With Harry only having been released from the vets on the Sunday and in such a bad way, they suggested that it would be a good idea if I could have the week off to be at home with him to make sure that he was ok. This meant that I was sat in constantly looking at him and making sure that he didn't get too excited. His leg remained swollen and I sent a couple of pictures over to the vets as I was a little concerned about it. On Monday night we had to change his dressing which I stayed well away from. Lel bless her got an eyeful of it but our lovely neighbour Emma came to help. I posted cheese in the front end which kept him quiet nicely.
On Tuesday I was still at home for the whole day, in the evening we were both at the hygienist which as always was a total delight. I was happy to pop out for half an hour and leave him however we asked our neighbours to pop over and sit for an hour which they were lovely and happy to do. As we put him out his dressing has come off and I panicked, I knew that we had 2 neighbours on the street who are either nurses or ambulance techs so shot out into the street as Julie, the ambulance tech was arriving home. As we changed his dressings with her help there was a large gap where he had split his stitches through wagging too much but we were hopeful that it was starting to heal a little.
Wednesday was Chemo day and Vicky came over to work from home (our house) for the day. We set off round 7.30 as usual and got to Christies just after 8 am. I took my ticket for the blood room and sat and waited.. and waited.. and waited.. The blood room is normally really quick however we waited best part of 45 minutes to get through then sat for a few minutes to see Dr T. My appointment was 9.30 and at 9.20 we were taken through to her room to wait for her. I was really surprised as she is usually late so it was nice to be seen on time for a change. She came in and asked how I was, how I had been coping and whether I had had any side effects from it. I told her about forgetting to take my antiemetics and what had happened and that the only main issue I had had was the peripheral neuropathy which seemed very minimal given what I was taking. My bloods still hadn't come through so she suggested that we head over to the Maggie's centre and they would call us when they were back. I left my phone number with one of the nurses and we headed over there. It was the 1st birthday of Maggie's so there were lots more people around than usual. We went into the garden room and sat to relax in peace and quiet for a bit before heading into the main part of Maggie's. We had only been sat for around half an hour when people moved to the window looking excited. I was thinking it would be someone for the birthday but then word went round that Christies was on fire. I would just like a nice quiet treatment day where everything runs on time and to plan.. Really don't think that is too much to ask is it??!! We looked out and saw a black wall of smoke coming up from the direction of the hospital. Around half 11 we headed out for a walk to see if there was anywhere that we could buy a sandwich, the shop only had chicken tikka type things which clearly was no use at all to either of us. With nothing there and the shocking smell and taste of smoke in the air we headed back to Maggie's for a while. Iona posted a link to Facebook from Manchester Evening News and in it it said that treatments were still going on as planned.
I phoned Oak Road Treatment Centre to see if my bloods were back through yet, they weren't sure but suggested that I head over and they would see what they could do. We went towards the hospital and were told we couldn't get to the treatment centre so we negotiated a route to get us in there. I again asked whether my bloods were through and one of the volunteers said she would try and find out. I decided we would head through to Ward 42 where I see Dr T to see if they were back. As we got into main reception I looked at my phone to see a missed call from a with-held number and swore as I knew it would be someone calling me about my bloods. We saw one of the nurses I had given my number to earlier and asked if my bloods were back, he confirmed that they had just come through and there had been a slight delay due to the fire but that they were all fine so we could head through for treatment.
We went upstairs from treatment and I asked for the heat pack to raise a good vein. This was provided and I sat with it on for a while. The nurse came back and tried a vein to the left of my usual one, it hit a valve. The pain from it was ridiculous and I had to ask for her to stop. The nurse went back in to the vein that we have used the previous twice and it wasn't happy any more but still took the canular. I was squeezing Lel's hand and was trying not to break her knuckles!! The nurse put the flush through and whilst we were sat there with the vincristine running through a member of staff came round offering soup and sandwiches. I said yes to both and had a lovely mug of tomato and red pepper soup and an egg mayo sandwich which we shared. The second flush went through as did my antiemetic and by 3pm we were done and all my meds handed over to me for the next 10 days. We went home and Vicky and Jade were sat together on the floor, Harry was curled up on a bed quietly and by the sounds of it, they had all had a lovely day together. Julie from 2 doors down who is an Emergency Medical Technician came up to help with the dressings again as I couldn't do it and it felt good to have someone medically trained being able to help us!
That evening I decided to split my chemo doses, to take the antiemetic then take the lombustine, to take another antiemetic then take my procarbazine then have a small dinner. I took another antiemetic then we headed to bed. All good and a good sleep with no issues unlike last time!! Seems I have this nailed. Amazing how you can learn from vomiting blood how not to do it again! As dad said, do it once, it's a mistake - do it twice, you're a fool!!
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