Friday, July 21, 2017

4th Cycle

I finished up my 4th cycle of chemotherapy about 10 days ago now and am finally starting to feel somewhat normal. I still tire very easily, but the nausea, which was pronounced this time, has finally abated. My blood counts are not bad. Thankfully, after a transfusion during my hospital stay, my red counts are higher than they were following the 3rd cycle, so no constant headaches. I have one more blood test to do before being scheduled next week for follow-up CT Scans (pelvis, abdomen, chest, and head), and hope to be back to work by Monday, July 31st.

Overall, this has been a very interesting experience. I don't doubt or question the efficacy of chemotherapy, but I don't want to have to go through it again. It was pretty unpleasant, and that's even with having a low occurrence of side effects. They did seem to be cumulative, though, and made a really bad recipe for depression. For those who have to endure additional cycles of treatment and/or suffer more from the side effects, you have my sympathy and respect.

This may be a bit premature, but I feel like I've been very lucky: first, both my urologist and oncologist were very good; my cancer was a type that is very treatable; as I've said, I've done fairly well with the chemo side effects; and, assuming all goes well, I can get back to a normal life in just a few months.

Fingers crossed for that last one!