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Unless you have been unfortunate enough to have had chemotherapy you probably have no idea what it entails so I hope the following description is helpful:
Before the treatment started a very fine tube was threaded up a vein in my arm so one end is in a bigger blood vessel in my chest and the other end dangles out of my upper arm with a connector on it. This tube stays in place for the whole period, in this case 6 months. When not being used for dripping chemicals into me it is covered with a bandage which needs protecting when I bath or have a shower.
On the first day of each treatment cycle I sit in a comfy chair in the hospital and nice ladies bring me cups of tea and a lunch whilst I read the paper or watch iPlayer programmes on my lap top. I even get free parking – luxury.
During this time (about 5 hours) various bags of fluid are dripped into my blood stream via the thin tube. About once an hour an alarm goes off indicating one bag is empty and the nurse changes it for the next. The bags hang on a little “coat rack” so if I need to go for a pee then I wheel the coat rack behind me to the toilet.
After the last bag is emptied into my system a small pressurised bottle called a pump is connected to the tube, this stays in place for 48 hours and the pressure pushes the contents of the bottle into my body gradually. I come home with a little pouch on a belt to hold the bottle safe but it is a bit annoying in bed as I am frightened of getting in a tangle in my sleep.
48 hours later I go and see the district nurse who takes the bottle off, flushes out my tube and changes my dressing.
That’s it other than sometime before the next session in 12 days time I have to see the nurse again as the tube cannot be left without a flush for more than 10 days so there is a fair amount of flexibility as to when it is done giving us the opportunity to get away.
This two week cycle is then repeated twelve times so it will be August before it is finished and the tube can be removed.
During this time my immune system is compromised so I am at risk of infection. The advice is to stay away from small children and animals so our meeting up with six grandchildren next week might be considered as high risk.
Why are we meeting so many children? - All will be revealed in the next exciting episode.
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