Chemo 37.0

arrgghhh… what a round this one has been!

The three days leading up to the round involved me taking sick days, getting fevers and generally feeling very viral. All the classical symptoms of a cold, except perhaps twice the intensity. I found out shortly after coming down sick that 5 patients on the ward next to mine had come down with influenza A, so that was a possible source for my suffering.

The decision to go ahead with chemo on Friday was a bit hit and miss at the time, and I seemed to be getting a little bit better, so we decided to go for it. In retrospect, that was probably not the best decision. Whilst the round of chemo was no worse than usual, actually possibly a little bit better, by the time Tuesday came round, my cold and flu symptoms hit me like brick wall.

Unrelenting paroxysms of coughing, headaches, a throat that simulated balls of sandpaper every time I swallowed. The result ended up with myself heading into the oncology acute department today to get reviewed and make sure I wasn’t neutropenic or that anything else was going on. Fortunately I wasn’t neutropenic, and our conclusion was that it is a particularly nasty virus compounded by the chemo.

So today, ten days after initially getting sick, I continue to cough up my lungs and generally feel miserable. I have also lost my voice which doesn’t help. Hopefully I will be back at work on Monday, and then ready for the next round of chemotherapy.

Until next round…

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