I started a new type of chemo called DHAP on the 6th of May and for the first day or so i was coping really well with it.
The Teenage Cancer Unit (TCU) held a quiz/pizza night and we had the chance to win some prizes donated by a local charity. And i also got the chance to meet the other teenagers in the TCU and talk to them about everything - because they of all people know what its like to be young and ill. I also found out that I'm not nearly as good as i thought i was at general knowledge and with names of singers because our team lost...twice.
The chemo i started had the most wires i've ever had going into my port - three at one point! I also had two drip machines,which really isn't fun at two in the morning when they beep every five minutes telling you they have finished.
In addition to that, i had to have steroid based eyedrops every four hours and needless to say it isn't fun been woken up with a nurse shining a light in your eye for the fourth time that night whispering "It's time for your eyedrops!".
After, this i became very ill. I couldn't keep any food down let alone the tonnes of medication i was on so the doctors decided i wasn't well enough to go home and they made me stay in the TCU for another 2 days. I wasn't happy but i thought what i always think when i get fed up, 'it has to be done so i might as well do it with a smile'.
Later on that evening, i was visited by a 'stem cell' nurse called Holly and she explained that when i have my high dose chemo in a few months time my bone marrow won't be able to recover on its own. So, i need to start daily injections to stimulate my stem cell production so in around about a weeks time they can 'harvest' them off me and give me my own stem cells back when i have the high dose chemo. I wasn't keen on the idea of having to inject myself everyday for the next week so one of my nurses suggested that i get two tiny tubes in my arms so the needle doesn't have to go in my skin every time.
And they look like this!
They may be small but they are so painful to get put in even with cold spray - a local anaesthetic. They tiny tubes sit just underneath your skin. The injections themselves, even though they don't pierce the skin are really painful as well. I think its because its going under the skin and obviously your body isn't used to liquids being pushed under there.
The nurses sent us home with a big box of needles.
After having a comfortable five days at home i was called up to Newcastle for a full blood count only to find out when i was there that: my blood pressure was low, i had lost weight, my oxygen levels were low, my platelets were low and my white blood cells were so low that i was actually neutropenic . Luckily, i didn't need any transfusions. Although, i wish they had gave me a platelet (the thing that helps your blood to clot) transfusion because the following weekend i had constant nose bleeds that took hours to stop!
The nurses also left the needle in my arm so they can easily get bloods tomorrow
So, thats what it did - and it worked really well!
So curently as it stands, it's Monday i went to the hospital for a full blood count and so Holly could predict what day this week my harvest could be on and it turns out it's going to be tomorrow (Tuesday). So, its going to be me and my dad watching dvd's and eating sweets for five hours while i can't move my arms - fun...
Lauren :-)
