Not enough appendages crossed Sarah's suffering somewhat on this new regime. First three days or so she was totally unaffected I think it's safe to say. After this though she developed flu like symptoms, aching bones and joints. She's hot and cold randomly regardless of the temperature where she is. This might be the chemo drugs or could be the beginning of the menopause, oh joy. Adding to this her finger nail beds hurt so she's struggling with some simple tasks. Hopefully not an indication that she's going to lose her nails which is possible. Other minor things are weird rashes and bumps on the backs of her hand. The lack of nasal hair also means she's like a 13 year old school boy constantly sniffing (we'd know wouldn't we!).
The cumulative effect of the past 9 weeks of chemo is also slowly wearing her down and she continues to get tired. A quick nap does perk her up though.
We got a sudden call on Tuesday with the opportunity to see the radiologist (?) about the treatment that follows. An hour of technical detail which I promise to bore you all with next time I see you. Long story short, five weeks of treatment starting on the 15th February. He said it is a little like getting sunburnt. Her energy levels will be sapped another 5% or so although the recovery from the chemo should begin to offset this over the weeks. The radiotherapy is considerably more powerful than the chemo at killing cancer cells and is targeted at the effected breast and some surrounding lymph nodes above the heart near the neck.
Happy Christmas everyone! No trace of irony intended...
Rob.