Chemo 5
Chemo 3
25 July, Monday - Another normal day, well how can a day be normal now that "Le Tour" is done and dusted? I went for a leisurely ride in the afternoon and one thing is certain... the legs are seriously lazy. 42km further I really knew I did some cycling, so now it will be a careful process to get some distance in the legs and some fitness in the lungs without my heart knowing about it. The chemo can have a negative on the heart muscle, so I will have to take it "easy". When I asked the Oncologist (a very trustworthy and nice man) what is "take it easy" he said I must not try and get fitter. I can hardly get un-fitter at this stage, so I will just stick to mid zone 3 for now.
26 July, Tuesday - A very "normal" day with nothing to report but that in itself is something to be very grateful of. I did wake up with a sore shoulder/neck, but that was most likely from sleeping too well and should be better in a day or two. I started a light "strength" training program as well and I hope to get some strength in the legs. Since I stopped playing squash in 2008 I have done no impact or strength training and I think this is part of the problem of being very slow while carrying my bike.
27 July, Wednesday - The shoulder is quite sore and kept me off the bike. Otherwise a normal day.
28 July, Thursday - I managed a short ride that was without discomfort from th shoulder, but it is not getting better. The pain comes and goes and is quite intense at times. I think I will get some Neck and shoulder X-rays tomorrow.
29 July, Friday - Went for X-rays and there is nothing wrong with either my neck or my shoulder. The Radiologist recons it can be from the radiation I had on my aorta/lung earlier in the year. It is called a referred pain. I will speak to the Oncologist on Tuesday when I am due for my second session of Chemo.
30 July, Saturday - Me and The Pretty One visited the local Church Bazaar (fete) and saw some old friends. I did not enjoy it very much since I was in a great deal of pain and discomfort. Sitting in a certain position seem to ease the pain, so that is what I am doing. Just sitting... We did try to go for a ride since I managed a ride on Thursday that was pain free, but I had to call it a day after 30 minutes as the pain was severe even on the bike.
31 July, Sunday - After speaking to Elbie (my sister) last night I did some research on Internet about referred pain. Very little (actually nothing) is known about the mechanism and a view theories exist but the shoulder pain can come from the lung, heart, liver, spleen or diaphragm. The radiation caused fibrosis in the lung, so that is a possibility. The tumor on my aorta that was radiated will also be shrinking and can hurt the aorta and the new tumor just below the diaphragm can be reacting to the chemo and be shrinking, causing pain to the diaphragm and that refers to the shoulder. That is what I could find on the internet. Let's see what the Docs say...
Monday, July 25, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Chemo 3
25 July
14 July
19 July, Tuesday - I woke with a sore throat and spent the day feeling very sorry for myself. I have no nausea or other symptoms and the constipation is sorted out and that department is functioning like clockwork. So as long as the nausea stays away and the flew/cold blows over I should feel like normal and not like a cancer patient.
20 July, Wednesday - The sore throat is better and I don't feel flew like, so I hope I will feel like a ride a little later. Otherwise I feel no effects of the chemo at this stage.
21 July, Thursday - Still had a little bit of flew like symptoms so I spent most of the day in the office and watched TDF in the afternoon. Otherwise I feel normal.
22-24 July, Fri-Sun - Nothing really happened out of the normal, except that I eat too much and don't train, so my belly is growing and the big laziness hangs over me. I think Monday will be a good day to change all that.
14 July
19 July, Tuesday - I woke with a sore throat and spent the day feeling very sorry for myself. I have no nausea or other symptoms and the constipation is sorted out and that department is functioning like clockwork. So as long as the nausea stays away and the flew/cold blows over I should feel like normal and not like a cancer patient.
20 July, Wednesday - The sore throat is better and I don't feel flew like, so I hope I will feel like a ride a little later. Otherwise I feel no effects of the chemo at this stage.
21 July, Thursday - Still had a little bit of flew like symptoms so I spent most of the day in the office and watched TDF in the afternoon. Otherwise I feel normal.
22-24 July, Fri-Sun - Nothing really happened out of the normal, except that I eat too much and don't train, so my belly is growing and the big laziness hangs over me. I think Monday will be a good day to change all that.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Chemo 2
19 July
11 July
14 July, Thursday - I had a very good night and slept like a rock. Waking up I started feeling a bit groggy but had some tea and started doing stuff in the office. Soon I was having a conversation with the big white ear and took a Clopamon tablet. This is an anti-nausea tablet. It seem to be working and I had some toast and yoghurt recently which I am holding down for now.
15 July, Friday - The rest of yesterday went quite well so it seem that the Clopamon tablets is working. Could eat normally, but the wine last night did not have it's usual appeal. I have a constant bad taste in my mouth, but otherwise I feel OK. When I woke this morning I felt good until I changed the horisontal to the vertical, but took a Clopamon and soon I was looking forward to the day. Might even go for a little bike ride a little later.
