Sunday 15th January 2012 - I was feeling ok apart from my tongue being brown and feeling slimy- tasted disgusting as well, but was not painful. Apparently it is a known side effect of chemo , so I would just have to get on with it . Claire had bought me a tongue scraper to try and get some of the rubbish off my tongue and I had been advised to use Soda Bic in warm water as a mouth wash to help . Prevention is always better than cure , so I was willing to try anything to prevent a sore mouth . I was also taking Refreshers - they tasted ok and were fizzy on the tongue .
My PICC line was due to be dressed  as it had been about a week since it was last done. I had had a discussion with my district nurses on a previous occasion about the possibility of my sister doing my dressing , especially as this was an area of expertise for her ! The nurses were quite happy for this to happen as they said some family members are taught how to change dressings . They said they would continue to visit when my chemo pump needed disconnecting .
So Rosie came round in the afternoon and carried out the dressing and flushing of the line . The district nurses had supplied everything that was needed , so there were no problems .
That was me free for one week ! I did not do very much during that week , except watch TV and DVDs and got out in the evening for a gentle walk ( well - wrapped up , of course ) with Bill and Bobo  . I had started watching The Good Wife when I went off sick , and Claire's boyfriend Paul had bought me the boxed set for Christmas - great programme ! I would say the week was uneventful , so i won't bore you with all the details!
Monday 23rd January 2012 - Appointment at clinic to see oncologist . This would be my routine for the next six months - See doc , talk over any problems , get bloods checked and , if all was ok , get chemo on the Wednesday . The good thing about having the PICC line in was that my blood samples could be taken from it , so there was no pain involved. My dressing would also get changed on the Mondays that I attended the clinic . Claire had arranged her shifts so that she was always able to drive me to the clinic - I was a very lucky person !
The doc said he would phone me if my bloods were abnormal , but he didn't really expect that to be the case at this early stage . So , I was all geared up for Wednesday again for round two !
Wednesday 25th January 2012 - Claire gave me a lift in the the Beatson and we were nice and early . Claire just went home as I was going to be there for a good few hours and I don't like people having to wait about for me . I was taken round to the Macmillan day care unit and asked to sit in one of the recliner chairs . The nurse came and went through the usual checks and then hooked me up to a glucose drip until my chemo arrived. The tea lady came round , but I couldn't bring myself to drink it because it was rotten the last time I had it , and my yucky mouth meant everything tasted rotten anyway . One thing she did have , though , was a nice strawberry yogurt . For some reason this was the only thing that I could taste without being disgusted . I remembered a patient telling me that the only thing she could taste was banana flavoured things like yogurts , custard and sweets .

Bob Downe- my hero!

My chemo arrived and I was hooked up and good to go . I had more comedy DVDs to watch - Bob Downe is one of my all time favourites . I just need to look at him and I laugh . I have met him on several occasions and he is always so lovely .      I also had a DVD of Rock Profile , which is just so funny . I also watched more of Gary Tank Commander , and Summer Heights High . Maybe that was my way of rebelling against the big C- "I laugh in your face ! you will never bring me down" ! Anyway , chemo finished without incident and I was attached to the pump again for the next forty eight hours or so . I got all my protective clothes on and went to the car park to get Claire . As it was Burns' Night , it was haggis and neeps for tea - and I managed to eat it ok , although I was not really getting much of a taste .
Same old same old regarding taking the tablets to counteract any nausea , and same old same old regarding the sleepless nights due to the steroids. It didn't really bother me , because I knew that it would not last forever , so I just played my word games and kept up to date with Facebook and Twitter!
Thursday 26th January 2012 - same facial flushing as before - must be a side effect! No worries .

Friday 27th January 2012 - district nurses came in the afternoon to disconnect me again and that was me free for another wee while . I was not really experiencing any great side effects , apart from the horrible mouth - one of the nurses in the Beatson had suggested using a soft toothbrush and brushing my tongue with toothpaste a couple of times a day . This was safer than using a tongue scraper , in case my platelets were low after chemo , although this was not really a common occurrence .
I never had any neuropathy at this stage , but had been told that the effects were cumulative , so it might take a few more treatments for that to kick in . If I was still feeling ok at the start of next week , I was planning to go and visit my colleagues at work ................