Disclaimer: I am not a Doctor, this information is going on what I know to be true and went through.
This may differ slightly on a case by case basis but this is the general idea.
This may differ slightly on a case by case basis but this is the general idea.
Also, this post is going to give details of treatments (no nasty pictures) but I will put a * next to the title if it has any graphic details in.
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People don’t know much about the treatment for cancer and the fact that you have to go through so many steps before you even get to the actual chemotherapy.
Weight loss/gain:
Since I hit puberty I have always been on or around 8 st, I could literally eat whatever I wanted and not lose or put on very much weight at all. I presume youth had a part to play in that.
As I was going through the year of feeling ill and trying to find out what was wrong with me I went down to 7st at my lowest and then due to the steroids in the chemotherapy treatment I very quickly gained back the weight and some unfortunately going up to around 12st which you can imagine was crazy for me who has always been used to being naturally slim-ish. I’m still dealing with the affects the steroids had on my body and getting used to being more cautious about what I eat etc.
This is something most people deal with at some point in there life unfortunately for me it was in my early 20s instead of the old ‘middle age spread’.
Blood transfusion:
During my stay in the first hospital where they were trying to discover what was up with me I had to have a blood transfusion. I've always had low iron, mild anaemia and I was born jaundice so being ill led to me having to have the blood transfusion as I was very weak. This wasn't painful just annoying because I had to sleep with this thing pumping loudly next to me, with one arm attached to it. I sleep on my front and this was not possible with a drip attached to me. A few hours in it beeps for the nurse to change the bag.
We can safely say I didn't get much sleep that night &, also now I can't donate blood which I would love to do as this helped me. If you are able to donate blood I would definitely say go for it. I know its cheesy to say but it can literally save somebody life or like me be a step towards being able to get the treatment they need. :(
*Lump removal:
I had two types of lump removal so I will go through both.
The operation type of removal I was put to sleep for so I obviously didn't feel any of it. They try to make the incision in a natural body crease to camouflage it, in my case it was in the crease of my armpit (it doesn’t blend in at all lol). The worst parts of this is having to go through the operation process so not eating for 8 hours prior and I had to deal with the bandages under my arm for a week.
Unfortunately for me my nerves were damaged during this for about 3 months after the operation I had light pins and needles in my upper arm and I now have very little feeling in the top of my one arm, so if you ever tap me on my left side and I don't respond now you know why. Nearly 5 years on the scar is still visible but I very rarely have my armpit up in the air so it doesn't bother me too much, f you ever see me in person you are more than welcome to have a look.
The quick biopsy type this is the first type of lump removal I had just to test the lump and have a better look at what was going on. Mine was in the area between my armpit & side boob, they inject you with a little local anaesthetic and then (this is going to sound crazy) use a little hole punch machine to make a hole in your skin to get to the lump.
Sounds way worse than it is, I literally felt nothing. She put one of those lame lil circle plasters on it and I was on my way.
I literally couldn't point out now where it was, there is no scar at all. It's more painful to get your ears pierced than to have that done.
C.T (computed tomography) scans:
I have lost count of the amount of times I've had this type of scan done. This is the one that you usually see on TV where you lie on the bed and the bed goes through a big circle (bad explanation, I will try and find a picture and attach it below) let me first of all tell you that how it is shown on TV is so false and misses out most of the detail.
First of all you are in one of those dreadful thin hospital robes and the room is always cold AF.
Then dependant on what they are scanning they have to inject this dye into your system which is freezing cold, you can feel it weirdly running through your blood stream and then all of a sudden it randomly feels like you have wet yourself for a few seconds. No exaggeration I even used to set myself up for it knowing it was coming but still felt like I’d pissed myself. Glamorous I know.
If that isn't enough you get onto the bed and they strap you down with these big Velcro straps tightly and wedge a big piece of triangle foam under the crook of your leg or around your head like a if you were on a stretcher.
If that's not uncomfortable enough for you they tell you to lie still, but relax and you can close your eyes if you wish. Whilst this bed goes back and forth for minutes through that loop and the little lasers flicker around you.. right really feels like your at the spa, NOT. If your claustrophobic this is close to your worst nightmare.
Picture above from: Cancer Research UK
Here is one of my CT scans:
P.E.T (positron emission tomography) scans:
The PET scan is very similar to the CT scan but the lead up process is slightly different. I’ve had about four of this type of scan over a year. Your not to eat a few hours leading up to this type of scan but you can have water.
A good tip if you are going for this scan which I did each time, If you wear lose clothes with no metal parts they will usually allow you to keep your own clothes on instead of the glam hospital gown so I would wear a sports bra and leggings and they were always fine with that.
This scan takes about two hours as when you get there they inject you with the radioactive tracer dye which absorbs with the natural glucose in your blood and organs to give a clearer view of your entire body. For this to take good affect you would be asked to lie down in the room for about an hour not completely still but just relax, you can drink water and go to the toilet if need be. The hospital I went to said I can bring CD’s with me which I was able to listen to while I lay down and during the actual scan which is nice rather than sitting in silence for what feels like forever.
After the hour as with the CT scan you go into another room, where they strap you in to the bed and go back and forth while the lasers and machine do the magic then you are free to go.
As this type of scan involves radio active fluid you would need to avoid contact with pregnant women, children and elderly for about 24 hours.
*Bone marrow removal:
By far the most painful thing I have experienced to this day, if you have had an epidural then its basically that.
So in my case they needed to take a sample of my bone marrow to determine how far through my body the cancer was. They explained the process to me and in my mind it seemed pretty straight forward.
On the day the doctor asked if I was okay to have a student nurse in so I agreed. I was made to lie on the bed in the foetal position the bars were up on the bed that's when I realised stuff was going to get real.
They then have to numb your lower back/spine as this where they will be taking the bone marrow from. I was not ready for this.. they injected the needle into my spine then it feels like your back is bubbling inside like it may pop like a champagne bottle. I nearly jumped off the bed into my mums lap. They then put this long needle into your back through to the spine and they have to turn it to break through your spine bone my back hurts just thinking about it. Once they are done extracting the bone marrow they let you go.
I asked the doctor to take a look at what they had taken expecting after all that trauma to see a big chuck of my back in the cup it was literally a thin string about 2cm long.
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Before I started writing this I didn't realise exactly how much there was to write about these things so I will divide this into two parts.
The next post will be about: The actual chemotherapy and the side affects.
The next post will be about: The actual chemotherapy and the side affects.
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Links to the other parts of this series:
information in this post is of my personal experience and may differ from other cases.
