Hi Ho Hi Ho, It's Off To Chemo I Go...

Number of days since last chemo: 25
Number of days until next chemo: 1
Number of chemo treatments left: 3
Mood: swinging between apprehensive and determined

Just 1 day to go before I get poisoned again, and I have to say I feel a bit up and down about this dose. On the downside I’m nervous in case the aprepitant improving my sickness turns out to be a one-off fluke. I’m also worried about whether or not they’ll be able to find a vein to get the chemo in. My anxiety over the latter wasn’t helped yesterday when I went for my usual pre-chemo blood tests to check my cell counts, and they couldn’t find a vein to get any blood out. In the end, after a lot of trying, they got a tiny bit out and just had to send it up to the lab with a note on explaining why there was so little. I’ve never had trouble with them doing blood tests before, because blood is taken from the veins on the inside of your elbow whereas chemo is always done in your wrists and hands, so now I’m even more worried that if they couldn’t get any veins there then there’s no chance they’ll find any for chemo. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow though!

On the upside I’m perversely quite looking forward to this dose, because once it’s over then I’m two-thirds of the way through, which is massive. With this one done I’ll have had double the number I’ve got left, which is going to be a huge psychological boost in getting me through the final 2 treatments. I know I wrote quite a bit back before my second dose about how I was mentally dividing my sessions into blocks to help get through them, and I mentioned then that my big aim for the whole cycle was going to see Frank Skinner in mid-November, and how far through my treatment I would be by the time that came around. Well, tonight Justin and I are going to see him at the NIA - I’ve reached that point! It feels soooo good to be here!

So, tonight I’m going to have a good chuckle and forget all about chemo for an evening, and tomorrow, even if they torture my veins, I’m going to try and concentrate on the fact that I’m entering the second half of my treatment cycle, and that means that every dose I have is taking me closer to being finished. Bring it on!

Em