Chemotherapy Round 1

Last Friday I started my first round of Chemo. Now, no matter how much you read and research and no matter how much information the doctors dish out, nothing will ever quite prepare you for it. I can't say I felt that stressed out, I didn't know how the drugs would effect me so what's the point in worrying right? That said, whilst I felt pretty calm on the outside, the whole waking up in a hot sweated blind panic would suggest a certain 'subconscious' turmoil. 

My family are currently off on holiday in deep dark Africa so I took one of my besties Hayls along for my first session. Thursday I went in for a pre-chemo blood test and on Friday I went in for an echo and ECG to check that my heart was in working order. I thought there would be a few breakages due to a few dastardly ex-boyfriends but alas, ol' thumper is in great shape! Straight after that we headed to the Oncology unit and my doctor broke down the game plan before escorting me upstairs to meet my lovely nurse Jenny in the chemo room.

For my first cycle, they administered a chemotherapy drug called FEC. This of course reminds me of Almost Famous when Zooey Deschanel's character Anita points her finger at her mum and says 'FECK YOU' and then her mum is all like 'Well there it is, your sister used the F word' and young William says, 'I think she said FECK' and Frances McDormand's character Elaine is all like 'What's the difference?' to which he responds 'The letter U'. Well, after experiencing the side effects of chemo thus far I think I might like to take a moment to say a big FECK YOU to FEC chemo drugs. 

The actual being on a drip part of chemo is really easy. FEC is actually a combination of three different kinds of drugs which means I had to be on three different drips one after the other, as well as a few saline drips to flush the system. The process in total took 3 and a half hours, went by super quickly and was NO BIG DEAL. The only bit that got to me was the luminous orange drip number one. People have been banging on about me meditating and envisaging chemo like a golden healing liquid flowing through my body, gently killing off any cancer cells. WELL, this is a little hard to do when you see something that looks like Fanta and/or POISON slithering its way into your system! 

And in it goes...

During and immediately after the chemo I felt absolutely fine. Me and Hayls popped into Woolies to grab a few supplies and decided to get some Sushi as it would be a nice, quick and easy lunch. ROOKIE ERROR. Cue 3 hours later when I managed to turn 50 shades of grey in just a matter of minutes. It's possible I might NEVER eat Sushi again. 

Perhaps the reason why I wasn't that stressed before chemo is because I pretty arrogantly thought that I would be one of those people to breeze through it. Sadly, this has not been the case. The nausea has been really mind blowing and a lot worse than I could have ever imagined. I'm sorry if I sound like a moaning Myrtle (again) but I just want to paint a clear picture for anyone who is about to go through this or ever has to in the future. 

I'm sure we have all been there, a Friday night out with the girls (or boys), you are a couple of wines (or beers) down when your friend Debbie (or Dave) suggests a round of tequilas. You know it is not a good idea but in the spirit of YOLO and all that jazz, you say YES. Fast forward 4 hours later when you are face planted down on your bed, the room spinning around as you pray that you just pass out so you aren't sick everywhere. Well that's pretty much how chemo feels! But unlike a tequila hangover which will end in a tactical or not so tactical chunder that will ultimately make you feel waaaaaay better, chemo is the devil gift that keeps on giving.

After reaching a sort of ash grey colour, I clambered into my bed, listened to my Deepak meditations and fell asleep. An hour and half later I woke with the most literal wave of nausea that rumbled in my belly before washing through me like a tsunami. To be clear, I haven't actually been sick once, it's just this persistent feeling like I want to be sick. SUPER.

So side effects so far include outrageous nausea, loss of appetite, disgust at 80% of all foods, a gross metallic taste in my mouth, radioactive orange wee (TMI), porridge brain, looking like a hot mess, feeling pretty exhausted and or like crap in general. I feel like there have also been phantom tinglings in my scalp which is what happens when your hair is supposed to fall out! This whole losing hair business is a pretty horrendous so please be sure to catch my special hair blog next time where my new 'do' will be unveiled *sob*.