Chemo session #2 today; all seemed to go well. The infusion was, as usual, preceded by a consult with Dr Parente. He was encouraging, as usual, and today had something more to be encouraging about: the PSA is down to 0.18. (It had been 2.0 previously.) So the ADT has done what it was supposed to do. I am not really having persistent side effects. The worst — and it is not bad — is an itchy and rough patch on the back of my hands, over the knuckles. I am putting a medicated cream on those, which calms them down.

I asked Dr P a couple of questions:

1. Question: does the fact that the new metastases are in different places mean that the radiation therapy was successful in treating the old mets? Answer: yes.
2. Question: will the dosage and/or concentration of Docetaxel (the chemo medication) increase over the six sessions? Answer: no. I am scheduled to have the maximum dosage, and this will be the same each time. If I experience worse side effects, the dosage can be reduced. The Docetaxel itself passes out of the system in 12-24 hours. Its effects on the tumours, however, continue for about three weeks. (He put this particularly carefully, not saying “get rid of” or anything like that.)

We had a gap in between the consult and the chemo, the latter being at 12 noon, so were able to go to the cafe in Epworth Eastern (just up the road from Dr P’s practice). We both had a coffee, my beloved the rest of her breakfast, and I had a toasted sandwich. Ambrosial!

Upstairs in the day oncology unit, it seemed like a full house. I got a little more information today from the nurse driving the drip. The sensation of heat around the face I had experienced during the last cycle was due to the anti-nausea drug wearing off; this is a steroid medication.  The powers that be are also pushing exercise for cancer patients. (I had heard a lot about this during the Peter Mac information session a few months ago.)  Fatigue is one of the most widely experienced side effects of chemotherapy, and exercise can, paradoxically, help reduce this. I got a leaflet about a subsidised exercise program, designed specifically for cancer patients. This is doubly apposite for me, as I have my gym membership on hold while completing the chemo, so I will be investigating this.

I was pretty tired when I got home, so had a crash for an hour or so. Still feeling fine. There is enough of last night’s meal left over for dinner for my beloved tonight. I will have cheese on toast, or possibly a jaffle, with my two allowed standard drinks. You beauty! There is more excitement coming up during the rest of the month, with a heater service, installation of the new coolers, a memoir writing class, and a get-together with some other Melbourne ModPo folk. Like, in RL! I tell you, Melbourne in spring is not for the faint-hearted.

Alert readers, and this is both of you, will notice some minor changes in the blog. I have gotten off my duff and created some new categories, and applied them to some posts. The categories themselves have been shuffled up the batting order in the sidebar, so they now sit under the “Follow blog via email” link. You may still have to scroll down to see the categories, but they are there. More to follow. No, I’m not using Library of Congress Subject Headings. I may make an exception for “Anecdotes, facetiae, satire, etc.”. (I’m not making this up, you know! Technically, this was not a full heading, but a standard subdivision. It was replaced in recent years by the much more prim “Humor”: see example.) Will I be going back and applying categories retrospectively? What do you think I am, a librarian or something?