plus an accelerator) and the wondrous MAB.  It is truly remarkable, and a blessing, that my body is holding up so well in the face of such an onslaught - yes, I am constantly tired (sometimes very tired!), but overall the impact on me, my life and that of Diana has been "OK".

So what are the side effects I'm experiencing?  One thing we are hopeful of is that, now we're well into the second half of the regime, they are stable - those that accumulate have accumulated, and that there's nothing more lurking waiting to catch us out...  But what are they?

Well, there's the obvious ones of thinning hair and weight loss (I'm as light as I was when I was 23!).  These do not affect me directly, although these outward signs can be hard for others.

Then there's the MAB induced rash - it too does not affect me (maybe you see it more); it's just "there" - although I do have to "moisturise" with a medicated cream every morning (from my eyelids to my knees!) in an attempt to keep my skin supple; and I take an ultra-high dose of B6 each day to combat the thinning and (painful!) cracking of skin on my finger tips (your RDA for B6?  1.7 mg - and I'm taking 3 * 50 mg a day!)

Taste and appetite? Pretty much absent, which of course affects my body weight.  And the things I do enjoy seem to constantly change!  Sometimes it's savoury (“cup-a-soup” is still tops!), sometimes it’s not (heard of "Milo"?  Delicious!).  But it makes things difficult for Diana, who remains "on the case" with wonderful cooking, flexibility and patience...

My daily injection of Tinzaparin is proving to be tolerable (and not at all painful!) - this is to combat the small clot in my splenic vein, and generally prevents the tendency for chemo to cause clots.

Maybe the most significant side effect is caused by the acidic nature of the Chemotherapy.  Thankfully it's cyclical, only affecting 4 days or so in the fortnight, but that acid plays merry hell with my nether regions!  And - as I've said before - there's nothing worse than a man with a funny tummy...  Creams and potions?  I have them all!!

But there's a whole host of things I am blessed to have avoided so far - such as constant pins & needles, nausea and other "internal ailments" (it’s great that I need to take only one of the four prescribed anti-nausea drugs)... Not only do I think we're coping, I think we're coping without too much collateral damage!