Health Hiatus
Major medical personal upheavals still going on. Might be able to fill in when I have the time & energy.
Chemotherapy starts on Friday, 12th May, 2006 and will continue for quite a few months, followed by radiotherapy and hormone treatment too. Fun, fun, fun...

[EDITED LATER TO ADD:]
Though drugs are more intense than last time, and more side-effects, OTOH the dose regimen is shorter, one day rather than a whole week. I'm considering finding a small flat to operate from for the next few months, it could help me organise cleaning out Mother's and be safer than staying at Pyrmont while I'm sick. Finances might be able to take it, especially if I can manage to stay on working.

In short:

Chemotherapy - Adjuvant FEC

Starts Friday 12th May
One dripfeed every three weeks, for six cycles. Picked Friday so can recover over weekend.
This, if we've calculated right, would end on August 25th.
Many people are able to keep working part-time.
Hair will go; drugs to help with nausea & diarrhoea, other side-effects possible but rarer - can mean a pause while you recover.

Radiotherapy

Would start at end of chemotherapy - not sure if after 3-week gap.

Daily (weekdays) a 20-minute dose for five weeks.

This would take to mid-October or early November, depending on gap, also any pauses.

Not sure how practical working would be through this. Apart from how serious any effect of the therapy would be, trying to fit in the travel to the hospital & time of the treatment as well as work & commuting to it seems very awkward. Doing all that while not feeling too good might work against healing well too.

Hormone therapy

Foggier on this - happens after chemotherapy, but not sure if it overlaps with radiotherapy.

Tablets, don't know more details.



Until I'm able to put up information here, search for "Adjuvant FEC" or "fluorouracil, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide" if you want to find out some details.

Labels: cancer, medical, medicine

[permalink][comment] - posted by Mez @ 5/10/2006 11:41:00 pm