Day 2

Today was officially the start of chemotherapy as I started taking the chemotherapy drugs. I received two lots through my drip, both of which had to be watched by the nurse. With this type of drug there is always a chance of tissue damage so a nurse has to be present to check that no lumps and bumps are forming around the vein. It was a relatively easy procedure though, only taking around 30 minutes, and luckily there was no tissue damage!

The first drug is called Vincristine. The most well known side effect is a feeling of pins and needles in your extremities. This is something that I have not felt so far, but could kick in after 2 or 3 treatments, so I will have to keep my eye out for it.

The second drug was Daunorubicin, the drug that will eventually be responsible for my hair falling out. This is not something that will happen immediately, but that can be expected 3-4 weeks into the treatment. I will be meeting the hairdresser next Monday so I can get my hair cut short and to arrange wig referrals - so I will tell you all about that when the time comes.

Daunorubicin is a bright red colour, and one of the funny things about it is that it will also turn your pee a bright pink colour. Anne, my nurse, was telling me that the nurses often make the med students collect the bed pans of the patients who have just had Daunorubicin and they always, without fail, completely freak out. I'm sure that's something that keeps the nurses all entertained. Poor med students.

The rest of the day was simply spent attached to my good friend Larry here. And yes, I have called my drip feed Larry. Does this mean I have gone mad? Possibly. Anyway, whether I have gone mad or not, I also received some incredibly good news today - Dr Gordon told me that there are no signs of Leukemic cells in my spinal fluid. This is incredibly good news as ALL often spreads to the brain and nervous system, but as nothing is there at the moment, hopefully this will now remain completely preventable through the lumber punctures.

So, it's all good news so far.