Tag: chemotherapy

#sharestrength – Chemotherapy #12 (Final)

So. I’ve finally completed the 6-month chemotherapy journey. As I’m writing now, it has been 3 weeks since my final treatment that started on 14 Sept and ended on 16 Sept (Malaysia Day).

I felt like a veteran chemo patient by the final cycle. The chemo needle felt so normal. Going to the washroom every 20 min during chemo (because I was prescribed with med to make me pee more) felt normal. Leaving the chemo ward with needle on my chest felt normal.

Continue reading #sharestrength – Chemotherapy #12 (Final)

#sharestrength – Chemotherapy #11

I can’t believe that just a cycle before, I said that I was starting to feel numbness on my fingers and feet because by the end of my 11th cycle, the numbness has escalated pretty quickly.

I’ve started to feel less grip on my fingers and feet (not sure if it’s due to lack of sensation or I did indeed lose grip). I started wearing sandals to work because work ballerinas were causing blisters to my numb feet. I couldn’t feel my feet 100% and felt like they were getting weak too. Continue reading #sharestrength – Chemotherapy #11

#sharestrength – Chemotherapy #9

It has been 3 weeks since my 9th chemotherapy cycle. As usual, the side effects were never the same. After administering so much drug into my body for 9 times since March, I was finally confused which cycle I was at. Every time I got confused, I visited my blog to check the latest update on my chemotherapy treatment. Hehe.

Another remarkable (and depressing) experience during this chemotherapy cycle was numbness or tingling in my fingers and toes. At times, I felt it in my entire arm and foot too. According to Cancer Research UK, nearly everyone undergoing FOLFOX chemotherapy gets this side effect due to oxaliplatin drug. In worst case scenario, I’d have trouble buttoning my shirt, etc. Sadly, unlike other side effects that usually go away by the time I have my next treatment, this numbness and tingling feeling seems to persist. I still have it as I’m typing 3 weeks after my recent treatment. It’d take months to heal apparently. I hope it doesn’t get worse in my remaining 3 treatments. Continue reading #sharestrength – Chemotherapy #9

#sharestrength – Chemotherapy #8

I spent a long time (maybe an hour or more) with my oncologist during my first consultation before deciding on doing chemotherapy. But that’s only once. Ever since then, I may have held the record for the shortest consultation among the other patients, pretty much every round of chemotherapy.

I think chemo hasn’t started yet because I see no tube in this pic. Anyway, it was taken on chemo day regardless.

Here’s kinda what I told my doctor about my 8th cycle…

“Hello!” Continue reading #sharestrength – Chemotherapy #8

#sharestrength – Chemotherapy #7

After a week of delay, I started my 7th cycle of FOLFOX chemotherapy on a Tuesday, completed the cycle on Thursday, received a white blood cell booster injection on Thursday at the hospital and received another white blood cell booster injection on Friday at a clinic.

chemo port bandage
Finally wore another different set of outfit for my chemo? This outfit wasn’t very convenient though. The collar opening is too big, exposing my gigantic chemo port bandage.
MBG juice
After my chemo that day, I went to my sister’s office nearby to wait for her to fetch my mom and I home while sipping a cup of juice from MBG.

Continue reading #sharestrength – Chemotherapy #7

#sharestrength – Chemotherapy #6

Definitely mixing up my memories of my past few chemotherapy cycles. If not for the dates of the photos stored in my phone, it’d be impossible to recall.

Anyway, my 6th chemo cycle was one milestone cycle. Because before I started the entire chemotherapy treatment, my oncologist mentioned that depending on how my body copes, he may order to stop chemotherapy after 6 cycles because that’s when it’s deemed that it has been somewhat effective.

I was really looking forward to hit this milestone for I wished I can stop the treatment even though everything was going smoothly. Continue reading #sharestrength – Chemotherapy #6

#sharestrength – Chemotherapy #5

Been putting off writing about my 5th chemotherapy cycle to the point it’s due to write about my 6th chemotherapy cycle. I know right… #procrastination

16-05-11-11-10-06-510_deco.jpg
Slight smile because my new Redmi Note 3 phone said I looked younger than my age. Not smiling widely because I found out my liver has been working harder than normal so I was prescribed liver tonic for a month.

Liver working too hard was a big news for me. It got my demotivated. But here’s a bigger highlight: I failed my blood test at the end of the cycle. It’s the first time I failed my blood test and was denied chemotherapy so I could not carry on with my 6th cycle on time. Continue reading #sharestrength – Chemotherapy #5

How Chemotherapy Ward Is Like At UMSC

Before I started my chemotherapy treatment, I wondered how the treatment room would look like. Will there be beds? Does it look like an inpatient ward? How many nurses are there? What will the patients look like? What will the patients be doing to pass time? And many more questions.

Unfortunately, most online search returned US-based results so I didn’t have a clear picture. But at least it gave me a glimpse of what to expect. And now, let me tell you how the chemotherapy ward at University Malaya Specialist Center (UMSC) is like.
Continue reading How Chemotherapy Ward Is Like At UMSC