New Treatment Verdict

So, nearly a week out from the start of the new regime of Taxotere, and its been... interesting.

I'm definitely suffering more with this treatment than the FEC, although in a very different way. On the up side - no nausea or sickness, which I consider to be a big bonus. The tiredness has been a little more extreme as well - this is the first day I'm not feeling exhausted, so I've bounced back much more slowly than on the previous drugs. Usually by the Friday after treatment, I'm feeling OK-ish, so it's taken an extra 3 days to return to relative normality. In fact, I felt better the day after than I did on Saturday (which was the worst day of all - I even stopped feeling guilty about people doing things for me - a sure sign that I'm poorly).

The main difference has been the pain however - one of the side effects of Taxotere is joint pain, and I have been suffering with it. It's not so bad that it's unbearable, but just enough to make it difficult to relax - and to fall asleep. I'm pretty much able to keep on top of it with a combination of paracetamol and ibuprofen. The wost pain is in the balls of my feet - they feel like they're badly bruised, so walking, especially first thing in the morning can be quite painful. I've also been getting a lot of tumour flare, which is a bit like being stabbed in the chest with needles every few minutes.

The overall effect again though, is much like you feel when you're coming down with the flu - just this lot I'm a bit closer to the flu than the last lot, and with aches and pains rather than sickliness. Another new aspect has been that my taste buds have gone into hibernation - nothing tastes of anything, with the exception of citrus and chocolate (that I have discovered so far). Chilli is a taste of the past, and salt is a foreign country - mostly everything tastes of cardboard, so most of food sensation comes from the texture. This is a standard side effect to the drugs I'm on, and can take some time to recover from even after the end of treatment - which for someone who loves good food, fills me with horror.

Part of the deal with the new drugs are 5 days of injections administered by a nurse who comes to my house, and from the discussions I had with the weekend cover nurse yesterday, part of their function as well as the injections is to keep an eye on my weight, as when people stop being able to taste food, they have a tendency to stop eating enough as well. It's really important for me to maintain a decent weight through the treatments (although I still despair that my clothes are getting a little snug), as I need a cushion in case I get sick.

In other news I went to see another surgeon this week, to discuss my options. He is based in Chelmsford near my parent's house, so logistically it may well be easier as I'll need a lot of care immediately after the op. Chelmsford also has one of the biggest and most well regarded plastic surgery units in Europe. My original understanding was that my only real option for reconstructive surgery would be to have a full implant, as I don't have enough fat on my stomach or back. However, the surgeon I went to see last week has been developing a new procedure to take fat from the inner thighs for reconstruction. I'm not sure how I feel about having a more major surgery than might be necessary, given the risks of nerve damage/scar tissue, but it's good to have more options than just one. I'm going to look further into it and weigh up the pros and cons, but I'm considered to be an ideal candidate for either procedure (i.e. there's not much they need to reconstruct).