Since my last blog I’ve completed two more rounds of chemo – one of them being CHEMO #5! Unfortunately I’m now noticing that each round is getting tougher and tougher to recover from. When I started chemo it only took it out of me for a day or so. Now I’m not feeling great for a whole week. After ‘Chemo #5’ I was wrecked. But I put that down to the fact that March was such a busy month with both mine and Anthony’s birthdays, which meant lots of socialising! I prepared myself for round 6 by making sure I had a good night’s sleep the few days beforehand and went into Peter Mac full of energy! Unfortunately my energy was completely drained by the time I finished and it took me about a week to feel ‘normal’ again. I barely ate or drank anything and spent most of the week lying on the couch with Kya.

The main side effect from chemo is numbness/tingly fingers, which worsens when I’m cold. This is fairly easy to manage when I’m at home but is more difficult when I’m out doing something as simple as going for a walk or getting milk out of the fridge at the supermarket. I’ve even had to buy gloves and cut the middle out so my fingers are covered but the palms of my hands aren’t – since they are still hot most of the time!

Another side effect is hot flushes. That is a hard thing to deal with if I’m out. Jacket on, jacket off… My hands are also starting to peel – that’s probably the weirdest side effect! I’m feeling really dehydrated too, which is mostly noticeable in my mouth. It’s really difficult to drink enough water during and after chemo and I LOVE WATER! But I love it when it’s cold so for that ‘bad week’ when I can’t have anything cold, it’s just harder to drink. The way my mouth feels also doesn’t help as my taste buds have completely changed too. So before my next round I’m going to try and drink as much water as I can to be prepared for those few days when I probably won’t be able to drink much.

Chemo Brain is something I had never heard of, but it is so real! I can be mid sentence and completely forget what I’m talking about. And if I don’t write something down straight away, there’s no hope of me remembering it! Sorry to those of you who I’ve asked the same question multiple times, without realising. Feel free to send me reminders of catch ups or things I was supposed to do!

Hair loss is the side effect I expected and prepared myself for. I was fully prepared to shave my head when the hair loss got bad, but my hair has done really well and stuck around for a lot longer than most people’s would. I’m definitely losing it though as my hair has really thinned out. Now that I’m nearing the end of this particular chemo and my hair is still mostly there, it’s harder to accept that I might have to shave it. I just need it to hold on for the next 3 weeks because then it should start growing back! So if you see me in the next few weeks, I’ll be wearing a headscarf or a beanie so that I can protect my hair as much as I can. Fingers crossed it lasts 🤞