Well it’s Wednesday night, 10 PM I’ve had my first round of chemotherapy today and am very happy to report that so far. No side-effects at all!
I am in hospital and will be here for the five days straight, every day getting chemotherapy, I will be at home to 2 weeks and then back into another five days straight. This goes on for four full sessions. (approx 12 weeks in total)
Some of the things I need to do are as follows!
Drink between two and 3 L of fluid per day
brush my teeth with a very soft (baby toothbrush) after any food consumption and immediately before bed
rinse with a salt water solution after every food consumption and immediately before bed
The following information is copied from a well reputed cancer site. The chemotherapy treatment plan I am on is BEP:
“BEP is named after the initials of the chemotherapy drugs used, which are:
How treatment is given
BEP chemotherapy is given to you during a short stay in hospital. Before you start treatment you will need to have a blood test, either on the same day, or a day or two beforehand. You will also be seen by a doctor, specialist nurse or pharmacist. If the results of your blood test are normal, the pharmacy will prepare your chemotherapy drugs. This may take a couple of hours.
When you begin your treatment, the nurse will put a thin flexible tube (cannula) into a vein in your hand or arm. You may find this uncomfortable or a little painful, but it should not take long. Some people have their chemotherapy given through a thin plastic tube that is inserted under the skin into a vein near the collarbone (central line), or passed through a vein in their arm (PICC line). Your doctor or nurse will explain more about this to you.
You will be given an anti-sickness (anti-emetic) drug as tablets or by injection through the cannula, central line or PICC line, which is connected to a drip (infusion). All three chemotherapy drugs – bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin – are usually given to you as a drip (infusion), which will be connected to your line or your cannula. The bleomycin may sometimes be given as an injection into the muscle (intramuscularly). If you find this painful it can be given with a local anaesthetic.
Before and after treatment with cisplatin, you will be given plenty of fluid through your drip to keep your kidneys working normally.”
Being at the end of the first day. It is not unusual to not have any side-effects. I am led to believe that once my body starts to react to the chemotherapy. I may then experience some or all of the side-effects. These side-effects include diarrhoea, constipation, vomiting, headaches, kingly sensations and naturally, hair loss, just to list a few.
I will be taking photographs every day so I it will have a photographic representation of the physical changes I will go through.
As for the awareness campaign, I have had an excellent initial response from both the media and the political sector. I look forward to being able to get back to those who have responded and thank them for their support.
If you or anybody you know, would like to lend support to the issue of men’s health, and the awareness of men’s health, both in Australia and the rest of the world, please feel free to contact me directly on this site by leaving a comment or within Australia, I can be contacted on 1300667239.
I have found out that I had three family members (all male) that have had testicular pain. And before hearing about my plight had not sought medical attention.
PLEASE please please, if you have any pain anywhere, get it checked out!
This has been Graham Doessel, and this has been my comment!