"The Nadir"

On the chemo cycle I'm on they call days 7 to 14 the nadir. The chemo infusion days 1 to 4 are shortly followed days where the toxic effects of that chemo are fully felt: infection resistance is at its lowest and any little thing can have disproportionate effects.

Day 7 was June 21, in the Northern Hemisphere the longest day, a fact I can personally verify. A side effect of many of the chemo drugs and associated anti-nauseas, etc is constipation and I had it bad - and various remedies. I have often laughed at the various bad taste jokes about it. Eg: What do you give an accountant for constipation? A pencil and tell him to work it out himself!

Eventually, my five-day unproductive spell was behind me. But days 8 and 9 saw me just going down and on day 10, last Sunday, my temperature crossed the 38 degree boundary set by the medics. The ever-attentive Daniela helped me me make the right decisions (!) and it was back to the Marsden Hospital for me.

That day I was grey, wizened and in pain from all sorts of areas.the medical attention and tests and prescribing were all great but I really felt I had tied a knot in the end of the rope and was barely hanging on. We've all heard stories about chemo and I'm sure my experiences are no worse, and a lot better, than others. But it's been weird for me having no thought than to survive the next hour. And the next. I didn't look at a TV for three days, couldn't open a a paper or a book. Certainly not blog, though aware the longer I left it, the more people would start to call.

So, at the end of day 14 I can say I am nearly back. My white cell count which bottomed at 0.1 and lingered way under the count of 3 considered the minimum for infection resistance, suddenly came back to 5.5, my base level before treatment. Full IV hydration and four days of IV antiobiotics to kill my temperature-spiking infection worked. Two units of blood in (thank you blood donors everywhere!) I have given back my IV pole, and two manbags supplying IV antiobiotics and morphine. Down from four lines into my body to none.

One thing to do before being allowed home and enjoy days 15 - 21; I have to poo and break my new seven day record. Got a pencil, anyone?