Good Morning,
I thought today I would reflect a little on what I have found to be the hardships of treating cancer, in particular leukemia. When I was first diagnosed I did a lot of reading on what to expect from the treatments. Many of the things I read produced a very doom and gloom scenario of how difficult the chemo treatments are and how terrible the side effects were. Now don't get me wrong the induction therapy was one of the most difficult things I have undergone in my whole life and by no means I am looking forward to another round of intensive in patient therapy but it was not the hardest part of this process.
What I have found to be the hardest part is the duration and structure of the treatment. One of the books I read when first diagnosed was Lance Armstrong's book. From that book I learnt that he was completed his protocol in three months. Now I would never take away how difficult his protocol probably was and don't wish to compare horror stories but I have already been getting treated now for four months with no end in site. To be truthful it isn't the actual length of the treatment that is the most difficult, that is only a factor. Knowing that I still have endless months of treatment can get overwhelming at times but I like to think I am very mentally strong person and can handle this.
The hardest part is the roller coaster effect of the treatments. You see I like to think of the protocol as a roller coaster. The first week is usually the toughest part of the treatment. I spend my first five days on a very high dose of steroids. These leave you with an unquenchable thirst. One day last week I drank 5L of liquid one afternoon/evening and was still parched. I paid the price having to go to the bathroom every 30 to 60 minutes all night long :) The steroid dose finishes on Monday. That is the beginning of the toughest part of the protocol. I find I start to feel some of the exhuastive effects of the chemo I was injected with the previous week and in addition I start to go into steroid withdrawal. This withdrawal isn't as bad as the prednisone but it hurts more. It leaves you with very sore muscles all over your body. The final tough thing in the process is some of the pills require so much structure around taking them in that they have to be on an empty stomach. So I have to dedicate three hour windows each everning after dinner to take these pills. It isn't that this is particularily difficult or painful, what annoys me the most is all the structure that it involves. There have been many nights where I hit the two hour mark and kind of want a snack but starve for an extra hour just so I don't have to start the waiting again. Then there are some nights I eat and have to go to bed later :)
Once you get through the first week the protocol isn't too bad. And expecially now that the weather is so much nicer. I still find I have to actively search for things to keep me busy and not go crazy of boredom but I am getting much better at that. By the time the end of the third week rolls around I actually don't feel like I am sick whatsoever. This is what makes this treatment so hard though, just as soon as you feel slightly normal and stronger they knock you back down and you start the process again and this combined with the knowing there are many months ahead of this same process that makes it the most difficult.
I hope this provides some insights on what I find to be the most difficult aspects of my treatment. I know many people are curious as to what it is like going through this process but can be to shy to ask questions like this as they think it is too hard or personal for me to talk about.
I hope you all had a great weekend. Talk to you soon,
Aaron
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