The last time we spoke I was busy boasting about how it had been plain sailing weather here in WeeGee land for three whole days. In the end, I think I got about a week of calm before I hit choppy waters again which I suppose is better than if I hadn’t got a week of calm at all.
To be quite honest with you, it was a lot like Frank Turner’s mohawk in Fathers Day – that is, a bit of a disaster.
As an aside, I’ve wanted to share that song with you for AGES and I’m sure you’ll agree that I haven’t shoe-horned it in at all.
As usual I’ll do away with the long, boring details and put it in a nutshell for you – when I turned up for chemo on Friday with pins and needles (which had been previously deemed ‘just a side effect of the paclitaxel’) and a swollen arm (which had been previously deemed ‘just an allergic reaction to the PICC line dressing’) ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE. Turns out it wasn’t a chemo side effect, or an allergic reaction at all. No! It was that blood clot I didn’t have a couple of weeks ago but actually quite probably did have all along. Fan Dabbie Dozzie…..
Blot clots (or deep vein thrombosis – DVT) are an occupational hazard for cancer patients. The fact of your cancer puts you at increased risk of developing them, and then the way chemotherapy drugs interact with your blood increase your risk slightly further, and then if you have PICC line – as plenty of chemo patients do – you get another layer of risk on top of that. When I think of it now it seems INEVITABLE that I was going to develop one!
PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING ANNOUNCEMENT
There’s a more medical run down of blood clots on the NHS website if you want to check it out because, and this is important boys and girls – blood clots are not just for cancer patients. In the meantime, if you get any of the following:
- throbbing or cramping pain, swelling, redness and warmth in a leg or arm
- sudden breathlessness, sharp chest pain (may be worse when you breathe in) and a cough or coughing up blood
You need to seek medical advice pretty sharpish (in the UK by dialling 111).
END OF PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING ANNOUNCEMENT
I was lucky. A very vigilant nurse decided that she wasn’t happy to accept the previous diagnosis and sought a second opinion from a doctor who also wasn’t happy to leave things as they were. So off I went for an ultrasound which detected a nasty little clot hiding out right next to the PICC line site. It’s impossible to know whether the clot was there when I was examined last week or whether it had developed since and at this stage, I don’t suppose it matters. The main thing is it was spotted and we’re now treating it with daily injections which I’d rather not talk about thank you very much because TRAUMA.
Alas, the dramatic interlude did not put paid to my weekly dose of Paclitaxel which I ended up having via an old fashioned cannula because the PICC line, which I resisted, and slated and hated with all my might (but secretly came to love) is GONE. As soon as the clot was confirmed they whipped that out in seconds flat, and I do really mean that they whipped it out in seconds flat. Which is all I’ve got to say about that because TRAUMA.
We’ll wait to see how my veins cope with the Carbo/Taxol chemo and weekly blood tests. The thinking at present is that we’ll give it a go for the next two weeks, see what happens and then consider an alternative plan of action if the veins are starting to put up a fight. The Carbo/Taxol chemo is ALLEGEDLY kinder and gentler than the EC chemo that caused my veins so much grief earlier in the year but between you and I, I’m not altogether convinced they are up to it, particularly given we’ve only got the non-clotted arm to play with. Time will tell I guess…..
By the time all was said and done we were on the chemo suite for a full eight hours yesterday, rather than the two hours we’d budgeted for. The day was made slightly better than it could have been with a visit from a LOVELY former patient who had held a bake-off event with her friends so she could put together little gifts for everyone on the suite. It was such a genuinely gorgeous gesture and yet another reminder – as if I needed one really – that people in general, are generally nice.
It was a long and frustrating day and by the time we got home I was completely, utterly and well and truly wrung out. I made it as far as 8pm before the steroids wore off and it all caught up with me, manifesting in what shall henceforth be known as the Marks and Spencer’s Chocolate Cake Incident. But I’m not ready to talk about that yet, because – you guessed it – TRAUMA.
So, yeah. That’s the story of the blood clot I didn’t have last week but probably did have all along and the rather unceremonious end to the much-maligned-but-not-as-bad-as-all -that PICC line. The fun never stops….
Meanwhile in other news I am continuing to sprout an impressive little fuzz of hair on my head but alas, the eyebrows are not yet ready to return. Nothing else to report today save that I hope you are well and that those of you in the UK are coping with the ravages of Storm Hannah. Stay strong…..
Look – I know we’ve already had a song but it’s tradition to have one at the end. So here is a song. At the end.
Love you all lots, like all the jelly tots
WeeGee xoxox
How do you eat an elephant? 