My Old-Blog - Week Two of Treatment

Another week down, now we’re a third of the way there with my radiotherapy! This week probably isn’t as exciting as last week in terms of treatment revelations, but it’s definitely still had its own exciting developments; primarily on the ‘giving back’ front.

Oh, and side-effects have begun to start – whoooooo!

Day 8 – Tuesday (22nd October 2019)

Another early morning today, with my no-eat-timezone beginning at a shudderingly early 5:35am – Which meant if I wanted breakfast, I’d have to be up around 5:15am! Well, I did want breakfast as I didn’t know how long I’d be waiting for transport back home, so an early wakeup it was.

Along with the early wakeup times, today I started with some side effects to my treatment. I woke up with a mild headache – Nothing major. I took paracetamol and it cleared within 30 mins. I thought it was just a reaction to the radiotherapy, but it turns out a side-effect of my chemo tablets is headaches.

No delays or further issues today.

Day 9 – Wednesday (23rd October 2019)

I woke up in the night with a slight pain in the left side of my abdomen. Not sure what to do or what was going on, I used Google! Turns out that my TMZ (Chemo) has a side-effect of abdominal pain, so that’ll be what was causing that. Content (and hopeful) that the cause of the pain was my chemo, I chose to get back to sleep.

I had a pretty-much-constant headache throughout the day, so I called my specialists and they confirmed that there was nothing to worry about – phew!

Today’s radiotherapy was at 1:30pm, so I chose to utilise my time getting in touch with three charities that I’ve found support cancer patients on ground-zero. Cancer Research UK and Macmillan are fantastic, however, these three charities (CLIC Sargent, Teenage Cancer Trust, and Maggie’s) sit alongside patients and help make life easier for people like me.

James, a friend of mine, contacted me after reading this blog and wondered how he could help. I want to give back to these charities that are on the frontline of supporting cancer patients; James and I discussed this and has decided to raise money for CLIC Sargent through growing a moustache this November!

You can find James’ JustGiving page here.

Day 10 – Thursday (24th October 2019)

Mirrored abdominal pains and headaches today, all sorted out with paracetamol. It may be crazy, but I’m so pleased there is some side-effect – it gives me confidence that this treatment is doing something!

My mum has been beside me from the start of this journey. Everything has been so fast-paced with the surgery and diagnosis, there’s not been much time along with my dad. Today my dad asked if he could come with me, as we explored a new method of getting to-and-from to radiotherapy – Daft as a Brush.

For those who don’t know who Daft as a Brush are, they are a charity that provides transport for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Their fleet of bright-blue vans cover areas in the North East of England surrounding Newcastle Upon Tyne. Very friendly staff, and a relaxed door-to-door service who give you exact times of pickup, rather than the “anywhere in the 2 hours prior to your appointment” that previous transport followed.

Daft as a Brush transport is normally arranged via your oncology consultant, so if you’re ever in need of transport to cancer treatments, speak to your consultant or specialist nurses.

It was great to have my dad with me today. With my mum taking a spot next to me for everything, I worry my dad felt a little left out. He’s such a huge part of my life, I’m so pleased he’ll be coming along with me to some radiotherapy sessions so I can get more time with him. I love him to bits.

I decided to get out of the house for the night by dropping into my local Army Cadet detachment, which I was part of as a teen. These guys are great, and it’s great to unwind with them.

A butterfly I found at cadets – Nicknamed ‘Gary’.

Day 11 – Friday (25th October 2019)

The last of the early mornings today, yes! I’ve been so lucky to have only 3 of my 30 radiotherapy sessions take place stupidly early. Daft as a Brush called me on Thursday night to give me an exact time of pick up, so I could get another hour of sleep (rather than being up from 5am, I managed to wake up at 6am!), which is a god-send.

No more abdominal pains today, but still a headache… I think these headaches may be a regular thing now.

After my radiotherapy session, my specialists told me that my session on Monday had been cancelled due to maintenance going on with my radiotherapy machine. The centre has 9 radiotherapy rooms, so upon request, I was moved to another room rather than cancelling a treatment and adding another onto the end of the 6 weeks.

Once home, I met up with my girlfriend and we decided to go to my favourite local Italian restaurant. It’s important not to lock yourself indoors – Make sure you get out when you’re not feeling drained. Back home, we watched a few movies, which of course included a chick-flick that I actually enjoyed – oh god, what’s happening to me!

Day 12 – Saturday (26th October 2019)

Today was another headache day – solved with paracetamol once again thankfully.

Making a lemon cheesecake, relaxing, and more movies were the schedule for today. A little bit of advice; making tasty food while not being allowed to eat is not a great idea – it’s self-inflicted torture!

Day 13 – Sunday (27th October 2019)

Sunday lunch out with my girlfriend and grandparents, followed by an hour of hide-and-seek with my little sister. I found some great places to hide, I swear my sister needs glasses – Some of my hiding spots were just plain obvious!

Headaches again, but you have to make sure they don’t define your day.

Day 14 – Monday (28th October 2019)

A very cold morning today – so I made sure I was wrapped up. Treatment can make it hard for patients to regulate body temperature. If you’re going through treatment, make sure you have a hat and scarf.

Today was radiotherapy on a new machine, along with a clinic review. All went well with this new machine, though I think it may have been a little faster at getting ready for therapy than my usual machine; I wonder if I can change…

My clinic review was cancelled today, due to the cancellation of my original appointment today. Luckily I’m feeling pretty perky, so I’m not really in need of a quick chat about how I’m feeling. I’ll be having my review on Wednesday, along with blood being taken to monitor my platelets and white blood cell count (Chemo can sometimes lower these below the recommended levels). Fingers crossed they can prescribe me some paracetamol too!

We’re a third of the way through radiotherapy, and I’m feeling pretty confident about what’s to come! This upcoming week I hope to work more with charities to see how we can work together and I can give back to those who are helping me on this journey – Let’s see what we can do!

6. Week Two of Treatment