So cycle 12 begins! It's now 22 weeks since my first session - oh boy that both feels "like, for ever!" as well as "wasn't cycle 1 only yesterday?" all at the same time.
And I guess that's a major part of the explanation of this post's name - after 11 cycles in I'm bound to be feeling "wan". Particularly since we've had an amazing fortnight (that's biweekly to our American cousins!) socially, with the village Fete two weeks ago and then an "Open Gardens" weekend just gone; with both organizing committees chaired by Diana! Under normal circumstances I'd have been heavily involved in the "heavy lifting" of erecting Marquees (tents) and transporting chairs and tables etc., but this year... no energy = no lifting!
I guess this is to be expected at cycle 12 - my Oncologist is amazed how I'm still coping with a fortnightly cycle of every drug he can throw at me - but none-the-less this "permanent weakness" is tough to take. Of course, all our friends who could do the heavy lifting did, fully understanding my predicament and were delighted to step in, but it's still a challenge. So a downer... then an upper: we all have numerous talents, and some I'm blessed with are more "sitting down" than "standing up" - like liking numbers (i.e. taking on the accounts) and using the computer to create/publish visitor programmes!
So if the cytotoxins are doing this to me, what are they doing to the cancer?!??! Well... that was the other downer - and then an upper! After 8 or 9 cycles of reassuringly steady decline, my CEA number had been slowly climbing again for a couple of cycles; not in and of itself directly significant (there are several reasons why, not all of which are malign), but none the less enough of a worry for my Oncologist to consider bringing my next scan forward... but, wonderfully, this week's reading was slightly down again, and the scan remains "as scheduled"!
So, on we go... after a hectic June, we're now looking forward to this weekend full of children, grandchildren - and steroids (what a combination! :-) ) to celebrate my 57th Birthday!!!
Hi Ian, Ive been on Oxaliplatin since March and there is the usual list of possible side effects and as ever you dont get all of them. I got tingling, hands and feet the first couple of months and it passed, not painful, just like pins and needles. Avoiding cold including drinks and food is ok, and avoiding the supermarket where aisles are soooo cold in summer was a must the first week after treatment but all in all nothing bad at all very manageable. If it does the trick all worth it
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