GEM-P Chemotherapy

So I started my GEMP chemotherapy just after Christmas. It’s a 2 week cycle and the last part is as an inpatient. I had minimal side effects, no sickness, some dry and sore skin on my hands and some flu like symptoms after the second lot of Gemcitabine. The last few weeks have been good in fact. This chemo has made me feel better than I have done in a long long time. I managed to go shopping round Derby on New years Day, although I was in a wheelchair it was great to get out. Thats my drip when in hospital!

I also managed to go to a football game at Burton Albion, also in a wheelchair, that wasn’t as great. I liked the game and we were treated great by the club but I didn’t enjoy seeing people I knew and being in a wheelchair, it felt weird and not everyone treats you normally, some people did but not everyone and I felt strange. I won’t be doing it again until I can stand up or sit down in the crowd normally. Thats me the other day.

However a week later I was out of the wheelchair and am no longer using it, I could walk around quite well for me and managed a walk to the shop though it did tire me out!

Chemo days aren’t great, they are boring and I always get a bit down being in there but everyone is nice and friendly and you just have to get through it.
Last Friday I was meant to have Day 15 but they couldn’t find me a bed so it was delayed until Monday. Monday was a shit day. We were waiting all day for a bed, I felt ill, in terms of my breathing had gone downhill and I had the mother of all headaches! I was paranoid my symtpoms were coming back and I was very scared. Any detioration seems big now because I’ve ben so well!

Anyway 4 o clock on Monday we got to Nottingham and into my room. We were waiting for 2 hours before a nurse came and I finally got some pain relief for my headache. Once I'd been booked in and the doctor had come (about 9.30ish) then they wanted me to have an ECG as my heart was racing which I tried telling them it always does but they wanted to check. Anyway it came back fine. I finally started my chemo about 11pm after arriving at 4 n waiting all day. I had a one hour bag of Gemcitabine (chemo) followed by a 3 hour bag of fluids, followed by another hour long bag of stuff that I can't remember the name of but it made me want to go to the toilet anyway! Anyway that bought us to about 4am and then i had the Cisplatin (chemo drug) for 4 hours followed by 12 hours (yes 12 HOURS) worth of fluids. I finally left hospital at about half 9 last night getting home at half 10 just in time to watch Match of the day and crash out in bed. I had virtually no sleep in hospital cos they kept coming in and changing the bags of stuff over, plus I had to keep going toilet with all the damn fluids they were putting in me!! That pic is my mum in hospital!

I watched Green Street and High School Musical 2 with mum and dad and it was a long day but we got through in the end!!

That’s pretty much everything up to date, though there are a few more posts which will explain the plan for now on and some random stuff I wanna chat about before I start my proper blog…