We have just returned from hospital, having had John’s sixth
session of being poisoned. After feeling
pretty ropey after the forth session, he actually fared better after the fifth. He certainly has felt progressively weaker
and has far less energy, but fortunately he didn’t feel ‘ill’ during the last 3
weeks. He’s been able to a bit of
pottering in the garden, and has continued to cook. He hasn’t been into work for 3 weeks,
although one of the weeks he took as holiday as his ‘good’ week fell in the school
Easter break.

For those of you that have had the misfortune to know a
friend or relative who has gone through chemotherapy, you will probably
recognise the distinctive chemo pallor that comes with treatment. When we sit in the treatment room with the
other patients, all receiving treatment, there is a common look shared by
them. Oddly the hair loses all colour,
and we will be intrigued to see what colour John’s hair returns to, hopefully
in just a few weeks’ time. There is also
a washed out appearance to the skin, which is replaced by being very flushed
for 3 days after treatment (we’re not sure if this is due to the chemo drug or
the high dose of steroids which have to be taken). We’re tempted to contact Farrow and Ball and
suggest that they name two new shades: ‘chemo grey’, and ‘post-chemo puce’.

Another side effect has been extremely dry skin, including
hands and fingers. This has resulted in
a new first world problem – fingerprint recognition on his phone not
working. That wouldn’t have been an
issue just a few years ago.

We have eaten out very rarely since John’s treatment
started, as it’s been important to avoid any infections. Perhaps we’ve been over cautious, but we felt
it unwise to risk food poisoning from eating out. This week he thought he’d risk fish and chips
(deep fried, so should be as safe as it gets), and asked for a small
portion. He’s sure that he was given a
reduction in price as the assistant took him to be a pensioner. Perhaps there are some advantages to having
chemo?

At our last meeting with Dr Rimmer we were slightly
taken-aback when she suggested that further treatment may be needed in 6 – 12 months. This was sooner than we had expected, but of
course, there are no certainties and we will have to see what happens, and deal
with it then. Further treatment may be
another course of chemo, a different hormone treatment, or a new clinical trial
may be available. We will continue to
have 3-monthly visits with the clinical trial team, which we are pleased about,
otherwise we may feel abandoned when we don’t have the regular appointments
linked with the chemo sessions.

We have received great news: we have been invited to attend
an awards dinner in May to celebrate outstanding new builds in Suffolk. We are thrilled to have been entered in the
Best Craftsmanship award after 2 judges visited us recently. We were told that there was stiff
competition, which is encouraging to know that great individual homes are being
built locally.

We are expecting it to take several months for john to
regain his strength, as it takes 3 months for red blood cells to be produced
after chemo. We hope to get away for a
few days fairly soon though, as we have not dared to venture too far afield
since January. He has a timetable to
wean him off the steroids, as apparently if he were to stop taking them
immediately he’d have quite severe side effects.

So, we’re hopeful that symptoms will not be too severe over
the next few weeks, and he’ll start to regain his energy gradually.

First asparagus of the season!!

The chemo nurses all enjoyed their thank you cake. Apparently chocolate goes down well!