Chemo round 5 has been and gone. And after the problem child of round 4, round 5 was the perfect second child (by coincidence I am also the second child in my family….)

I have mastered my chemo infusion routine. I stay up as late as possible the night before and get up as early as possible the morning of so I am as tired as possible. Once I’m rigged up I put on some Ed Sheeran and before you know it I’m fast asleep! My mum then wakes me up when it’s finished. Job done!

I was nervous that I might suffer the same fate as last time. As that was my first dose of Docetaxol I had no way of knowing if my reaction was one off or if that was to be expected again. I had been prescribed prophylactic antibiotics to try and prevent any infection. And it seemed to work! I was absolutely shattered as was expected but didn’t get much pain. I only had pain killers once. After a week in bed/sofa I was up and about on the following Friday. I still needed to take it very easy because my legs and arms just can’t quite keep up. Just walking to the kitchen leaves my muscles feeling like I’ve done a 3 hour high intensity workout (I live in a semi…it definitely isn’t far to the kitchen!) But I was up and feeling positive that the side effects were over without any real drama.

I have had to stick to the rule of one activity/errand/outing a day. Anymore than that and my body just can’t handle it. But I’ve tried to do something every day, to get me feeling like me. After a week of mooching in Pyjamas, it was nice to wear clothes, put on a bit of make up and get some fresh air!

I am absolutely buzzing now as everything from now on is the last one. The pre chemo blood test will be the last one, the 3 hour wait in the car park for a space for the oncologist appointment will be the last one, the chemo infusion will be the last one, the week of feeling rough after will be the last one!

Its important to remember that it doesn’t end with the chemo infusion and it won’t be over until I’m over the side effects. But I think with the thought its all nearly done will make the side effects easier to bear.

It feels like chemo has been going on forever. Its really hard to remember a time before it had taken over my life. The thought that it will all be over in a just over a month is such a great feeling!

Bring on life again