First blog post! Day 9 after chemo #2

So... had my 2nd cycle of chemo on Tuesday 3rd October. They reduced my dosage by 25% for this and future cycles and I now have to inject myself with Filgrastim (to stimulate white blood cell growth) for seven days starting the day after chemo. Both of these measures are to try to prevent neutropenia again as this leaves me highly at risk of infection.

I would say that the side effects have been pretty much the same as my first cycle, the only difference being that I wasn't physically sick this time (even though I thought I was gonna be a few times!). However, I had some new side effects which I believe were as a result of the injections; after a couple of days' worth of injections I found that my skin was really tender to touch, mainly around the backs of my arms and on my thighs. A lady I know described it as being like when you've done a full workout and hurt all over the day after which I thought was pretty accurate! Also, I had a bit of a weird headache for a few days; it wasn't terrible, just like a kind of pressure around the middle of my head but (that might have been the chemo) and the back of my neck around my ears felt warm (I didn't have a temperature), like I was generating heat! Very strange but bearable and manageable with pain killers when I needed them. Only other symptom which seemed to come on yesterday is that I have a sore lower back. Again, it's bearable so hopefully it'll stay that way. Oh, and I have a cold. Anyway (!) other than all of that rubbish I'm tip-top!

Seriously though, if I can get through this danger period (7-14 days after chemo is when white blood cells are lowest) without getting an infection, I will be a happy bunny!