Day 27

Day 27 and tomorrow morning sees the last  'chemo-like' capsule (of this first cycle) slip down my throat. It seems to me a significant moment. As the days of this week have passed so the more consumed I have become with reaching this landmark moment. Perhaps this is all rather unnecessary. However, my blood pressure readings have climbed in recent days and have now reached the 'red zone' - anything above 160/100 according to the young oncologist I saw last week.

If day 28 passes without 'incident' I should hold a party.

From tomorrow I have a two week drug 'holiday'. Within this time I'm hoping that the side effects like the metallic taste, fatigue and raised bp will diminish. I'll let you know.

And coming up; the return to the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital and an appointment with the consultant I last saw just before my nephrectomy. A useful meeting which included first-time viewing of the alien invader sitting on my left kidney ended with him telling me that he was taking me off his list. The reasoning was that the impending operation would be likely to have an impact on the neurological problems with the back and leg. As regular readers of this blog will know, this did not come to pass. I'm fed up with the discomfort I experience even though the medication I take keeps it under some control - I hope for some further intervention.

I recall that when the ROH first diagnosed the cause of my back/leg problems as a 'protruding disc' I shied away from the suggestion of a series of epidurals and if that didn't work, surgery. I opted to treat the condition, conservatively and went on to try yoga, osteopathy, physiotherapy. They didn't work. Now, I'd be more than happy with just about any treatment offered.

I'm not always like this - there are other things in my life. There are. Really.

Now let me think.............