Michelle Weirich

on 8th August to discuss chemotherapy and she told me that it would be recommended to try to prevent a relapse later on in life.  She explained that, although there was no indication the cancer had spread, there was a chance that some of the cells could have strayed elsewhere in my body (micrometastasis) and potentially form another tumour in the future.  Unfortunately, there is no test currently available that can detect micrometastasis which is why adjuvant chemotherapy (after surgery) is offered as a kind of "mopping up" exercise to destroy these stray cells.

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I was offered a type of chemotherapy called FEC-T (info at bottom of page) and my oncologist stressed to me how strong these drugs are.  She explained that it was a case of having to "torture 100 to save 5" i.e. I might be one of the ninety-five people that don't need  chemotherapy and suffer the effects unnecessarily but on the flip side, I might be one of the five people that could have a (potentially fatal) relapse without it.  

 

To help further demonstrate the benefits, I was shown a graph online using the predict.nhs.uk website (link at bottom of page) which predicted my survival rate in 10 years with and without chemotherapy.  It was enough of a difference to help me conclude my decision that I would proceed with the treatment.

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About a week before my first cycle of chemotherapy, I met with one of the MacMillan nurses on the oncology ward who ran through the treatment and possible side effects.  She explained that it affects people in different ways and there's no way of knowing how I would react or feel but certainly, that I "wouldn't feel like I do now".  I remember starting to feel quite emotional as the nurse was talking to me. 

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Before I left, I was given a pack with various documents about the treatment as well as a wig voucher.  Afterwards, I remember feeling pretty miserable and just sitting in my car staring into space for about 20 minutes mulling everything over.  There was a lot to take in and being on the oncology ward for the first time was a bit of an eye opener.

 

On the days that followed in the run-up to chemotherapy I was quite subdued however when it came to the morning of my first treatment, I was surprisingly in good spirits and felt calm; I just wanted to get on with it! 

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After the nurse had carried out my observations and I'd had a cannula put in my wrist, the treatment started with anti-sickness medicine which I received both orally in the form of steroid tablets and intravenously via a drip.  The nurse then sat with me and injected the chemotherapy drugs.  There were 5 syringes in total comprising of the 'FEC' drugs.  I knew that I would be given these drugs for the first three cycles and the 'T' drug for the last three cycles.  

 

As the chemotherapy drugs are kept in the fridge, I was given a little hot water bottle to put on my wrist so I was fairly comfortable throughout the treatment and the only thing I really felt was a kind of tension and tingling sensation around my temples and above my nose.  

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It was only after the treatment had finished and I stepped outside that I started to panic and get upset.  I think it was because I was suddenly back in the real world and I was afraid about how I was going to cope with all of the drugs inside of me.

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We got home about 6.30pm and I hadn't felt too bad.  I was a little nauseas and thought I should try to eat something but couldn't get the food past my lips.  An hour or so later the nausea intensified and stayed that way until about 10.30pm when I was sick and then again about an hour later.  I spent the rest of the evening on the bathroom floor, crying, until eventually I was able to fall asleep.

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I was relieved that, by the next morning the nausea had subsided and I didn't feel like I was going to be sick anymore.  My appetite was a bit hit and miss but I just ate what I want when I fancied it.

 

The nausea stayed with me for a few days but I think that some of this was brought on by shock rather than the treatment itself.  I kept thinking about having the drugs injected which made me shudder.  Even though I knew that the drugs were supposed to be doing a good thing inside me, I struggled mentally with this, probably because they'd made me feel so rotten!

 

As well as sickness, the other side effects I experienced were constipation which then became diarrhoea, headaches and fatigue.  Generally, I found that there was no build up to each of the symptoms; they were very intense very quickly.  Fortunately, they also subsided quite quickly.  To give you some idea, see photos at the bottom of the page from my 'Symptom Diary' where each symptom is rated 1-10, 10 being the worst.

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After the first five days, I was feeling relatively normal and by the second week I was quite active.  I had a bit of a cold but didn't think anything of it; a cold I could deal with, or so I thought. 

 

By the end of the second week I was really poorly with a sore throat and felt fluey.  Had I been taking my temperature three times a day (as instructed by the nurse), I would have realised sooner that I had a fever.  Once I knew I had a fever, I checked my patient handbook for the emergency contact details and saw that I also had most of the other symptoms indicating signs of infection.  I rang the hospital and was told to go straight to A&E.  

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I arrived in A&E around midnight and was seen quickly.  After some blood tests I was given intravenous antibiotics and the doctor diagnosed me with neutropenia (more on this below).

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