16/17 July, Saturday/Sunday - I did go for a leisurely ride on Friday. Me and The Pretty One went book browsing in the mall and had something to eat. Felt a bit tired after that and went straight home. I relaxed on Sat morning in front of the Tour de France highlights. Sat afternoon we visited the Kirsten brothers that just finished their Freedom Challenge race. We slept at my Brother's place and had a visit with The Pretty One's family on Sunday. Through all of this I was feeling 85-95% coming and going and I suppose that is much better than expected.
18 July, Monday - Woke up early and went to the office. I fiddled with a problem and did some computer work, then I did a delivery or 3 and took a very gentle ride in the afternoon. I did not take an anti nausea pill today. I did not need it and I am wondering if this pills can cause constipation. I am also eating more dried fruit and fibrous stuff, so I hope this will help.
11 July
14 July, Thursday - I had a very good night and slept like a rock. Waking up I started feeling a bit groggy but had some tea and started doing stuff in the office. Soon I was having a conversation with the big white ear and took a Clopamon tablet. This is an anti-nausea tablet. It seem to be working and I had some toast and yoghurt recently which I am holding down for now.
15 July, Friday - The rest of yesterday went quite well so it seem that the Clopamon tablets is working. Could eat normally, but the wine last night did not have it's usual appeal. I have a constant bad taste in my mouth, but otherwise I feel OK. When I woke this morning I felt good until I changed the horisontal to the vertical, but took a Clopamon and soon I was looking forward to the day. Might even go for a little bike ride a little later.
16/17 July, Saturday/Sunday - I did go for a leisurely ride on Friday. Me and The Pretty One went book browsing in the mall and had something to eat. Felt a bit tired after that and went straight home. I relaxed on Sat morning in front of the Tour de France highlights. Sat afternoon we visited the Kirsten brothers that just finished their Freedom Challenge race. We slept at my Brother's place and had a visit with The Pretty One's family on Sunday. Through all of this I was feeling 85-95% coming and going and I suppose that is much better than expected.
18 July, Monday - Woke up early and went to the office. I fiddled with a problem and did some computer work, then I did a delivery or 3 and took a very gentle ride in the afternoon. I did not take an anti nausea pill today. I did not need it and I am wondering if this pills can cause constipation. I am also eating more dried fruit and fibrous stuff, so I hope this will help.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Chemo Therapy
14 July
11 July - in the last 2 weeks nothing much happened and life went on as normal. I saw two doctors the last 2 fridays and tomorrow I start with chemo therapy. If after 42 days the tumor is not any smaller I will probably have an operation to have it removed. That is the tumor in my right abdomen. So this is new uncharted territory, and I will log it here as I go along.
12/13 July, Tuesday/Wednesday - went to oncology early and had to wait a bit, but soon I was seated in a comfortable "lazy-boy" chair. Some blood was taken for analysis and then the drips was starting to come. Each patient gets his/her own concoction of drugs and my cocktail included some brightly colored ones. One of the drugs need to be administered over a 24 hour period and another over an 8 hour period, so I had to sleep over. I do not know what these hospitals charge for because paying R2500 per night and all I do is occupy a bed and get three simple meals doesn't come close. There is NO DSTV, so it must be the rental of the drip measuring/controlling instrument that is VERY expensive. I finished with all of this on Wednesday evening 21h30 and just after 10 I was in my own bed and looking forward to a good nights sleep. So far no funny feeling in the system yet, but the next 14 days will be tough...
11 July - in the last 2 weeks nothing much happened and life went on as normal. I saw two doctors the last 2 fridays and tomorrow I start with chemo therapy. If after 42 days the tumor is not any smaller I will probably have an operation to have it removed. That is the tumor in my right abdomen. So this is new uncharted territory, and I will log it here as I go along.
12/13 July, Tuesday/Wednesday - went to oncology early and had to wait a bit, but soon I was seated in a comfortable "lazy-boy" chair. Some blood was taken for analysis and then the drips was starting to come. Each patient gets his/her own concoction of drugs and my cocktail included some brightly colored ones. One of the drugs need to be administered over a 24 hour period and another over an 8 hour period, so I had to sleep over. I do not know what these hospitals charge for because paying R2500 per night and all I do is occupy a bed and get three simple meals doesn't come close. There is NO DSTV, so it must be the rental of the drip measuring/controlling instrument that is VERY expensive. I finished with all of this on Wednesday evening 21h30 and just after 10 I was in my own bed and looking forward to a good nights sleep. So far no funny feeling in the system yet, but the next 14 days will be tough...
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| A very expensive drip machine |
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| Some of my cocktail |
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| The oncology room at Wilgers |
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