Deb (with Sam - also wearing a hat to show solidarity) on 26 August after 3 weeks of treatment
3 weeks of combined radio/chemotherapy now complete
Side effects from chemotherapy and more significantly the radiotherapy are now starting to kick in. In particular Deb has started to lose her hair (I had to vacuum her pillow the other morning) and she is now very tired during the day. She usually lies on the bed both in the morning and afternoon. She doesn't sleep but just feels exhausted.
Despite her tiredness, Deb is still not sleeping very well (even when taking her sleeping pill - Zopiclone) and on average gets about 5 hours sleep a night. We saw our GP, Dr Garbett on 26 August about this. He has changed Deb's sleeping pill for something stronger - 5mg Nitrazepam tablets. (Deb is an expert on sleeping pills - she has worked with clients addicted to all the ones she has used). Dr Garbett was again very supportive and asked Deb to ring and let him know if these pills do not work because he would like to consult with colleagues before prescribing anything else.
On Friday 22 August Deb had her third blood test. Apart from the red blood cell count, which was slightly down, all results were in the normal range or higher.
WBC count = 11.6 K/uL (reference range 4.1 - 10.9 K/uL)
RBC count = 4.12 M/uL (reference range 4.2 - 6.3 M/uL)
Platelets = 241 K/uL (reference range 140 - 440 K/uL)
Deb did not have a review with the consultant this week because of the Bank Holiday but the blood test results were discussed with Fred Berki, Macmillan Nurse, who thought they were OK. (Fred did say that a high white blood cell count is not always a good thing, it might be a indication that the body is fighting an infection.)
Deb remains upbeat and positive. She even had me downloading music from the Internet - such classics as Silver Lady by David Soul and I'm Scared by Burton Cummings. But the treatment is starting to take its toll. We look forward to the day when our lives are not governed by appointment times and the taking of tablets.
3 comments:
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Hi Chris I was just trying to sign up to your blog that's why you've got a reandom word as a rply. Anyway i think your blog is really helpful and lets us know what's going on and you explain everything so that it makes so much sense. I hope Deb is finding the new sleeping tablets work better for her. I will ring to speak to her tomorrow. Love to everyone Gill & gang xxxxx
Hi,
I really like the idea of wearing a hat to show solidarity. Very nice and very simple.
Greetings and wishes of health for Deb (from fellow patient).
Kinga
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