Hair It Comes and The Joy Of Forums

I had my 8th round of treatment last week, this is the second one without chemotherapy. Fortunately the nurse managed to get blood out of my portacath which was a huge relief. The treatment went by quite quickly even though there was the obligatory waiting for the drugs to come up to the unit.

The side effects appear to be virtually non-existent. The peripheral neuropathy is slowly disappearing, my overactive bowels are getting less overactive, my fatigue is its usual self in that it comes and goes without warning and most importantly my hair is growing back. I first noticed my eyebrows, which I initially thought were blackheads, I then worried that they were growing back jet black, thoughts of trying to carry off the Alistair Darling look crossed my mind. However, I am pleased to see that I will probably not have to put up with black eyebrows to go with my white hair.

I have joined both a secondary breast cancer forum and facebook group. They are handy for answering those questions which you don't want or need to bother the medical profession. Also the medical profession don't have the first hand experience of the joys that are cancer treatment.

What I have noticed is that I am currently having a relatively easy time with respect to side effects of the treatment and the effects of the cancer. Further I have definitely got the best doctors, nurses and hospital. So many women are dismissed by their GPs, "it's arthritis, it's muscle strain, it's your age." The oncologists seem to be, at best, off-hand and unapproachable. So many women appear to be cast adrift by the hospital with no point of contact. Whilst I don't feel the need to see my oncologist any more often than I do already, which basically is to get results from scans, so about every months, I know that I can phone the MacMillan nurses at any time, which is a huge comfort. Also my GP, who sent me off for a bone scan when I saw him about the strange pain in my back, has said that they are there for me for anything and everything. That is I shouldn't put up with any problems, such as conjunctivitis or sore patches which don't heal quickly. Until I joined my forums I didn't think that this was unusual, I assumed that this is how it was for everyone. How wrong could I be.