… with quiet days, side-effects and new projects!

Firstly, it was our Louise’s birthday last Sunday (14th September) and I forgot to mention it with everything going on! We love you Louise and hope that you had a fantastic birthday with the kids! We cannot wait to see you here in Scotland sometime soon xxx

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Well it’s been nine days since Pete had his first cycle of chemotherapy and he’s not been feeling too good since… not unexpected and no symptoms we were not expecting or had not already read about…

Despite the symptoms he has experienced, Pete is still pretty stoic – he has said he expected to feel a lot worse than he has and if, as his fellow patients & the specialist nurses told him before he had the chemo, what you experience in the first week after your first cycle is, 90% of the time, what you tend to experience each time, then it will be mostly OK – if what’s happened this week is as bad as it gets…

For me, it’s always horrible seeing Pete under the weather. He currently has little energy and, although this is understandable and fatigue is quite a normal response to chemo, it reminds me of just after he had his quadruple heart bypass a few years back, when he spent the first few weeks unable to walk too far, mainly sleeping and freezing cold all the time…

I think Pete has found the fatigue the hardest thing to cope with because he is usually so active – it’s hard for him to accept when he’s not able to carry on as usual… As the week has progressed, he has started to accept he cannot just fight his way through this and that he needs to rest when he needs to rest.

We have had confirmation that Pete’s treatment has been moved to the team at Edinburgh which we were unhappy about initially as he was hoping to get transferred to Carlisle… that said, we have had contact with the Cancer Centre there now (as Pete needed some medication for his mouth) and they all seem very nice. His first appointment with the consultant on the 30th September which means his next cycle of chemo will likely be delayed by a week – not as bad as it might have been I suppose. The specialist nurse has reassured Pete that this will not make any difference to the impact on his cancer – phew!

It’s good to know that everything is in place and that there is help available when needed – it’s also reassuring to have all the necessary phone numbers to call if we are ever unsure about anything.

For instance, earlier this week when Pete could barely eat because of a sore mouth, we spoke to the specialist nurses who did an over-the-phone assessment and issued a prescription immediately. I was able to collect it before the end of the day from here in Newcastleton which meant Pete was able to start on medication within 8 hours of our initial call – great service from everyone!

Pete has finished his week-long course of injections which you have to take after chemo to help the bone marrow produce more white blood cells (which help to fight off infection), so we are hopeful that he will make steady improvements until the next round of chemo now!

Whilst Pete is feeling under the weather, I have been starting some new projects… for instance, I thought I would try my hand at reupholstering the dining room chairs – a project which I reckon should take me a good few weeks – and some other crafty things… I’ll take some photos as I go along so watch this space… I have to find something to do when Pete needs to rest so that he’s not worrying about me being bored! Also, there’s only so much housework I can stand!

So, this is our new normal for the next few months… as long as it works and slows things down, I think we will manage 😊 It’s only for a few months afterall… xxx