The first chemotherapy was of course exciting for me. In the end it was about 6 hours in the hospital (University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf). It always starts with taking a blood sample to see if I can start chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Then there is a short conversation with my doctor. Then the chemo begins. Basically you lie there for 4-5 hours and wait until one bag after the other runs into your body. At first I didn’t notice much of it. The value of my red blood cells was probably very low (about 50% below normal), so that I had to go back two days later and was given a liter of blood (approx. 0,26 gallons).
Shortly after that I caught a cold. In itself harmless, but my body was already battered. Since all good things come in threes, there was also shoulder pain (in addition to the chemo and cold). So at the Easter weekend I reached my previous low point in terms of health. On Saturday the shoulder pain had become so extreme that we called an ambulance. There was nothing to be done except painkillers. I couldn’t really manage a walk, I was out of breath too quickly and then gave up after 5 minutes. The follow-up appointment at the hospital after Easter was also rather unspectacular. I was advised to keep taking the painkillers (in the form of tablets or drops). In the end I didn’t touch it anymore. The shoulder pain has subsided in the meantime, but I’m still going to the orthopedist next week. Things have actually gotten better since last weekend. Even the food works very well now, so that I have already tried my hand at a döner kebab with success. The appetite is also back at the moment. However, night sweats and occasional fever have not disappeared.
Last Monday I had my second chemo. I was already familiar with the processes and then relaxed and watched Netflix on my tablet instead of just looking at the drops in the chemo bags like the first time. Except for a brief incident, where I suddenly got severe pain, like a strain in my thighs (it went away on its own after 30 minutes), I tolerated it well. From time to time my vision goes black when I get up and an extremely annoying metal taste in my mouth are the side effects so far. Otherwise I have to say I’ve been doing pretty well since the last week compared to the last 5 weeks. Let’s hope it stays that way for now.