2nd post from hospital ...

(hooray - finally I can put in a title properly!!)

So, I've been here for 3 days. 3 day of chemo being pumped into my veins (poor veins, but all in a good cause!) I'm actually attached to 2 drips 24 hours a day. One is continual - something called Mesna which is to protect my kidneys from the ravages of the chemo. And the other is the chemo for 2 lots of 3 hours in every 12 hours, and otherwise saline. The treatment lasts till Saturday - 5 days (the actual chemo didn't start till Tuesday). Then I have to hang around in hospital for another week or so till my white blood cell count comes up enough for my specialist to let me escape for a week!

I have 2 sisters living in London and Dublin. One is a nurse (London) and the other a medical research doctor (Dublin). Both are demanding lots of medical details so I will try and satisfy you! But not having a medical background myself I don't keep many of the details in my head. Although I already know a lot more about cancer and lymphoma and non-Hodgkins lymphoma than I ever did (or wanted to!)

And for yoga people - I'm busily eyeing up the room working out where I can put my mat down when I come back for the 2nd cycle. I won't be able to do much in the first week when I'm hooked up, but hopefully in the 2nd week I should be able to - depending on how I feel I guess. The doctor told me that the 2nd (and 4th and 6th) cycles are more intense in that they target the bone marrow, and so I am reasonably likely to get a fever some time in the 2nd week of those cycles.

Right now I'm still feeling fine overall. I'm having trouble sleeping - that's because of the steroids I have to take every day while the chemo happens (10 tablets)! As I lay awake at 3am this morning I had the happy thought that perhaps as well as keeping me awake, maybe they'd be building up my muscle mass as well! But alas, not!! No good side-effects that I can see!! I can't imagine how anyone could want to take them!! Apparently my iron levels are down too, but not enough to have to get a haemaglobin transfusion.

And putting on weight - when I read that YC put on 10 pounds when she had her chemo I was horrified - after all the effort I put in at WeightWatchers a couple of years ago to lose 30 kilos. Well, they weight me every morning and I've put on a kilo each time!! Today I came down a bit but ... I am promised it's all the fluid dripping into me. Did you know that a litre equals a kilo in body weight?!! And they will make sure I lose it all again!!

And I promised Roy (in response to his comment) that I'd tell you about the presents (see 1st post), or lack of them!! I thought I was so together last week writing lists and putting things to bring with me in piles on the bedroom floor. Then on Sunday when I packed my bag I put it and my clothes on the bed, packed them all, looked at the list I had written (at the beginning of the week - things like phone charger, ipod charger, internet connection) and packed them. And totally ignored the bag of carefully chosen presents, the Pride & Prejudice DVD, Evening Primrose Oil capsules, radio alarm clock, etc etc - which had been in full view, and which I had stepped over to get my clothes!! Anyway, my cousin is going out to my place (45 minutes drive) to pick them up for me today - thanks Audrey!!

This is getting long - I'm gonna stop now ... I'm so glad Julie has put this onto the Ashtangi.NET blog list - I'll try to post about yoga too, and not let the medical stuff take over completely! Because I really don't want it to take over my life!! And like I said on the ashtanga board, I want to go back to my other blog and leave this one when the NHL has left me!!

:)