Five days after my 1st Chemotherapy I started to be sick. After being sick for 24 hrs I was admitted into hospital for a day and a night to get the sickness under control and to have some fluids through a drip. Whilst in hospital I started to get a very sore head which affected my vision so I couldn’t focus properly. I got discharged the following day, however as soon as I got home I started to get the ‘migraine’ again and spent most of the time with my eyes closed, because I couldn’t see very well.
I’ve never ever had a headache as bad before. I honestly felt like ripping my head off. Stuart was trying to get me to take some pain killers but because my head was so sore I was being sick again. So after being out of hospital for less than 24hrs, I was admitted again!! This time my stay in hospital was a lot longer, it ended up being 9 days in total. In that time I had a CT Scan and an MRI Scan to check my brain (and yes I do have one…lol) to see if there was anything noticeable causing my headaches. Both scans where clear, so my headaches could have been due to me being sick and retching. To help with the sickness I had a syringe driver attached to me through a needle in my tummy for a few days. The syringe driver regularly pumped an anti sickness drug called Levomepromazine into me. I will have this put in before my chemotherapy next week to help stop the sickness from happening again. It took awhile to sort out getting a Hickman Line inserted which was only done yesterday. The reason it took so long was because I had to have my blood thinning injection (Enoxaparin) stopped 48hrs before the procedure . So the Hickman Line was only put in yesterday. The Hickman Line is a tube inserted in the vein near my collar bone which is used to take blood and give me my chemo treatment. It was sore getting the local anesthetic injected, that stung like mad. The Hickman Line can stay in for months and stops me having to have needles inserted in the back of my hand or arms each time I need medication intravenously.
I’m happy to say I am feeling a lot better now, a bit more normal….well whatever normal for me is. My next chemotherapy is next Wednesday and I have had a slight change to one of my medications due to the sickness I have had. Instead of having one of them in tablet form I’m having that changed to intravenously, and because of this I will now be having my Chemotherapy every two weeks.
I wasn’t able to see the kids in hospital as children under 12 aren’t allowed on the ward due to infections. But I didn’t really want them to come in and see me with needles in my arm and hospitals are boring places for kids. So thankfully we have been blessed with lots of support around us and the kids have been kept very busy. For a couple of days before I was officially discharged I was even allowed to come home through the day and go back at night which has been lovely to see the kids in their home environment and have dinner with them.
One of my worst fears happened whilst I was in hospital, it was the dreaded moment Sam found out his mummy had the C word. Another child, slightly older than him had obviously overheard an adult conversation went and told him. So Sam, out of the blue asked Stuart if it was true. This wasn’t a word we wanted to use with him, we already told him that mummy had a poorly belly and the doctors where giving me some medicine that was going to make me more poorly to begin with but make me better long term. Both Stuart and I felt that was enough for now for a 7 yr old to take in. But that has since been taken out of our hands and Stuart had to respond truthfully to him and say that ‘Yes Mummy has Cancer of her tummy’. I’m still shocked by the whole thing!!
On a happier note I want to say a big thank you for all the cards and flowers and presents I have received this week. It really means soooo much having all this support behind me. Both Stuart and I really appreciate it. The photo attached is off one of those presents sent by my friend Sarah and her family. I really cant bring myself to eat it…lol
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2 Comments
Hi Katie, glad you are feeling better and that your brain is in its place. Its documented so no more worries if anybody in doubt! 😉
I think adults have to be honest with children otherwise they could loose trust…. so what’s happened with Sam is kind of good, but feel sorry for Stuart to be put on the spot suddenly!
Take good care of yourself and write when you feel enough strong to do it! Thinking of you! Lots of Love Edina xxx
glad they are adjusting your meds! On her first day of chemo my mum got 2 feet away from the bathroom and ended up vomming a big pile of green vom allover the cream carpet! My dad just finished clearing it up & she projectile vommed again in the same place! She had her meds changed after that day! it should be about trying to find what meds you can cope with, so you might still feel crappy on them but hopefully it wont be continuous vomit therapy. xxx I often think cancer is a bit like Voldermort! People are even more afraid of it because the word is never spoken!. Everytime we were with my mum and other people and a Mcmillan advert came on the telly you could really feel the tension and the awkwardness. No one mention the C word!! As if my mum isn’t aware of it or thinking about it most the time anyway. I am not trying to dismiss it, Cancer is a pretty serious thing but talking about it normally rather than as a dreaded hushed up secret of doom might help your kids and just people in general understand whats going on and help take a bit of the worry and confusion out of it.
good luck xxxx