Sitting comfortable for a few hours whilst the chemicals drip into my body!Things on the health front have progressed (downhill) so fast this year that I still cannot believe it. What started as a pain in my side and progressed to shortness of breath has been diagnosed as pleural mesothelioma and left me feeling rough (ill) most of the time! Most of this distress is caused by the chemotherapy which I have been told is palliative only. That means (and I had to look it up) that it might slow the cancer down but it won't cure it (unless all our prayers and all your prayers are answered with a miracle). I am sitting here with the forth dose of two chemicals being dripped into my veins. The week after the third dose I felt so bad I questioned as to whether I should continue. Then things get slightly better and yesterday I attended the pre-chemo health check and chat with Doctor Anna. She was very open and honest confirming that the chemo would not cure me, and that my recent CT scan did not show if it was doing any good because the biopsy operation scarring masked things. She said that the more chemo sessions I had the more unpleasant my body's response would be. She said there were three options going forward, carry on, stop the chemo or continue the chemo at a reduced strength. We agreed to carry on the chemo at a reduced strength so that is why I am sitting here now having had Ming the excellent lady nurse warm up my arm with the electric blanket, slip in the cannula and connect me to the machine that meters the poisons into my body.I guess the real question is "Will the extension of life provided by the chemo be worth the miserable discomfort caused by the chemo?" As the extension of life is not known it is a hard call to make. However, the kind support of family and friends, through visits, e mails, phone calls and cards does tend to make me want to be around a bit longer! So let's see how this session goes!!!
