Friday 3rd July 2009

Chemo Cycle 1, Day 5

Hi All,

I'm back from London now - just in time to see Murray lose! Back to form for British tennis then!

I had a good trip - quite relaxing train journeys and a relatively laid back time. A couple of good meetings, then it was fantastic to see so many friends and colleagues in the pub afterwards. I managed to stay for a couple of hours which was pretty good I think - I don't feel any the worse for wear, but it was definitely strange leaving you lot early and sober - I'm not sure that has happened too many times before!

The Ritz experience was fairly bland to be honest. The room was nice without being anything special - there was no "wow factor" at all, just a comfortable room with a nice bathroom etc. Food was pretty good, especially breakfast this morning, but I certainly wouldn't bother with the place again - I'd rather go to a modern contemporary 5* with a few modern comforts. Still, it had to be ticked off the list!

Couple of photos below:


Room entrance "corridor", bathroom on the right


Main room itself. Lot's of antiques and gold leaf, but not really my thing. I've definitely slept in more comfortable beds!

I've been feeling pretty good over the last couple of days. The one side effect which has kicked in is from the Taxol - aching ankles, calfs and knee joints. This is a know side effect and is supposed to clear up after a couple of days. It's made sleeping a little uncomfortable at times over the last two nights, and ibruprofen doesn't seem to work very well, so I'll be glad when it passes, but more of an irritation than a pain to be honest.

Almost no nausea for the last few days, and no sickness at all, so that's been a relief. Main issue is lack of energy and continuing weight loss. This is a little worrying as it is not to do with the cancer really, but is an after-effect of the surgery - my simple inability to get enough food inside myself to sustain a decent weight. As I simply can't tolerate the supplement drinks I'm concerned how far I can go before this gets serious.

I've eaten well today, but at home it is very hard to keep up a selection of appetising food when my taste changes daily, and it is really hard to force myself to eat something I really don't want. If only I could wake up to a hotel breakfast and room service menu every day I could manage the choice much better. At the moment I end up buying so many different things and chucking most of it away when it goes out of date - very frustrating!

Anyway, looking forward to a calm weekend coming up. A couple of visits from friends but nothing too strenuous on the cards. We'll see what next week has to offer as it is the "dip" week of the chemo (week 1 treatment, week 2 dip, week 3 recovery) when my blood count drops and I become more open to infection and tiredness. Unfortunately, timing means that I have Dave's wedding (from the band) next Saturday - just the wrong time for me to be out and about with groups of people. I seriously hope there is no-one there with Swine Flu! Has to be done though, and the band are playing, so I'll probably just try to keep myself to myself a bit.

Anyway, that's it for now,

Love Col x