9 weeks of BEP - what it meant to me...

Okay, so the drugs are over... and for all intents and purposes the (BEP) chemotherapy is over.  Something might need to be done later, or it might not, but I'll worry about that later - get the scan and results first then worry about what's next.

So this little post is a kind of review of the whole (my) BEP process.

9 weeks of treatment:

• 3 x 3 days as inpatient for all drugs (weeks 1, 4 and 7 Wednesday - Friday)
• 6 x 0.5 days as outpatient for bleomycin (the other weeks, on Friday)
• 1 x CT Scan (on the day of starting treatment)

30 bags of chemo-drugs:

• 9 lots of Etoposide
• 9 lots of Bleomycin
• 12 lots of Cisplatin

Other drugs:

• 13 lots of saline (because I wasn't ever sick, or else it could/would have been a lot more)
• 9 lots of hydrocortisone (one before each bleomycin)
• 15 lots of steroids (each 3 days as inpatient and then the following 2 days)
• 15 lots of strong anti sickness pills (each 3 days as inpatient and then the following 2 days)
• 20+ lots of "normal" anti sickness pills (as and when at home)
• 30+ lots of sleeping pills (though I am now weening myself of them)
• 20 lots of G-CSF immune system drugs

Needles:

• 9 cannulas (one for each hospital visit)
• 17 attempts to get the cannula(s) in place (including the "successful" ones)
• 2 additional bits of needlework (for bloodwork)
• 1 fainting fit
• 3 foot massages
• Many litres of urine manufactured by me (one of my best achievements!)

Side effects:

• 3 x chemo-cold (in hindsight, the end of each inpatient resulted in a "chemo-cold" that lasted for 4 - 7 days)
• Hair loss (they said this would be total, but for me (at least so far) it hasn't - lost most, but not all of my head-of-hair (kept the grey stuff!), lost my bread/stubble, lost my pubic hair and lost a bit (calf area) from my legs).
• Dry skin
• Strange eczema bits on fingers and toes
• Fat/arthritic fingers (periodically)
• Pins and needles (fingers and forearm)
• Tinnitus (occasionally)
• Rubbish sense of taste
• Really bad sense of smell (almost everything smells awful)
• Racing heart rate (pretty much always between 80 - 100 bpm - even at rest!!??)

Other stuff:

• 1 additional x-ray
• 1 additional bloodtest
• 1 mortality on the ward

Phew, looking at the above - it's a bit of a list.  And I'll be the first to admit - the whole process is pretty crap!  But then we are dealing with a very unpleasant subject area, aren't we?!

Now I wouldn't wish the above on anyone.  But if you've got to have the treatment then I'd simply say - get it done!!  It's not pleasant, but (at least for me) the 9-week cycle seemed to fly by.  I didn't (don't) enjoy the side effects, but not everyone gets them and not everyone has them at the same degree of severity.  The key stage for me was getting past the second chemo-cold, that signified the coming end of the whole process.  And now were (I am) here!!

Regardless of scan results, there's still a long way to go.  But that's just how it has to be.  I'd done (had done) what was needed, lets hope these heavy duty poisons have done the trick...

Take care

  DZ

ps - I will be back...