T -5, T -4 What's your poison?

Since I’ve last been on, my mum has been on duty. This coincided with the start of the third and, I suspect, least pleasant of Saff’s chemo drugs, Cyclophosphamide. (They all have such unpleasant sounding names, even.) Cyclophosphamide is the one most likely to cause sickness and also is an irritant to the bladder, causing blood in the urine. Consequently, Saff has to go to the loo every 2 hours, night and day and was also sick for 2 hours last night. This combo meant that I don’t think my mum actually got any sleep in the last 48 hours, so she’ll probably sleep from now until the next shift.

Saff’s been on a drip (or 2 or 3) for the last 72 hours and has at least another 24 to go. This means not leaving her bed during any of this time. Her carer cannot leave her at unattended either, so we are trying to make sure that there are 2 people here during the day whenever we can as there are lots of reasons to leave the room. We have to get all of our supplies from bed sheets to sterile water (used for everything from drinking to botty wiping) to clean bed pans. From time to time we need to eat, too! (Especially me). Nurses are happy to sit in, but some times are busier than others.

Nausea is being controlled by 2 main drugs. Ondensatron acts on the nausea centre of the brain and Maxillon acts by encouraging the muscle movement of the gut to keep food moving through. If these are not enough, another will be added. If that doesn’t work, they’ll ‘start from the beginning and find a combination that does’. Controlling vomiting is a priority as it, along with the diarrhoea, it will dehydrate Saff and stop her getting the chemo out of her system. (As well as not being much fun, obviously).

Saffy’s hydration levels are also monitored really closely. Everything she eats or drinks, wees or poos, is recorded to see if she is negatively or positively hydrated for the day. Depending on the result, she’ll get a saline drip or a diuretic to restore the balance.

If you’re thinking this is all pretty bad, don’t get too concerned. She is also Dr Saff, who with her medical kit, examines and treats everyone from Baby Lucy (thanks for the perfect gift Tony & Anne!) to her own doctor. She’s full of it, just like she always is. Added to which, on one side of us we have a South African couple who have had to move themselves, 2 other kids and grandma over to England for 3 months (and counting) so their son can get treatment unavailable out there. They are managing to work long-distance and school their kids at the same time. Just down the hall is the guy you might remember from the papers recently who needed – and found – bone marrow donors for all 4 of his boys for a genetic condition of the immune system. He’s in with son number 2.

All of which reinforces that having as much time as I need from work is an enormous blessing. I’m sorry for anyone having to do more work as a result - I’m really grateful. There are also 2 kids - the one in hospital and the one at home - getting the best chance to overcome a lot of bad luck and live near-normal lives as a result. Thanks a lot from all of us.

See you soon for another thrilling instalment of our hospital drama…..

Martin