Chemo Day 1

Drove myself to the hospital bags packed and feeling as prepared as I possibly could be. In Leeds your given an absolute abundance of leaflets and packs and will be well informed by all the nurses each step of the way. For me been a research hound I didn’t think there was much more I could know.

Arrived on the ambulatory care unit at St James hospital Leeds and got the show started. Day one would be 2 x 2 hour infusions of the drugs Etoposide and Cisplatin. The day was fairly long as they also fill you with anti sickness steroids and give you anti sickness tablets. I had read many others accounts of people receiving BEP and I have to say the regimen at Leeds seems absolutely first class. They are giving us what seems the best of everything without having to ask for anything and the care of the nurses on the unit is awesome also. I didn’t feel much personally whilst receiving the treatments except some minor tiredness and minor headache.

Although the day is long the time passes well. I was totally at ease due to the atmosphere on day 1. The thing I had not seen in my research is that they want to monitor any liquids that leave your body also. And they pump you full of IV goodness to ensure your kidneys can flush the nastiness along. This does however mean hourly visits to the little boys room drip stand and all and having to do the business into a jug before pouring it away and recording the exact amount on a chart they give you. I will admit on my first visit I forgot all about the jug and sadly this was my most productive visit of the day. The nurses were a little concerned when looking at my chart but I explained the mishap and treatment proceeded. I carried my jug in my hand but one of the other patients kindly explained the perfect 👌 place to hang it on the drip stand. Much appreciated bud.

At the end of the day you get given a 3 litre saline drip to run for the next 24 hours on a portable pump all housed in a backpack. If going home you would take this home overnight but as I was stopping at the hospital hotel they let you hang the bag on your drip stand and take it with you. This was unexpected treat number two as I did not expect to be attached to a drip the whole night. However fortunately the mattresses in the hotel are nice and firm, perfect for back sleeping so didn’t find this any inconvenience at all. Well other than figuring out how to walk with it lol.

I went to my hotel room. Normally you could go out for food or get takeaways etc but as I was doing this at the peak of the corona outbreak a good friend had got me the shopping I needed to stay in my room self sufficient as I didn’t want to risk going too many places. Coming for the treatment is obviously a calculated and worth it risk but I am trying to be as safe as I can.

I ate a large tea with no signs of any nausea and generally felt well all night. Slept like a baby beside having to get up to pee and no adverse side effects to speak off other than slight headache and a little fatigue. So far so good I told everybody well aware I was probably jinxing myself saying this.

Picture of me that first night

The view from the hotel