Round 3 hands & feet

My hands sre almost back to normal, just really fresh soft skin. 

However my feet are now my focus. They took longer to crack probably because they are thicker and the skin tougher. 

Round 3 - days 1-3

Chemo was pretty much as usual but a little shorter as they didn't use as much fluid to do the flush in the last 4 hours.

Friday I potted around the house and not as much side effects. So I decided to see if I could have a go at fishing but it all depended on my legs swelling or not. 
So I set myself up in the back of the car with my legs up for the trip down.  My legs weren't too bad so I went fishing.  We had a good time and caught some fish.  Now we just have to work out how to get them home. 

Weekend Festivals - Last Weekend

For the first time in nearly 4 weeks I left the house to go somewhere other than the doctors or hospital. There were a couple of festivals on in the city so we thought we would give them a go .

The first we want to was the Turkish festival held at the Vic markets. It was quite small with only a handful of tents and stalls, It was still something to see.
The pictures are of  the Turkish festival.

The other festival on was a Greek festival at the other end of the CBD. We get there at lunch time only to see them packing up. The funny thing was when we got home they were still advertising it on TV. Anyway we got home before my leg got too swollen.

ROUND 2 . Hands

This time round my hands and feet were quite badly inflamed and are still recovering. 9've kept a bit of a photo history of them.

The first is where they are red but not yet cracked or peeling. Then the cracking and peeling starts . The last you can see the skin has peeled off the fingertips and parts of the palm.

End Of Round 2

I met with Niall on Wed  and we decided to postpone this weeks treatment until next week . We will also reduce the Xeloda from 4 + 3 a day to 3 + 2 a day.  This will reduce some side effects particularly the hands & feet . This is important as it can cause permanent nerve damage as it has a cumulative  affect.

Now for the good news .  The CT scan results showed that a number of the lymph nodes which were previously  visible are no longer visible and the large mass in the stomach has markedly reduced.  Niall said that although he can't be certain that the herceptin has made the difference it is obvious that the combination is working. So it is worth paying for and I shall again this round.

Now to just get some level of fitness back before next week.

Have a great weekend.

Days 9 - 19 Round 2

Well it has been a while and it has been quite a period. Nothing has gone the same as last time. I have had almost every type of side effect you can get and the ones from last time were much stronger and lasted much longer.

I still lost heaps of fluid but instead of it all in one day it lasted about 7 days. This was followed by a weekend of diarrhea. So now I am at just 68kgs and feeling a little weak but as of today I actually feel like I am getting better. On top of all that my hands and feet became really inflamed to the point where it was quite difficult to walk. Quite stupidly I kept trying to work through last week. I was so exhausted at the end of each day I just didn't have the energy to do the blog.

Donna and I had a funny conversation on the weekend, it was around how when you are going through something like this all conversations seem to be about bodily functions. So let me just say last week was crap and I'll skip all the other things that happened. I had a CT last week that will tell if the Herceptin side of the treatment is doing what is supposed to and worth the money or not. I meet with Niall tomorrow as I am to have cycle 3 this week. I'm not sure if it will  happen though given I am still well below weight and not recovered yet. We'll see.

On to more enjoyable things. Nicholas has started Uni and is pleased with his subjects and days. He has Thursday and Friday off each week. And they call it full time!

BTW Thanks for the cards it is appreciated.

Days 5-8 Round 2

Ok, a lot has happened this week so I will try and summarise it.

Firstly, unlike the first round I was extremely tried early in the week. I took Monday as sick leave I was so exhausted. I was still swelling in the legs and by Monday night my hands and feet were bright red and very sore and again felt is if they were on fire.

On Tuesday I had already planned to work from home and felt better after the rest Monday so did that. Unlike last time I was exhausted by the end of the day. Wednesday I worked from home again  as my feet and hands were still really red and on fire. Unlike last time my face had also gone really red although not sore my like hands. Again I was spent by the end of the day and the fluid dump had begun I think sometime early Wed morning or late Tuesday night. I hadn't put on as much weight or swollen as badly as the first time so I thought it might be lighter this time.  Beginners mistake. This may be why I was so tired though.

Somewhere in the middle of Wednesday night I decided that not only was I taking Thursday off but also Friday to just rest and recoup. Strange how your thoughts sometimes can be very lucid despite feeling groggy and exhausted. Smart decision. AJ was good with that.

After resting all day yesterday this morning I feel better. Still not great but better. My hands etc have eased a lot. My face is very red though anoint appears the rash I had last time and thought was heat rash is coming back. I've noticed it early hopefully and have put the cream they gave me on it already.

I've bought some Gatorade to replace the fluid and electrolytes. I was using some stuff called Gastrolyte which tastes foul. The Gatorade is supposed to do a similar job and at least it tastes like something I can drink.

Anyway today I am looking forward to resting up and hopefully having  a good weekend. All the best to everyone and hopefully you won't hear from me until next week some time.