I have now been going to the Haematology unit at Shrewsbury Hospital for the last 7 months, having chemotherapy treatment 2 days a week for 3 weeks out of 4, then repeating.
The only side effects of the treatment are that my haemaglobin levels are a bit up and down, so if the blood test shows the level is low, they can give me a unit of blood to top me up. Also, my platelet levels seem to go up and down quite a bit, so this week I have had both blood and platelets, given intravenously, but no chemo treatment this week because of the low platelet level. I have had a bone marrow biopsy to see what was going on (where they use a needle to aspirate a sample of bone marrow from the pelvis and it is a bit uncomfortable). However, nothing unusual showed up in the result, so it must be the treatment that is causing the low platelets.
I feel absolutely fine, with plenty of energy. I go to the gym for small group training twice a week, and also walk the dogs for 30-40 mins on the other days. I really enjoy the training sessions at the gym (Mee-fit in Whitchurch), and am really noticing the improvement in my strength and fitness.
The idea with the chemo is to reduce to a low level the abnormal proteins that myeloma generates, to a level low enough for a stem cell transplant to be carried out at Birmingham Queen of Elizabeth Hospital. in December, I had 4 days of injections to stimulate cell production prior to harvesting, but when I went in for the stem cell harvest, it could not go ahead as there were no stem cells!
The plan is to go ahead with another attempt at stem cell harvesting, probably in a few months time, and see how it goes. Dr Lovell at Birmingham hospital assures me that even if stem cell harvesting doesn’t happen, then there a number of different options that they can use. So really it is a bit wait and see at the moment.
I did have a blip just before Christmas. I have been for chemotherapy on the Monday afternoon before Christmas, and my temperature was normal ( they check it every time I go in). However, by 8 o’clock at night I was feeling quite cold, so eventually I checked my temperature and it had shot up to over 38. It has been drummed into me that if my temperature spikes, I have to go straight to A&E (I have a special card that permits antibiotic treatment to start quickly, as there is a high risk of sepsis). To be fair to the people at A&E, I was seen quickly and given a room on my own. They gave me the antibiotic treatment and within 24 hours my temperature had come down to normal. They also gave me a blood transfusion as that had been planned for the Tuesday anyway. I was more than ready to go home but it took ages for everything to be sorted out. The blood transfusion took a couple of hours, then they needed to do another blood test to check my haemaglobin level before they would let me go home, and I had to wait for an hour and a half for the blood test result to come through, so it was a very long 24 hours indeed! I eventually got home at about 9 pm on Christmas Eve, so no chance of prepping veg for Christmas dinner. My daughter Cat sorted this by raiding Sainsbury’s and coming back with ready prepared red cabbage, dauphoniose potatoes and roasted carrots, so that sorted the veg situation. We had slow cooked 7 hour lamb on Christmas Day, and it was really good,
I have a regular 3-monthly appointment with the psychiatrist to keep an eye on my mental health. This is because of the use of steroids as part of the cancer treatment, although at a much lower dose than last time around. One of the meds I was taking has recently been changed, as I was having some side effects from the previous one. The replacement is working fine, and the side effects have now stopped.
Currently I also have a 3 monthly physical health check on behalf of the mental health team, which includes checking my weight, answering a load of lifestyle questions, and a general blood test. The blood test is carried out at Stoke, and they don’t have access to my regular blood test results which are done at Shrewsbury. So after the most recent blood test, the people at Stoke panicked about my blood results and spoke to my GP, who rang me and I was able to assure them that the levels were normal for me with the treatment I am having, and that I was having regular blood tests at Shrewsbury and everything was carefully monitored. At least they reacted promptly, which was encouraging and shows the system works!
So I am back in to Shrewsbury for more platelets on Friday (they don’t last long apparently), then I will go in as usual on Monday and see what my blood results look like. This will determine whether or not the chemo treatment goes ahead. At least I get free parking, which is good as long as we can find a parking space, which can be a bit tricky.
That’s it for now folks ……………………
Thank you for the update!
I think of you often. It’s so nice to hear that you’re doing well! I know that the treatment can’t be much fun.
Wish we could have a cup of tea together……
Hello to Pete and Cat too…..
Thanks for your lovely comments, and hope one day we will be having a cup of tea together, we would love to come back to America but long haul travel is not an option for me at present. Love from all at Lea Hall XX
Like you I only have the best things to say about my treatment, particularly at Shrewsbury. I had a couple of ambulance trips in to A&E with high temperature episodes during chemo and despite the obvious pressures they are under I was treated as quickly as possible, and in isolation. You are in the very best of hands and I hope you are able to approach each treatment with a level of confidence. Hope you get to sort out those platelets and can move onwards. “Keep on Keeping On”.
I am happy that I am getting good treatment and will do for a long time to come. Hope all is well with you too XX