Chemo Round 11 Now Past

Chemo Round 11 (29 to 31 August) is now past.  Overall, things went smoothly but I found myself feeling ‘antsy’ about it all.  I am tiring of having chemo for three days every two weeks, which has now moved to every three weeks.  However, the special part of this round was that my eldest son came with my on the Monday to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.  He wanted to see what happens and what it is like.

We arrived before 7.30 am for me to get my blood test.  Then we went to the café enjoyed drinks, food and chatting.  At the café, while having chemo and back at home we indulged in crosswords and I taught him how to do cryptic crosswords.  He is a star student.  He loves words and had good insight into how the clues work.  Over the day we tackled three cryptic crosswords.

My blood test showed a relatively low reading for my white blood cells.  Instead of being the usual 1.8 reading, it was down to 1.2.  I was told 1.5 was acceptable.  The outcome was that my second chemo was reduced by 20%.  Chemo started about 11.45 am.  During the afternoon, we chatted with two fellow patients.  Both of them have had a number of admittances to hospital through emergency, mainly arising from reactions to their treatment.  This made me think about how fortunate I have been with no such events and I have no expectations of such adversity.  Made me realise why Dr Lisa the week before talked about being flexible about appointments.  I think this is to allow for things going wrong.  But being me: I want to live as normally as I can.  If something adverse happens, it can be dealt with then.  So, I will continue to make my bookings.  Doing things is great diversion and great therapy.

Having my chemo

Back home I asked my daughter about the white cell count and what I can do about it.  Answer: make sure I rest enough.  Last week I was going to bed later and sleeping about eight hours a day.  This week I have felt tired.  Tuesday, for the first time in months, I slept for a couple of hours in the middle of the day.  Today, Friday, I had an hours rest.  I have felt a bit sorry for myself and moped about a bit with the usual but relatively mild queasy affects.  So diversion therapy such as crosswords, getting new front tyres for our Toyota Tarago and especially Thursday helped.

Thursday (yesterday), Barbara and I conducted an Eastern City tour, which we have done a number of times over the years for relatives and friends.  This time our tour guests were a couple that our eldest son new in Edinburgh.  We travelled through the city, along New South Head Road to Watsons Bay and the Gap (famous for suicides); meandered south down the coast viewing beaches such as Bondi, Coogee and Maroubra; viewed the entrance to Botany Bay and the no to Brighton-le-Sands.  We returned to and explored Glebe in the late afternoon, especially along the harbour.  That evening we enjoyed a BBQ.

Alan and Christine at The Gap in front of the anchor
from the wreck of the Dunbar - Dunbar is where they
live in Scotland (close to Edinburgh)

On Bondi Beach

Barbara & I at Botany Bay

Ready for our steak and prawn BBQ

Now I am finishing this entry on Friday 2 September – Barbara’s birthday.  She is volunteering at the Op Shop associated with Petersham Baptist Church – her usual Friday occupation.  At 4 pm I am picking her up, driving to pick up Steve and Lesley and we are heading for a weekend at  The Cubby House, Capertee not far north of Lithgow.  We will celebrate Barbara’s birthday over wine and cheese tonight.  You can read about it in my next update.