In Blog 9 , I talked in more detail about the rationale behind the 350 calories-a-day fasting approach.  In that blog I reported that, having started to receive fortnightly Taxol infusions, I had broken fast early because the clearance time for Taxol is relatively quick. I also felt ready to eat (low blood sugar and low mood!).

I did however come to regret this decision later in the week as I experienced quite strong nausea on day 5 and gastrointestinal tract disturbance on days 9 and 10. Clearly we will never know for sure whether this would have happened anyway, but this week I am going to fast for the full four days after chemotherapy to see if this makes a difference. I hope this is not frustrating for readers, but I think you will appreciate that this is a personal experiment and I am testing out approaches as I go. I will bring together all my thoughts when my chemo regime has come to an end, and provide a list of general tips for handling chemotherapy, based on my own personal experience.

Side Effects of Taxol

As I now have two Taxol treatments under my belt, I think it’s useful to report on my experience of side effects, compared with the side effects anticipated by Macmillan Cancer Support:

 Exercise and Complementary Therapy

To help mitigate side effects it is common for people to seek complementary therapies during cancer treatment. To be honest I’ve not felt well enough to plan for this kind of treatment until recently.

But this week I have been lucky enough to have had an aromatherapy massage at the Royal Marsden using a combination of black spruce and lavender oils – highly recommended. It was fantastic to be in the hospital and on the receiving end of a gentle treatment that didn’t involve needles or pain!

I have also enjoyed acupuncture at the Yuan Centre in Colliers Wood. I had just four needles during the treatment, two of which were to support ‘nourishment of the blood’, and two were to support the immune system.

Finally, inspired by four of my dear friends who have recently run marathons, I decided to sign up for a marathon too. Only joking! No, one step at a time…. But I did download one of the ‘Couch to 5K’ apps on my mobile phone and will gradually build my fitness that way. It may be slow going until after the chemotherapy has finished as leg and foot pain is a feature of Taxol and I did have to take painkillers after my first jogging session, but the intention is there!

Next Week…

My penultimate chemotherapy session is tomorrow and my last session is on 29^th October 2015. I am not relishing the next week, but I am armed with painkillers and know what to expect. I am also heartened by today’s scan which showed that my two tumours appear to be still shrinking (the smallest is now approximately 3mm and the larger one is approximately 1cm).  I’m meeting with my surgeon on 22nd October to discuss surgery options (please keep your fingers and toes crossed that the chemotherapy has been effective enough to remove the need for full mastectomy…).

Onwards and upwards!

Thanks again for reading, I love getting your comments and feedback.

Della x

Disclaimer:

The information contained in this post or any other post on this blog is based on personal experience and should not be viewed in any way as medical or other advice. If you are considering fasting for chemo, please consult your healthcare provider.

Copyright © 2015 Johnson